
The situation
Venezuelan and foreign nationals cannot obtain legalizations in Venezuela until at least May 20, 2018.
Background
The website for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to be inoperable. Previously, Fragomen advised that the only workaround to obtain legalizations was for foreign nationals and Venezuelan nationals to appear in person at the Ministry and present evidence of upcoming travel.
A closer look
Currently, this workaround is no longer applicable; Venezuelan and foreign nationals cannot legalize documents in Venezuela at this time due to the following circumstances:
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not accepting document legalization requests until May 20 due to website maintenance; and
- The upcoming presidential elections, which may further delay the legalization process.
Impacts
- Venezuelan and foreign nationals who have already arranged to travel to Venezuela for legalization purposes during the week of May 15-20 should reschedule their trips.
- Venezuelan and foreign nationals planning to travel to Venezuela between May 15-20 to obtain legalized documents in person should postpone their travel until Fragomen advises them that the legalization process is normalized.
Looking ahead
Fragomen will contact affected nationals and will provide updates when new information becomes available.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
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