How on earth do you get a visa or tourist card for Suriname in Guyana? If you are travelling from Georgetown, Guyana to Suriname, this is your ultimate guide to sorting out a visa or tourist card.
Do you need a visa or tourist card for Suriname?
If you are travelling from Guyana to Suriname you may need a visa or a Suriname tourist card. Some nationalities are exempt and won’t need either.
However, if you are from one of these countries, then you will need a tourist card unless you are planning a different type of stay.
Everyone else will need a visa.
Single entry only
If you are getting a Suriname tourist card, it only lasts for one entry.
So if you are planning on going to French Guiana and back to Suriname you’ll have to get another one. Booo!
Travelling overland between Guyana and Suriname
The Suriname tourist card site gives some helpful information for most people visiting Suriname, except those travelling overland from Guyana.
So here’s how we got our tourist card.
You can also read how we got to Suriname via land here.
Getting a tourist card in Guyana
You can actually get a tourist card from the Suriname Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana.
We got lost
We originally struggled to actually find the embassy and ended up at the old one.
The new one is on Anira Street and New Garden Street (where the two streets meet). It’s called the Embassy of Suriname on Maps.me and the Embassy of the Republic of Suriname on google maps. On Maps.me don’t go to the one called the Suriname Embassy. Doh!
Things you need to get a travel/tourist card
- Photocopy of your passport (photo page)
- Print out of your plane ticket (e.g the confirmation email) into Guyana
- Photocopy of your entry stamp into Guyana in your passport
- Photocopy of your yellow fever vaccination paperwork
Onward travel?
You don’t need to show onward travel from Suriname (despite what the website says). However it might be best to have a photocopy of this as well, just in case.
Photocopying though?!
If you need photocopying done, 2 doors down from the embassy, just before you get to Laluni Street, there is a language school which will do it for you for 100 Guyana Dollars (around 50 cents US) per sheet. There are cheaper photocopy shops near the Central Market, but it’s a bit of a trek.
Suriname tourist card cost
It costs $40 USD per person to get your travel card. You can only pay cash in US dollars, no cards are accepted.
The travel card is single entry. It is validated and starts on entry (rather than being for a pre-decided set date).
Opening times for the Embassy of Suriname, Georgetown
You can only get your travel card from 8:30-10:30am, with a pick up at 1pm – 3pm. We however got ours done at around 11:40 but the office was closing at 12noon and they had it done in about 15 minutes.
Cover those legs!
The Embassy of Suriname has a dress code. Therefore, make sure you wear a T-shirt that covers your shoulders and trousers. Shorts are not allowed!
The process of getting a Suriname tourist card
As far as the process goes, the security officer let us into the embassy. We sat outside on the bench in the embassy compound while she checked our paperwork was correct and we had to sign a visitor log.
A few minutes later we were then let into the office, who took our paperwork and processed it. Next, we were asked to go outside and sit on the bench until they rang a bell and we were called in again. They gave us our receipt and the Surinamese tourist card was attached to a page in our passport.
Ta-da, done! Next stop, Paramaribo, Suriname!
How to get from Guyana to Suriname
Now, do you know how to get from Guyana to Suriname?
How To Get From Guyana To Suriname (2019 Comprehensive Guide)
Awesome things to do in Suriname:
Visit The Beautiful Brownberg National Park
Fly Over The Amazon Basin In A TINY Plane To Palumeu
