To apply for resident status, a foreigner must already be living in Venezuela under a temporary visa such as for students (see below) or business people. You must apply for a national identity card, called a cédula. This card identifies you as a resident and gives you an ID number starting with the letter E followed by a string of numbers.

The cédula can only be issued in Venezuela by the Dirección de Extranjería, or DiEx, a branch of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice. (In English, this is called the Foreigner Status Directorate.)

Residence status needs to be renewed every five years and will be lost if you leave Venezuela for a continuous period of two years.

There have been cases of U.S. citizens being arrested and charged with possessing false resident documents even though they were under the impression they were valid. The Venezuelan government advises that only legitimate documents, appropriate to status, will be acceptable, and then only when obtained and personally signed by a representative of ONIDEX (the Office of Identification and Alien Affairs) at the agency’s Caracas headquarters.



Read More: Immigration Status Definition