Guatemala

Immigration in Guatemala has more than doubled since 2010. By 2013, Guatemala received the entry of more than a thousand permanent immigrants and double that number of temporary immigrants.

The foreign-born population – with 73 thousand people – represented only 0.5% of the total population of Guatemala in 2013, the same proportion observed in 2000.

Emigration flows from Guatemala decreased by 8% between 2009 and 2012. In addition, changes were observed in the main destinations of Guatemalans. While most still go to the United States, movements to Canada have shown a growing trend (22%), while flows to Mexico and Spain have decreased considerably (61% and 21% respectively).

The total unemployment rate of expatriate Guatemalans decreased slightly between 2010-2011 and 2012-2013, reaching 8.6% from 10.5%, reflecting the decrease of approximately the same magnitude between men and women.

Guatemala is the largest recipient of remittances in Central America, with 5,104 million dollars in 2013. Since 2010, remittances to Guatemala have grown continuously, registering an increase of almost 7% between 2012 and 2013.

Nearly 50,000 Guatemalan emigrants returned in 2013 from the United States, according to statistics from the General Directorate of Migration. For their part, around 30,000 emigrants returned from Mexico. These returns together show a marginal increase of less than one percentage point compared to 2012.

The number of asylum seekers in Guatemala is very small, with only 48 cases for 2013 coming mainly from El Salvador, India and Bangladesh. In turn, that same year, the country housed 160 refugees from the neighboring countries of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras.

In 2007, the “Agreement for the Creation of the Single Central American Visa for the Free Mobility of Foreigners between the Republics of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua” was approved . The agreement creates the CA-4 visa that allows the stay and free movement of people from said countries who can stay in the territory for 90 days for tourist purposes.