Honduras entry forms: you only need one since 2023
Two Honduran government forms come up when you search for this, and travellers routinely file both. Only one of them is required. The other one, the immigration prechequeo, stopped being mandatory on 12 December 2023, and the immigration institute has since had to publish its own warning telling people not to be misled about it.
That is the whole point of this page. Here is which is which, checked on September 14, 2026.
If you already know that and just want the form: the customs declaration, on the Honduran customs portal. It opens in Spanish; the language selector is at the top of the form.
One is required. One is not.
✅ Required
Declaración Jurada Regional de Viajero
Regional Traveller’s Sworn Declaration
Filed with Aduanas, the customs administration. It covers what you are carrying, and it is asked of every traveller or head of family, entering and leaving, by air, land or sea. The form says so on its own header.
No account and no token: the portal labels the session acceso público.
The other form you may have heard of
The Prechequeo Migratorio (immigration pre-check), filed with the Instituto Nacional de Migración, covers who you are rather than what you carry. It was dropped for nationals and foreigners alike on 12 December 2023 and is still required only for Nicaraguan citizens, seven days ahead, as a reciprocity measure. Filing it anyway is not wrong; it simply is not asked of you. Why it still comes up, and when it is worth doing.
If you are a Canadian, American or European tourist flying into Roatán, the customs declaration is the one you have to file.
Why some people search for a “PECH form”
The customs portal runs on a system called PECH, and the word sits right there in the address bar. If you have seen it and wondered whether the “PECH form” is something else you have to file: it is not. It is the same customs declaration, named after the software.
It exists in English, but you have to ask for it
The form opens in Spanish. There is a Language selector at the top of it, just under the dark title bar; switch it to en_US and the whole declaration, questions and all, turns into English. It is easy to miss, and nothing on the page points at it.
The customs declaration, in practice
The form opens by asking two things that decide everything after them: entry or exit, and air, land or sea. It is the same declaration whether you fly into Roatán airport, cross a land border, or arrive on the ferry, and it is filed both ways, coming and going.
It states that it is valid for up to five days after the date you enter, so it can be filled before you leave home rather than in a queue.
The form carries its own version number at the bottom: 2023-04-10. That is the one we read on September 14, 2026.
Have these ready before you start:
- your passport number, written without dashes or spaces
- your airline and flight number, or the vessel name and voyage number, or the vehicle plate
- the address you are staying at in Honduras
- how many family members are travelling with you
- how many pieces of luggage, including any shipped separately
Three things about it that nobody mentions, and that are easier to handle at home than at a counter:
- You need a working inbox while you fill it. The portal sends a one-time token by e-mail before it will accept the form, so do it somewhere you can read your mail, and look in the spam folder if it does not arrive.
- A family files one. The form asks for the head of family and the number of relatives travelling with you, which is why it asks how many of you there are rather than making each of you file.
- You will do this again on the way out. It is filed on entry and on exit, so fill the return one from your hotel wifi the night before you fly home rather than from the terminal.
Whatever the portal gives you at the end, save it offline, as a screenshot or a PDF on your phone. Mobile data on arrival is not something to count on.
The questions people answer too quickly
The form’s Spanish name is Declaración Jurada Regional de Viajero, and the word in the middle is the one that matters: jurada means sworn. It is a statement made under oath, not a survey. That is worth knowing before the five yes-or-no questions, which are the ones people tick by reflex. The form asks whether you are carrying:
- US$10,000 or more in cash, monetary instruments, securities, precious metals, or any combination of them
- live animals, plants, food, or anything derived from them
- chemicals, pharmaceuticals, toxic substances or waste, weapons, ammunition or explosives
- merchandise other than your luggage. If so, it asks you to list each item, its quantity, and its value in US dollars
- whether you have claimed a tax exemption in the last six months
The third one is worth reading twice. On the form it is a single question with a single yes-or-no box, number 22, and it reads: ¿Lleva o trae productos químicos, farmacéuticos, sustancias o residuos tóxicos, armas, municiones o explosivos? Chemicals, pharmaceuticals, toxic substances or waste, weapons, ammunition or explosives all share one checkbox. Prescription medication and a case of grenades are, as far as this form is concerned, the same question.
We are not going to tell you how to answer it, because that is not ours to say. But the declaration is jurada, sworn, and the question is broader than the reflex answer assumes. If you travel with medication you actually need, it is worth a few seconds rather than none.
Who actually still needs the immigration pre-check
The prechequeo migratorio was dropped as a requirement on 12 December 2023, by order of the president of Honduras, for nationals and foreigners alike. The immigration institute’s wording at the time: it “is no longer a mandatory requirement to leave or enter Honduras.”
What it was built to do
It is a queue-shortener, not a permission. You register your personal and travel details before you reach the border, so the officer’s side of the counter is already filled in when you arrive. The immigration institute’s own justification for making it optional says exactly that: the goal is to speed up travel at the country’s various border points. It never granted or refused anyone entry. That is the officer’s job, and it still is.
When it is still worth doing
- Nicaraguan citizens, for whom it is still mandatory and must be filed seven days before travel. This is a reciprocity measure answering Nicaragua’s own rules, not a health or security screen.
- Honduran travellers over 21 who want the automated immigration kiosks. Those kiosks exist at Ramón Villeda Morales (San Pedro Sula) and Palmerola, but not at Roatán, which is why it buys an island arrival nothing.
- Anyone who simply wants a shorter stop at the counter. The institute suggests filing it within the 72 hours before travel, entering or leaving.
Everyone else can skip it. The confusion is common enough that the immigration institute has published its own notice about it, opening with “don’t be misled”.
⚠️ One thing we could not establish: when the pre-check was created, or under what text. What is documented is what it does, who it still applies to, and the date it stopped being compulsory for everyone else.
⚠️ And this is where money changes hands. If a site offers to file either of these forms for you for a fee, remember that the customs declaration is free and public, and that the pre-check is not something most travellers owe at all.
The form, field by field
This is a transcription, not a form: nothing here submits anything. The Spanish is the form’s own wording; the English is the form’s own too, read by switching its language selector.
Show all 23 fields, in Spanish and in English
Three things the English version does not fix: the date line still reads “Válid” with its Spanish accent, every dropdown stays “- SELECCIONE -”, and question 22 says “chemicals” twice.
- 1
ES Operación: Entrada / Salida. Medio de Transporte: Aéreo / Terrestre / Marítimo
Operation: Entry / Exit. Mean of Transportation: Air / Land / Sea
- 2
ES Fecha de Entrada o Salida. Válido hasta 5 días posteriores
Arrival or Departure Date. Válid until 5 days later
- 3
ES Aduana de Entrada o Salida
Arrival or Departure Customs
- 4
ES Primer Nombre · Segundo Nombre · Primer Apellido · Segundo Apellido
First Name · Second Name · First Surname · Second Surname
- 5
ES Documento No. (sin guiones o espacios)
Travelling Document No. (without dashes or spaces)
- 6
ES Tipo de Documento: Pasaporte / Otros
Document Type: Passport / Others
- 7
ES Nacionalidad
Nationality
- 8
ES Sexo: Masculino / Femenino. País de Nacimiento
Sex: Male / Female. Country of Birth
- 9
ES Fecha de Nacimiento. ¿Es menor con Permiso Especial?
Date of Birth. Is a Minor with Special Permission?
- 10
ES Motivo de Viaje: Turismo / Oficial / Negocios / Residencia / Tránsito / Otros
Reason for Travel: Tourism / Oficial / Business / Residence / Transit / Others
- 11
ES Medio de Transporte. Empresa y N° vuelo / Nombre de la embarcación y N° de viaje / N° de Matrícula del vehículo
Mean of Transportation. Airline and Flight No / Vessel Name and Trip No / Vehicle Registration No
- 12
ES País de Procedencia
Country of Departure
- 13
ES País de Residencia
Country of Residence
- 14
ES País de Destino
Country of Destination
- 15
ES Dirección Prevista
Foreseen Address
- 16
ES Número de familiares que viajan con Ud.
Number of relatives travelling with you
- 17
ES Cantidad de equipaje que viaja con Ud.
Quantity of luggage (handbags and check-in) that travels with you
- 18
ES Cantidad de equipaje no acompañado
Quantity of luggage not travelling with you
- 19
ES ¿Ha disfrutado en los últimos 6 meses de exoneración de tributos?
Have you been granted any tax exemption in the last 6 months
- 20
ES ¿Lleva o trae consigo dinero en efectivo o valores monetarios, títulos valores, objetos, metales preciosos o una combinación de estos por un valor igual o superior a US$ 10,000.00 o su equivalente?
Are you carrying cash, title, objects, precious metals or a combination of these equal to or greater than US$ 10,000.00 or equal?
- 21
ES ¿Lleva o trae animales vivos, plantas, productos alimenticios o derivado de cualquier de éstos?
Are you carrying live animals, plants, fresh foods or derived from any of these?
- 22
ES ¿Lleva o trae productos químicos, farmacéuticos, sustancias o residuos tóxicos, armas, municiones o explosivos?
Are you carrying chemicals, pharmaceuticals, chemicals or toxic waste products, weapons, ammunition or explosives?
- 23
ES ¿Lleva o trae mercancías distintas del equipaje? En caso afirmativo: cantidad, unidad de medida, descripción y valor en dólares
Do you carry other goods different than your luggage? If you marked yes: amount, unit of measure, description and value in dollars
Official English, kept word for word. Form version 2023-04-10, read on 2026-09-14.
About the QR code
Yes, there is one. When the form goes through, the confirmation page carries a QR code. Take a screenshot of that page immediately, before you close anything or let the phone sleep. The portal is not always kind: the session can drop, the page can fail to render, and there is no obvious way back to a declaration you have already filed.
And if you miss it, do not panic. I live on the island and have filed this form more than once: on Roatán the code is rarely asked for in practice. That is an observation from the ground, not a rule, and it is not a reason to skip anything. File the declaration, and capture the code. It costs one screenshot, and it is the only proof you will have that you did what the country asks.
What this page deliberately does not tell you
It does not tell you whether you need a visa, how long you may stay, or what any fee costs. Those rules change, and a page that freezes them becomes a liability the day they move. For anything that is a rule rather than a procedure, read your own government’s current advice and the Honduran government’s own pages. Both are one click away, and both are kept up to date by people whose job that is.
What you have read above is the procedure: which form, which agency, what to have ready. That is the part nobody writes down, and the part that changes least. Checked on September 14, 2026.
Once you land
The Roatán airport page carries today’s arrivals and departures, and what the first hour actually looks like, including how long it takes to clear the terminal. The Roatán guide covers the island itself, and our guided excursions run from both sides.