How to Extend Your Trinidadian Visa
- Telicia
- Feb 15
- 3 min read
One of the most stressful parts of hauling out in a foreign country is the ticking clock of your visa. Luckily, Trinidad is one country where that allows you to repeatedly renew your visa, without leaving the country,
During two extended haul-outs in Trinidad that spanned from 2023 to 2026, we became very familiar with the "extension dance." If you are currently on the hardstand in Chaguaramas and your 90 days are running out, here is exactly how we managed our visa extensions.
Request an appointment
About two weeks before the current visa waiver expires, send a visa extension request to the Immigration division of the Ministry of Homeland Security in Port of Spain, via email. In your email, you must include:
Your full name
Current local address (your marina/yard)
Contact number
The reason for your extension (e.g., "Awaiting yacht repairs on the hardstand at Peake Yacht Services")
Scan of your passport bio data page and the page with your most recent Trinidad entry stamp
The official email address is extensions.north@gov.tt
Wait for an appointment
Once you send that email, you might not hear back for a few days, or even until after your visa has expired.
DO NOT PANIC!
As long as you have sent that email before your visa expires, you have proof of your intent to apply for an extension. If you don't hear back within two weeks, resend the email. Keep a folder of these sent messages; they serve as your proof if you're ever asked why you're still in the country with an expired stamp. Personally I was never asked, even when I checked out at Immigration with an expired visa.
Eventually, the office will email you back with an appointment date and time for the Port of Spain office. My personal record waiting for a response - 4 months.
Can you just turn up?
In our experience, no. One of our foreign tradesmen tried, but were told without an appointment they couldn't proceed, they just needed to resend the emails and wait for a response.
What about the Chaguaramas office?
The Chaguaramas Immigration office can't process visa extensions, it has to be done through the office located in Port of Spain.
Appointment day
The extension office is located in Port of Spain and is a first-come, first-served system on the day of your appointment, so aim to get there early. You can catch the public bus (it stops out front), TTRideshare, a maxi taxi or drive and park at the multistorey carpark next door.
The dress code
Trinidadian government offices take their dress code seriously. You don’t need a suit, but you do need to be "neatly dressed and well-presented."
Avoid swimwear, flip-flops, exposed shoulders or tank tops
We found that neat, longer shorts were generally okay, but avoid anything too casual or short.
If in doubt, pants and a plain t-shirt were always fine.
What to bring
Come prepared with a folder containing:
A printed copy of your appointment email
A letter from the shipyard confirming your boat is hauled out
Your original passport and a high-quality photocopy of the biometric page and last stamp
A pen
Money for the fees
As of January 1, 2026, Trinidad updated several immigration fees. While the basic extension application fee has historically been 100 TTD, it's now been doubled to 200 TTD. If you didn't pay the visa waiver fee on arrival, you may be required to, and that's now 800 TTD.
Going through the process
The office in Port of Spain can be a long wait.
Initially you need to go to the room on the right of the entry, hand over your paperwork and fill out a form they'll give you. Return to the form to the desk, and staff will put your documents in a numbered file and send you to the 4th floor for processing.
Bring a book; the wait can be a couple hours and some security guards take issue with any use of a mobile device, including phones or tablets.
When your name is called, go to the officer. After all the waiting it's usually a pretty quick chat before they direct you to go and make the payment at the cashier, then go and get a photocopy of the new stamp. The office doesn't have a photocopier you can use for this, but the BMobile across the street does for a few TTD.
Note multiple extensions
Trinidad does allow you to get multiple extensions, but at the 12 month mark there are some additional requirements, such as a medical test with screening for tuberculosis. Some cruisers have found they get rejected at this point, even if they've met all the requirements.
If you fly in and out of Trinidad, the counting of your extensions restarts.
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