If you live in the US and have an open court case in Guatemala, or think someone may have filed one against you, the moment that matters is not landing at La Aurora. It is trying to leave again. An arraigo is a judge’s order that bars a person from leaving Guatemala, and the Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración (IGM) lets anyone check for one online, for free, before buying a ticket. This page is the diaspora version of that check. The full procedure in Spanish, including the certificate, is in our guide ¿Tengo arraigo? Cómo consultarlo.
In short: Guatemalan law bars any authority from denying a Guatemalan national entry (Migration Code, Art. 61), and the IGM defines an arraigo as a measure that limits a person’s freedom to leave the country. Check before you fly with the IGM’s free online search (name as on your DPI plus date of birth). A clean result is not a guarantee, in the IGM’s own words. If you need proof, the certificate of no arraigo costs US$10 and lasts a year. An arraigo is lifted by the judge who ordered it, not at the airport. In a child support case the law requires paying or depositing the arrears and guaranteeing future support. This page explains rules; it does not assess anyone’s case.
Entering is not the problem; leaving is
Two rules sit side by side:
| Rule | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Entry of nationals | “Ninguna autoridad del país puede negar a las personas de nacionalidad guatemalteca su ingreso a territorio nacional.” | Migration Code, Decreto 44-2016, Art. 61 |
| What an arraigo does | The IGM defines it as «una medida cautelar y/o coercitiva ordenada por autoridad judicial competente el cual limita la libre locomoción de la persona de salir del país» | IGM arraigos page (Wayback copy of 11 May 2026) |
So an arraigo does not turn you away at the arrival counter. It is recorded at Migration and it applies when you try to leave. The IGM presents its online search as a way to check before departure and avoid, in its words, «perdidas de vuelos, conexiones y hoteles reservados».
The Procedure Code explains who puts it there: the judge communicates the arraigo to the migration and police authorities «para impedir la fuga del arraigado» (Art. 524). A judge orders it; Migration only registers it.
Which cases produce arraigos
The IGM lists six types: civil, económico coactivo, penal, de familia, penal anual, and de trabajo y previsión social. For scale, the Agencia Guatemalteca de Noticias (AGN) published the IGM’s count for the first quarter of 2024:
| Type | Q1 2024 |
|---|---|
| Civil | 8,477 |
| Criminal (penal) | 2,126 |
| Económico coactivo | 277 |
| Family | 190 |
| Labour and social security | 61 |
| Annual criminal | 30 |
Civil arraigos outnumbered criminal ones about four to one in that quarter. Under Article 523 of the Procedure Code, the party suing, or about to sue, can ask for a civil arraigo when there is fear that the defendant will leave or hide; no criminal case is involved.
How to run the free search from the US
The search is on the IGM services portal: servicios.igm.gob.gt → Control Migratorio → Consulta de arraigos (direct link). The form, as read on 24 September 2026, asks for:
| Field | Required on the form |
|---|---|
| First name (Primer Nombre) | Yes |
| Second name | No |
| First surname | Yes |
| Second surname | Yes |
| Married surname (Apellido Casada) | No |
| Date of birth | Shown, not marked |
| How to receive the verification code | You choose |
You accept the terms, and, according to the AGN, the code arrives by email or by text message; the result tells you whether you are subject to an arraigo. None of the fields above is an address.
Type your name exactly as it appears on your DPI. The reason is in the law. Decreto 15-71 was passed because Migration held more than fifteen thousand arraigo orders, «muchas de ellas con nombres y apellidos incompletos, sin datos de identificación», and people who shared a name had to postpone trips. Since then, the court order must carry the person’s full names and identification data.
What a clean result does not prove
The IGM’s terms for the search are blunt: «Esta consulta no es una constancia jurídica, el resultado de la misma no es una garantía, ya que nuestros sistemas se actualizan constantemente de acuerdo a las órdenes judiciales que emiten los diferentes órganos jurisdiccionales».
Two consequences for a trip planned from the US:
- A search run when you book says nothing about an order issued between then and your return flight. Running it again close to the departure date is the only way to see a newer entry.
- If the search shows an arraigo, the IGM’s terms send you in person to the Unidad de Registro de Arraigos y Alertas at 6a. Avenida 3-11, zona 4, Guatemala City. The lifting itself happens in court (below).
When you need paper: the certificate of no arraigo
The IGM describes the certificate as a document of its Unidad de Registro de Arraigos y Alertas «que acredita que la persona que lo solicita en ese momento no tiene arraigo vigente».
| Fee | US$10 (Reglamento de Tarifas por Servicios Migratorios, Acuerdo IGM-029-2023 as reformed by IGM-039-2025, numeral 4.2.2), paid in quetzals at the IGM’s reference rate |
| Validity | One year from issue |
| How it is requested | Online at servicios.igm.gob.gt, after paying: the form asks for the bank, the payment slip number (boleta) and the CGC receipt number |
| Who can use the portal | Guatemalan and foreign holders, per the portal’s terms |
The payment step is the catch from the US. The IGM’s payment portal generates an order to print and pay at a bank; it does not take a card online. How Guatemalans abroad handle payments like this, and the one detail that helps (the IGM payment form accepts a foreign passport as ID), is in Guatemalan portals that accept US cards.
How long an arraigo lasts
| Type | Duration | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Criminal | No expiry date | IGM |
| All other types | One year | IGM |
| Civil (Procedure Code Art. 523) | One year from registration at Migration, renewable a year at a time if the interested party asks the judge within the 30 days before it expires | Decreto 15-71, Art. 1 |
Decreto 15-71 also requires the order to state that, when the term and any renewals run out, Migration «deberá ser cancelada de oficio». An old civil arraigo that nobody renewed should not still be active; the search is how you see whether it is.
How an arraigo is lifted, including from abroad
The IGM’s instruction: «La persona arraigada debe solicitar el levantamiento del arraigo a la autoridad judicial competente que ordenó la medida cautelar y/o coercitiva, mediante memorial con las garantías que requiere el proceso».
For a civil arraigo, Article 524 of the Civil and Commercial Procedure Code (Decreto-Ley 107) sets what releases it. When the judge orders the arraigo, the defendant is warned not to leave the place of the case «sin dejar apoderado que haya aceptado expresamente el mandato y con facultades suficientes para la prosecución y fenecimiento del proceso». Once that representative appears in the case, and any guarantee the article requires is posted, «se levantará el arraigo sin más trámite».
From the US, one way to appoint that representative is a power of attorney signed at a Guatemalan consulate. What a poder consular is, and the Civil Code clauses it needs, is in our poder consular guide. Whether a given power is sufficient for a given case is for a Guatemalan lawyer to judge.
Article 524 demands a guarantee for the amount of the claim in two kinds of case: debts for lodging, food or goods bought on credit; and a cheque issued without funds (or funds withdrawn before it could be cashed).
The child support arraigo
Support cases have their own sentence in Article 524: «En los procesos sobre alimentos, será necesario que el demandado cancele o deposite el monto de los alimentos atrasados que sean exigibles legalmente y garantice el cumplimiento de la obligación por el tiempo que el juez determine, según las circunstancias».
Read in order, lifting an arraigo in a support case takes two things: paying or depositing the legally due arrears, and guaranteeing future support for the time the judge sets. A representative alone does not do it in this kind of case.
If the support order is the reason you are checking, our page on a Guatemalan child support order when you live in the US covers how the order is set and the criminal-law side. The opposite direction, a US order you want enforced in Guatemala, is enforcing a US child support order in Guatemala.
A short checklist before booking a trip home
- Run the free IGM search with your name exactly as on your DPI.
- Run it again shortly before your return flight; the IGM says results change as courts issue orders.
- If an arraigo appears, find out which court ordered it; the lifting is filed there, with the representative or guarantees the case needs.
- If you need proof for a labour-visa programme, request the US$10 certificate and arrange the bank payment in Guatemala.
- If your passport is out of date too, see can you enter Guatemala with an expired Guatemalan passport; the documents you need to leave again are a separate question from the arraigo.
Related
- ¿Tengo arraigo? Cómo consultarlo gratis: the full procedure in Spanish, with the certificate steps
- Poder consular from the US: appointing a representative in Guatemala
- Guatemalan portals that accept US cards: paying IGM, court and SAT charges from abroad
Sources, read on 24 September 2026 unless stated: IGM services portal, arraigo search and certificate pages (live); IGM arraigos page in its Wayback copy of 11 May 2026; IGM’s April 2024 notice on the online search (Wayback); AGN, 12 April 2024, for the first-quarter 2024 counts and the code delivery by email or text; Migration Code, Decreto 44-2016, Art. 61; Civil and Commercial Procedure Code, Decreto-Ley 107, Arts. 523-524, and Decreto 15-71 as annotated in the WIPO Lex copy of the Code (file dated 2014; later amendments not checked); IGM tariff Acuerdo IGM-029-2023 as reformed by IGM-039-2025. General information, not legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an arraigo stop me from entering Guatemala?
An arraigo is aimed at leaving, not arriving. The Instituto Guatemalteco de Migracion (IGM) defines it as a precautionary or coercive measure ordered by a competent judge that limits the person’s freedom to leave the country. Separately, Article 61 of the Migration Code (Decreto 44-2016) says no authority may deny a Guatemalan national entry to Guatemala. The practical risk for a visitor from the US is on the way back out.
Can I check for an arraigo from the United States?
Yes. The IGM’s arraigo search is an online form on its services portal (Control Migratorio, Consulta de arraigos). It asks for your first name, second name, both surnames, married surname if any, date of birth, and how you want the verification code sent. The Agencia Guatemalteca de Noticias reported that the code arrives by email or text message. The search is free.
Is a clean search result proof that I have no arraigo?
No. The IGM’s own terms say the search is not a legal certificate and its result is not a guarantee, because the system is updated constantly with new court orders. If you need a document, the IGM issues a certificate that the person has no arraigo in force at that moment, for US$10 under the IGM tariff (Acuerdo IGM-029-2023 as reformed by IGM-039-2025, numeral 4.2.2), valid for one year.
Can a child support case in Guatemala lead to an arraigo?
Yes. Article 524 of the Civil and Commercial Procedure Code has a specific rule for support (alimentos) cases: to lift the arraigo, the defendant must pay or deposit the legally due arrears and guarantee future payments for the time the judge sets. Appointing a representative, which lifts an ordinary civil arraigo, is not enough on its own in a support case.
Where is an arraigo lifted, at Migration or in court?
In court. The IGM says the person under arraigo must ask the judge who ordered the measure to lift it, by a written filing (memorial) with the guarantees the case requires. Article 524 of the Procedure Code then requires the judge to notify Migration of the lifting, on the judge’s own initiative and immediately.
How long does an arraigo last?
According to the IGM, a criminal arraigo has no expiry date and the other types last one year. For a civil arraigo under Article 523 of the Procedure Code, Decreto 15-71 sets one year from its registration at Migration, renewable a year at a time if the interested party asks the judge within the 30 days before it expires; otherwise Migration must cancel it.
