In short: A medical mission (jornada médica) needs an MSPAS authorization from DRACES. It is requested by a Guatemalan health institution or organisation, filed on paper at least 8 business days ahead, with a local health-area approval and a letter from the relevant Guatemalan professional college vouching for each foreign professional. Donated medicine is imported by the receiving Guatemalan entity under MSPAS’s “Importación de donativos” rules: the baggage allowance covers the traveller’s own needs, and donations need the receiving entity’s F-IP-r-01 import file. For safety, the US lists San Marcos, Huehuetenango, Zone 18 and Villa Nueva as Level 4. The UK warns against photographing children without permission and reports attacks linked to child-kidnapping fears.

This page is for church, school and medical teams planning a trip. The authorization steps are from the government’s Catálogo de Trámites entry for MSPAS. The medicine rules are from MSPAS’s own import requirements form. The safety advice is from the US State Department and UK Foreign Office. All were read on 24 September 2026. For the immigration side of volunteering, see our volunteering guide.

Medical brigades: the MSPAS authorization

The permit is the Solicitud de Autorización de Jornadas Médicas o de Salud. The catalogue describes it as a document “emitido por DRACES por medio del cual se autoriza el tipo de jornada, lugar, fecha y responsable de realizar dicha actividad”.

Who files, and when

  • The applicant is Guatemalan. The request letter comes from “la Institución de salud, hospital u organización nacional responsable”. So a foreign church or NGO needs a Guatemalan partner to sign it.
  • At least 8 business days ahead: “Esta solicitud debe presentarse por lo menos 8 días hábiles antes de realizar la jornada.”
  • On paper, at DRACES: Avenida Bolívar 28-07, zona 8, second floor, with the fee receipt.

The requirement list

#Document (as the catalogue lists it)
1Request letter from the responsible Guatemalan health institution, hospital or organisation, addressed to the head of DRACES
2Local authorization from the Coordinador(a) Municipal de Salud, with the approval (visto bueno) of the Director(a) de Área de Salud
3For brigades inside public hospitals: authorization from the hospital’s general director
4Commitment letter (carta compromiso) from the responsible medical professional
5Legalised copies (both sides) of the degrees of every professional and technician taking part
6Original certificate of active membership (colegiado activo) of the responsible professional
7List of participants: full name, profession, DPI number and colegiado number where applicable
8Sex-offender registry certificate (RENAS) — the catalogue says this applies to Guatemalan citizens
9Copy of the sanitary licence, if the responsible entity is a health establishment
10Letter from the relevant professional college “en la cual avala el ejercicio temporal de los profesionales extranjeros que participarán en la Jornada Médica o de Salud”

Item 10 is the one that concerns foreign doctors, nurses and dentists. Each foreign professional needs a Guatemalan college, such as the Colegio de Médicos, to vouch for temporary practice. Item 6 means the professional responsible for the brigade must be an active member of a Guatemalan college.

Time and cost

  • Response time: “5 días hábiles”, per the catalogue.
  • Cost: the catalogue contradicts itself. Its header lists the cost as Q0. Its steps say to pay the fee “de acuerdo a la tabla de aranceles” into Banrural account 3621014128 in the name of FONDO PRIVATIVO –DRACES-, and the legal basis it lists includes Acuerdo Gubernativo 53-2022, a fee schedule. We didn’t find the amount for a jornada, so ask DRACES before filing.

The legal basis the catalogue cites is the Código de Salud (Decreto 90-97), Acuerdo Gubernativo 115-99 (MSPAS internal regulation), Acuerdo Gubernativo 376-2007 (health-establishment regulation), Acuerdo Gubernativo 53-2022 and Norma Técnica 35-2019, “Autorización de Jornada Médica o de Salud”.

Donated medicine and supplies

Two rules decide how medicine for donation can enter the country.

1. What counts as baggage. The regional customs regulation (RECAUCA, art. 578) lets a traveller bring medicines as baggage “en cantidades acordes con las circunstancias y necesidades del viajero”. Donations are for other people’s needs; that wording covers the traveller’s own.

2. How donations are imported. MSPAS’s import requirements form (F-IP-r-01) has a section, “4. Importación de donativos”. The file is in the name of the Guatemalan entity that receives the donation. It needs:

  • Payment of the import procedure fee (Boleta V-CC-G-001 and a copy of Recibo 63-A2).
  • Two sets of invoices or two product lists, each with a list number and, for every product, the international non-proprietary name, description, quantity and expiry date. They must be signed in blue ink and sealed by “el representante legal de la entidad que recibe el donativo”.
  • Form F-SI-d-04, signed and sealed by that legal representative.
  • A copy of the entity’s constitution (the first time it imports donations, or after changes), and its legal representative’s appointment with a REPEJU certificate.
  • For controlled substances: a letter committing to monthly reports to MSPAS’s controlled-substances section.

Short-dated stock. The form notes that donated products with less than one year of shelf life need a letter from the legal representative. It commits the entity not to use them after expiry and to destroy them.

What this means for planning: the baggage allowance covers the traveller’s own needs; donations need the receiving entity’s F-IP-r-01 import file, so they go through your Guatemalan partner. The product list must show each item’s expiry date.

Travelling as a group: the immigration side

The Código de Migración has a category for “Grupos artísticos, culturales, religiosos, deportivos o educativos que viajan juntos bajo la responsabilidad de una persona determinada.” That fits a church mission or school service trip. Our volunteering guide quotes the article and what it leaves out; it publishes no fee, form or requirement list. Individual volunteers on a tourist stay are covered there too.

Safety: what the US and UK advise

US State Department (advisory issued 12 March 2026): Guatemala is Level 3, reconsider travel. These areas are Level 4, do not travel, “due to crime and terrorism by cartels, gangs, and criminal organizations”:

  • San Marcos department
  • Huehuetenango department
  • Zone 18 of Guatemala City and the city of Villa Nueva

The advisory adds that US government employees may not travel to those four areas. Check your destination’s department against this list before booking.

UK Foreign Office, on photographs, verbatim: “Do not take photographs without permission, especially of children. This is particularly important in more remote areas such as Quiché, Petén, San Marcos and Chiquimula provinces. There have been attacks related to accusations and fears of child kidnapping for adoption or theft of vital organs. Foreigners have been caught up in the violence.”

For teams working with children, that warning belongs in the team briefing. Photograph children only with a parent’s permission.

For crime by department, see our safety page. For health services and MSPAS contacts, see our MSPAS page.

Planning checklist

  1. Pick the Guatemalan partner that will sign the DRACES request and receive any donations.
  2. Check the destination against the US Level 4 list.
  3. Get the professional-college letters for every foreign clinician, and a Guatemalan colegiado to be the responsible professional.
  4. File the DRACES authorization at least 8 business days before the jornada; confirm the fee first.
  5. Import donated medicine through the partner under F-IP-r-01 section 4, with expiry dates on the list.
  6. Brief the team on the UK’s photography warning.

Sources

MSPAS updates its forms; check the version in force before filing. Information current as of 24 September 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do foreign doctors need permission to run a medical mission in Guatemala?

Yes. The Ministry of Health (MSPAS), through its department DRACES, issues a Solicitud de Autorización de Jornadas Médicas o de Salud. The request comes from a Guatemalan health institution, hospital or organisation responsible for the brigade. It must be filed at least 8 business days before the jornada, and for foreign professionals it needs a letter from the relevant Guatemalan professional college vouching for their temporary practice.

How long does MSPAS take to authorize a medical brigade, and what does it cost?

The government’s Catálogo de Trámites lists a response time of 5 business days. On cost it contradicts itself: the header says Q0, while the steps tell you to pay the fee set in the tariff table (Acuerdo Gubernativo 53-2022) into a DRACES account at Banrural. Ask DRACES which applies before you file.

Can we bring donated medicine to Guatemala in our luggage?

Baggage rules only cover medicines ’en cantidades acordes con las circunstancias y necesidades del viajero’ — in quantities matching the traveller’s own circumstances and needs. Donated medicine is a separate import. MSPAS’s import requirements (form F-IP-r-01, section 4, ‘Importación de donativos’) put the file in the name of the entity that receives the donation, signed by its legal representative, with a product list showing each item’s expiry date.

Is it safe to go on a mission trip to Guatemala?

The US rates Guatemala Level 3 (reconsider travel), and Level 4 (do not travel) for San Marcos and Huehuetenango departments, Zone 18 of Guatemala City and Villa Nueva (advisory issued 12 March 2026). The UK Foreign Office warns against photographing children without permission and reports attacks linked to child-kidnapping fears, naming remote areas such as Quiché, Petén, San Marcos and Chiquimula as where this is particularly important.

What visa does a church mission team need?

The Código de Migración has a category for artistic, cultural, religious, sports or educational groups travelling together under one named person’s responsibility. Our volunteering guide quotes it and what it does and doesn’t say, including that it publishes no fee or form.