Valle Nuevo (Guatemala) and Las Chinamas (El Salvador) are the two sides of the crossing on the CA-8, in Jalpatagua, Jutiapa, and it is the one the international buses name. Every Guatemala City to San Salvador departure that names a border on Tica Bus’s and Transporte del Sol’s own timetables names this one. It was also IGM’s busiest land post over Semana Santa 2026. The offices at this crossing do not all keep the same hours, and this page sets them side by side. Everything was read on 1 October 2026 unless dated otherwise.

Quick summary

  • Where: SAT’s customs post sits at Km 129 of the CA-8, Caserío Valle Nuevo, Jalpatagua, Jutiapa. IGM’s delegations map (2020 file, archived October 2022) gives 121 km, 2:30 hours by road from Guatemala City; El Salvador puts Las Chinamas 120 km from San Salvador.
  • Guatemalan side: customs lane 24 hours, every day; customs office Mon-Fri 08:00-16:00 (SAT). IGM publishes no hours.
  • Salvadoran side: migration 24/7 (DGME), but customs 05:00 to midnight (DGA).
  • Buses: Tica Bus USD 20-35 (four departures), Transporte del Sol USD 35-52, both naming this crossing.
  • Driving: SAT lists tourist permits here; loaded cargo over eight tonnes is not allowed through, by Salvadoran restriction.
  • Fees: Guatemala charges no exit fee; see border-run costs.

Who is open when

Customs postWhere it isHours, as SAT publishes them
Aduana Valle Nuevo
Región Sur		Kilómetro 129 de la Carretera Centroamericana número CA-8. Caserío Valle Nuevo, Municipio de Jalpatagua, Departamento de Jutiapa. Tel. (502) 23297070 Ext. 6180 al 6182.
Services: Despacho de mercancías (importación, exportación y permisos de turista, por restricción de la aduana Salvadoreña no se permite transporte de carga lleno mayor a las ocho toneladas).		En el área administrativa: de lunes a viernes, de 08:00 a 16:00 horas.
En el área operativa: de lunes a domingo, las 24 horas.

Source: SAT, Ubicación y horario de Aduanas · read by our collector on 2026-10-01 (27 customs posts in the file). Hours are quoted in Spanish exactly as SAT publishes them. SAT publishes no queue or wait time, and neither does IGM.

OfficeAgencyPublished hours
Valle Nuevo customs, operative area (Guatemala)SATMonday to Sunday, 24 hours
Valle Nuevo customs, administrative areaSATMonday to Friday, 08:00-16:00
Valle Nuevo migration delegationIGMNo hours published
Las Chinamas migrationDGME (El Salvador)24/7
Las Chinamas customs, Cantón Las Chinamas, Puente El Jobo, Ahuachapán Centro (tel. 2237-5331)DGA (El Salvador)Monday to Sunday, 05:00 to 12:00 midnight

How to read it. Both countries’ migration listings and SAT’s Guatemalan lane run around the clock. If your crossing involves Salvadoran customs, for example because you are driving, the Salvadoran customs office lists a window that closes at midnight and reopens at 05:00. That gap appears only on the Salvadoran customs page. If you need SAT’s administrative desk rather than the lane, it works weekdays only, in office hours.

Getting there by bus

Two operators print this crossing in the Frontera column of their own timetables:

OperatorDeparts (Guatemala City)ClassOne wayBorder named
Tica Bus05:30 dailyServicio DiamanteUSD 35Valle Nuevo y Las Chinamas
Tica Bus06:30 dailystandardUSD 20Valle Nuevo y Las Chinamas
Tica Bus14:00 dailyServicio DiamanteUSD 35Valle Nuevo y Las Chinamas
Tica Bus16:30 Mon-FristandardUSD 20Valle Nuevo y Las Chinamas
Transporte del Sol, from Hotel Las Américas (zone 13)05:30 and 14:00 dailyBrillante 1ra ClaseUSD 52 (USD 100 return)Las Chinamas
Transporte del Sol, from Hotel Las Américas (zone 13)05:30, 14:00 and 18:00 dailyEjecutivoUSD 35 (USD 70 return)Las Chinamas
Transporte del Sol, from Best Western Plus Stofela06:00 and 14:30 dailyBrillante 1ra Clase / EjecutivoUSD 52 / USD 35Las Chinamas

Tica Bus’s timetable gives a 6-hour gap between departure and arrival on each of these runs (05:30 to 11:30, for example). Terminals, the Pullmantur and Comfort Lines services (which do not name a border) and the full fare comparison are on Guatemala City to San Salvador. The shuttle from Antigua to the Salvadoran beaches does not name its crossing; see Antigua to El Tunco.

Coming back: Tica Bus’s El Salvador to Guatemala rows name the same crossing the other way round, Las Chinamas / Valle Nuevo, including a daily 05:30 Servicio Diamante at USD 35 and a 07:00 Monday to Friday departure at USD 20.

Driving across

  • Tourist permits: SAT’s directory lists permisos de turista among Valle Nuevo’s services. On this border only Valle Nuevo and La Ermita (Anguiatú) list them; Pedro de Alvarado and San Cristóbal list goods clearance only. The Guatemalan permit itself is explained in our foreign-plated vehicle guide.
  • Weight limit: SAT’s entry for Valle Nuevo says that, because of a restriction imposed by the Salvadoran customs, loaded cargo transport over eight tonnes is not allowed through.
  • Pre-check on the Salvadoran side: El Salvador’s migration service lists a pre-check point (punto de prechequeo) at the Bypass petrol station, km 92.5, half a kilometre from the Escalante bridge, on the road to the border in Ahuachapán.
  • The bridge that was promised: under a binational plan for three new four-lane border bridges, Guatemala took on a new El Jobo bridge at Valle Nuevo. Prensa Libre reported on 12 June 2026, citing infrastructure analyst Delfino Mendoza, that the project had not reached construction: the existing bridge was only repaired, and the engineering studies contracted in 2018 were never finished. El Salvador took on the other two, at Anguiatú and at Pedro de Alvarado.
  • UK travel advice for El Salvador (updated 17 June 2026) asks drivers to take particular care going to or from the border with Guatemala, reporting violent attacks on vehicles, particularly on the Guatemalan side, with criminals often targeting cars on Salvadoran plates; it also says private bus companies are considered safer than public buses for crossing borders.

Documents

IGM named this crossing in its Semana Santa bulletin of 14 April 2025: at high-traffic posts such as Pedro de Alvarado and Valle Nuevo it reminded travellers that a valid passport or a Guatemalan DPI is indispensable for travelling on to El Salvador. Guatemala charges no exit fee, and the UK’s El Salvador advice states the CA-4 rule plainly: the 90-day period starts when you enter any of the four countries and does not restart when you cross borders. The rules and the costs are on the CA-4 border run and border-run costs.

How busy it is

  • Guatemalan count: IGM recorded 105,641 people through Valle Nuevo over Semana Santa 2026 (47,834 in, 57,807 out), the most of any land post. The full holiday record is on border wait-times.
  • Salvadoran count: El Salvador’s land-entry figures for the first half of 2026, as reported by Infobae on 28 July 2026, put Las Chinamas at 325,194 entries in January to March (second, behind San Cristóbal) and first in April to June with 305,700. Las Chinamas also led exits in January to March with 297,569.

These are totals, not queue times. No agency on either side publishes a live wait.

What is not published

  • Crossing or queue times, by SAT, IGM, DGME or DGA.
  • IGM’s hours for its Valle Nuevo delegation.
  • A journey time per departure on Transporte del Sol’s timetable.
  • Whether the Salvadoran customs gap (midnight to 05:00) affects bus passengers: the DGA lists office hours, not who must be processed by customs.

Sources