VisaGrenada port-of-entry visas require advance pre-clearance, embassy guidance says
Current guidance distinguishes visa exemption, advance visa issuance and port-of-entry pre-clearance, including US residence cards, student letters and document deadlines.
Official source date: 2026-10-29
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Three entry categories need different preparation
Travellers planning Grenada journeys should establish whether their nationality is visa-exempt, requires a visa before departure, or falls within the port-of-entry category before finalising travel. The Grenadian Embassy in Washington publishes separate instructions for the latter two routes. This is current explanatory reporting on those existing procedures, not a newly announced October visa restriction.
The embassy’s visitor-services page explicitly says US permanent residents are not exempt from visa requirements based on citizenship. It also says students and accompanying families attending St. George’s University must apply according to nationality; the university’s letter does not remove that requirement. A green card or acceptance letter can therefore be useful evidence without being the document that authorises the journey. Use the visitor-services resource to select the relevant application instructions.
Confirm the country-list entry and passport type
The embassy hosts an approved country table marked April 2024 that separates advance visas, port-of-entry issuance and exemptions. Examples in that table include advance applications for Afghanistan, Algeria and Bahrain, and port-of-entry treatment for Azerbaijan, Belarus and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It also distinguishes some ordinary-passport visits from diplomatic or official travel. Read the line corresponding to the actual citizenship and passport being used.
The date on that table is important: it is not a new 2026 announcement, and another publicly hosted April 2024 file has different entries. Where a passport’s treatment is unclear, obtain confirmation from the embassy or Grenada Immigration before relying on a downloaded list. A traveller should retain the response with the itinerary, especially where a carrier needs evidence that port-of-entry issuance is available. The table does not make arrival issuance an unconditional entitlement.
Port-of-entry issuance begins with pre-clearance
The embassy’s dedicated port-of-entry instructions require an application for a pre-clearance letter from Grenada’s Immigration and Passport Office. They recommend applying at least six weeks before departure and describe approximately ten business days’ processing after embassy receipt. The distinction is operationally significant: a category labelled port of entry still involves an advance administrative step, rather than simply arriving without preparation.
Those instructions request a signed application, a recent passport photograph attached to it, a colour passport data-page copy and accommodation confirmation. The passport must remain valid for at least six months after departure from Grenada; US permanent residents must also show permission to re-enter the United States. The document lists US$10 for pre-clearance, separate mailing charges where applicable, and arrival visa charges of EC$200 single entry or EC$375 multiple entry. Keep those currencies distinct and confirm the current collection arrangements with the embassy.
An advance visa has a different submission and budget
The separately published prior-to-arrival checklist requires application at least six weeks before departure and gives an approximate ten-business-day processing period. It calls for the applicant’s passport to accompany the application, two passport photographs no older than three months with one certified, and a completed form. Applicants mailing their passport should account for both application handling and return delivery before arranging another international journey.
This checklist lists US$200 for a single-entry visa and US$375 for multiple entry, with certified cheques, money orders, in-person cash or the government online payment service described. These US-dollar embassy charges should not be confused with the Eastern Caribbean-dollar figures in the arrival instructions. The embassy also retains a 2019 fee notice with lower figures. Confirm the amount for the chosen service rather than budgeting from that historical notice alone; no fresh fee amendment has been verified in this report.
Admission length and employment remain separate decisions
For full British-citizen passport holders, the UK government’s current entry guidance describes visa-free visits for a maximum of three months, six months’ passport validity after arrival, and the need to obtain an entry stamp. Use that passport-specific resource for the ordinary British visitor position; it does not replace nationality checks for other travellers.
After arrival, check the permission actually recorded and seek Immigration authorisation before it expires if more time is needed. The embassy’s visa instructions expressly separate a visa from Ministry of Labour permission to work. For an illustrative applicant with a US residence card and a nationality requiring advance clearance, the next action remains the appropriate Grenadian application, with the residence card supplied as supporting evidence. Neither the card nor an academic invitation settles visa eligibility, work rights or a guaranteed decision date.
