How to make an appointment at the Salvadoran consulate in the US

Salvadoran consulate phone number: Virtual Consulate and WhatsApp

The official number for appointments and questions is the Virtual Consulate: 1-888-301-1130, toll-free from the US and Canada. The Foreign Ministry's official directory lists this same number for every Salvadoran consulate in the US.

Official sources don't say which time zone the Virtual Consulate hours use. If you see “1-800-301-1130” in a press release, that's a typo: the portal and the directory use 1-888-301-1130.

We found no official 24/7 emergency line. For detained relatives, repatriation, or missing family members, see our emergencies page.

Can you go to the Salvadoran consulate without an appointment?

There's no official walk-in policy for regular consulate offices, so the safe move is to book first. The official channels are the Appointment Portal and the Virtual Consulate.

Posts saying “you no longer need an appointment” come from temporary campaigns. For example, the Charlotte consulate took DUI walk-ins from October 13 to November 5, 2023, and only during that campaign.

Where walk-ins are the norm is at mobile consulates and some special service days, which usually serve people first-come, first-served. They're announced on each consulate's official social media, in Foreign Ministry news, and on the portal itself.

If you still plan to show up without an appointment, call the Virtual Consulate first and ask whether your consulate can see you that day. Regular consulates are generally open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., per the official directory.

Spanish words you'll see on the appointment portal

The portal is only in Spanish. If you're booking for a parent or relative, this is what the key buttons and options mean:

Under Citas programadas you can resend the confirmation email, change the email address, reschedule, or cancel. Every change is confirmed by email.

One catch: appointments for extraordinary service days and mobile consulates can't be rescheduled. If you booked one and can't make it, ask the Virtual Consulate about your options.

Each appointment covers one procedure. Before booking, check whether you even need to go in: since July 2026, US residents can renew or replace a DUI online with no appointment.

How to avoid appointment scams

Appointments are free, and nobody may charge you to get one. By law, consulates can only charge the fees in the Consular Fee Schedule (Art. 218-bis of the Consular Service Organic Law). You pay for the procedure, not the appointment.

Red flags:

• Someone asks for money to “get you” an appointment or a spot in line.
• The website doesn't end in rree.gob.sv. Look-alike sites ending in .com or .us are not official, and some give wrong information, such as saying the DUI is free.
• You're sent to a portal that doesn't exist, such as “miconsulado.mrree.gob.sv.”

In 2022, the Chicago consulate warned about outsiders charging people at mobile consulates. Official fees for every procedure are on our fees page.

Common mistakes and scams

• Paying a “fixer” or an unofficial website for an appointment: booking is free.
• Mistaking look-alike .com or .us sites for the official one: official addresses end in rree.gob.sv.
• Booking one appointment for two procedures, like a DUI and a passport.
• Signing up with an email you don't check: confirmations and change notices go there.
• Showing up without original documents, or with a birth certificate older than 12 months when the procedure needs a recent one.
• Walking in to a regular consulate because of an old post about a temporary no-appointment campaign.