Ready
From the book: Chapter 35: If It Doesn't Work Out
Moving Back to the US
Official forms and links that go with Chapter 35. Checked October 2026.
In the book: Chapter 35
The chapter covers what to do if El Salvador turns out not to be the right fit:
- How to tell a hard year from a wrong move, and the list that helps you decide
- Middle paths to try before you pack: another region, renting, or splitting the year
- What happens to a Repatriación car if you sell it or ship it out before two years are up
- Selling property, keeping or closing bank accounts, and your residency when you go
- Landing back in the US: your belongings, your car, health coverage, Medicare, and Social Security
Bringing your belongings back (as of October 2026)
- US Customs and Border Protection (CBP): household items and personal effects
- CBP Form 3299, Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles (edition 05/24)
- Customs regulation for household effects used abroad (19 CFR 148.52)
Bringing your car back (as of October 2026)
- CBP: importing a motor vehicle, including re-importing a vehicle you took from the US
- CBP: US residents importing and exporting vehicles
- EPA Form 3520-1 and other import declaration forms, US Environmental Protection Agency
- Importing a vehicle and Form HS-7, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Department of Transportation)
Health coverage and Medicare (as of October 2026)
- HealthCare.gov: special enrollment periods, including moving to the US from a foreign country
- Medicare: when coverage starts, including the General Enrollment Period (January 1 to March 31)
- Medicare: special enrollment periods for drug plans and Medicare Advantage
Accounts you keep in El Salvador (as of October 2026)
Repatriación rules (as of October 2026)
- Our Repatriación Benefit page: status, official documents, and customs contacts
- Beneficios para la diáspora (in Spanish), Customs (DGA)
- DACG No. DGA-011-2026, as modified (PDF, in Spanish): the customs rules for the benefit
- The diaspora law, official text (PDF, in Spanish): Decreto Legislativo No. 375, Diario Oficial No. 148, Tomo 448, August 11, 2025
- Customs (DGA) Departamento de Atención al Usuario: phone 2244-5182, WhatsApp 7073-8768, [email protected] (as published in DACG-011-2026)
Last checked: October 2026
The book behind these resources
Moving to El Salvador
One family's real move, turned into a clear, step-by-step roadmap.
Paperwork and residency. Banking and taxes. Shipping a household, finding a home, schools, health care, and getting around. Written for those returning home and those arriving for the first time.