For the more than a million Guatemalans in the US calling home to parents in Quetzaltenango, kids in Guatemala City, or abuelos in the highlands, this is how you reach any phone in Guatemala from your browser.
Your first call to Guatemala is on us: $1.00 in free credit when you sign up, no card needed.
Rates updated October 31, 2026
To reach a Guatemala number from the United States, dial these three parts in order.
011 502 5123 4567
From any mobile, anywhere in the world, you can dial +502 5123 4567 instead. Press and hold 0 to type the +, and the phone picks the right access code for wherever you are.
Numbers in Guatemala carry no leading trunk digit, so there is nothing to strip. 5123 4567 is dialed exactly as written, with +502 in front. Removing a digit here is what makes the call fail.
A Guatemala mobile number is 8 digits after +502. If a call does not connect, count the digits first.
Only the first part changes. Your access code replaces the 011, then 502 and the number stay exactly the same.
A ~ means wait for the second dial tone before dialing the rest. It is not a digit you press.
Your first call to Guatemala is on us: every new account starts with $1.00 in free credit, no card needed. After that, calls to Guatemala are $0.38 a minute, billed by the minute with no connection fee, no monthly plan, and no minimum spend. You top up prepaid credit from $5, and it never expires.
Only for the time you actually talk.
Top up once, use it whenever.
Any number, nothing to install.
The overwhelming inbound flow is the United States to Guatemala, driven by one of the largest Central American diasporas. Los Angeles County alone is home to roughly 175,600 Guatemalans, the biggest concentration outside Guatemala, with more in neighboring Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties - Migration Policy Institute. About 29% of Guatemalan immigrants live in California, with other large communities across Texas (Houston), Florida (Miami and South Florida), New York City, Maryland, Washington D.C., Chicago and the Phoenix-Tucson corridor in Arizona. Many callers speak indigenous Maya languages such as Mam, K'iche' and Q'anjob'al at home, not only Spanish, and are calling the western highlands departments (the 7-prefix zones) more than the capital. The scale is staggering: Guatemalans abroad sent close to $20 billion in remittances in 2023, about 19-20% of Guatemala's GDP - World Bank. Behind almost every one of those transfers is a phone call arranging it. Secondary inbound flows come from Mexico, Canada and Spain, and from Guatemalans working elsewhere in Central America.
From inside Guatemala the international access code is 00, so a Guatemalan dials 00 + country code + number to call abroad (for the US, that is 00 1 then the 10-digit number) - Wikipedia. The dominant outbound destination is the United States, mirroring the diaspora: a mother in Solol谩 or San Marcos calling a son in Los Angeles. Mexico is the next big one, given the shared border and heavy trade and migration ties, followed by El Salvador and Honduras (the shared Central American labor and family space) and Spain. Because local prepaid credit runs down fast and international minutes from a Guatemalan SIM are costly, families often prefer the person abroad to call in, which is exactly what InternationalCall.co makes easy: you place the call from your browser and the relative in Guatemala simply answers, needing no credit and no app.
From the US or Canada, dial 011 (the exit code), then 502 (Guatemala), then the 8-digit number. From most other countries dial 00 or your local exit code instead of 011.
With InternationalCall.co you skip the exit code entirely: just enter +502 and the 8 digits in your browser, and it connects.
Do not add or remove any 0: Guatemala has no trunk prefix and no area codes, so the 8 digits you see are the whole number.
Check the first digit to know what you are calling: 2 or 6 is a Guatemala City landline, 7 is a landline elsewhere, and 3, 4 or 5 is a mobile.
Guatemalan numbers are always 8 digits, no more and no less - Wikipedia. If you are holding a 7-digit number it predates the 18 September 2004 switch to 8 digits and will not connect; you need the current version (an extra 2, 6, 7 or 5 was added on that date). There is no trunk 0 to drop, unlike many countries, so never strip a leading digit. Avoid dialing 1-800 / 1-801 Guatemalan toll-free numbers from abroad: they are built for in-country callers and usually fail from a foreign network, so use the standard +502 geographic or mobile line instead.
The single most Guatemala-specific hurdle is extortion. Guatemalans are wary of calls from unknown numbers because extortion by phone (la extorsi贸n) is a daily reality, and a large share of it is run from inside prisons. Police have reported that around 70% of extortion calls originate in prisons, and one facility, the Granja Penal Cantel in Quetzaltenango, was pinpointed as the source of roughly 47% of all extortion calls in the country - InSight Crime. The practical effect for you: a Guatemalan may let an unfamiliar international number ring out, so it helps enormously if family knows to expect your call, or recognizes it after the first try.
A recent numbering reform still trips people up when reading old numbers. Guatemala moved from 7 digits to 8 digits at 00:00 on 18 September 2004 - Wikipedia. Old landlines gained a leading 2, 6 or 7 by zone and old mobiles gained a leading 5, so any 7-digit Guatemalan number you find on a decades-old business card, letter or website is incomplete and will not connect. If a number has only 7 digits, it predates the reform and you need the current 8-digit version.
The carrier landscape narrowed sharply. Guatemala is now effectively a Tigo (Millicom) and Claro (Am茅rica M贸vil) market after Claro absorbed Movistar Guatemala, a deal that closed in January 2019 with the brand switching to Claro from October 2019 - Developing Telecoms. Coverage is uneven: Tigo reaches deepest into rural highlands (Lake Atitl谩n, the western highlands), while Claro is strongest in cities and along main highways. In remote villages a mobile may sit without signal for hours, so a missed call there is often about geography, not avoidance.
Aggressive operator spam is normal. Local SIMs receive a steady stream of promotional SMS from the carriers themselves throughout the day, which conditions people to ignore unknown senders. That, plus the extortion backdrop, is why a warm, expected voice call from a recognized caller lands far better than a cold ring.
Every Guatemalan number is exactly 8 digits with no area codes and no trunk prefix - Wikipedia. This is unusually simple: there is no 0 to add or drop inside the country, and no city code to look up. Written in full international form it is +502 followed by the 8 digits, often grouped as +502 5xxx xxxx or +502 2xxx xxxx.
The first digit is the whole story. A leading 2 or 6 means a Guatemala City fixed line (2 for the metropolitan zone, 6 for the suburban metro area). A leading 7 is a fixed line in a department outside the capital, covering cities like Quetzaltenango, Escuintla, Antigua Guatemala, Cob谩n and Huehuetenango - Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones. A leading 3, 4 or 5 means a mobile, and mobiles are non-geographic, so a 5-number does not tell you whether the person is in the capital or a mountain village.
Because there are no in-country area codes, you never prepend anything for a domestic call: a Guatemalan simply dials the 8 digits whether the other party is next door or across the country. That also means the only thing standing between you and the line is the +502 and getting all eight digits right.
Practically, you will reach people on mobiles. Guatemala leapfrogged heavily into cellular, and fixed lines starting 2, 6 or 7 are now mostly offices, older households in the capital, hotels and government desks. A 3, 4 or 5 mobile is where family, small businesses and most working adults actually answer - Wikipedia.
With InternationalCall.co you dial either kind straight from your browser, no app and no SIM, and the person you are calling needs nothing on their end: their phone just rings like any local call. That matters in Guatemala, where a relative on a prepaid Tigo or Claro line in a village may have little or no credit to call you back. You carry the cost; they simply pick up.
One reachability note tied to coverage: if a 7-prefix department line or a rural 5-mobile does not connect on the first try, it is frequently a signal gap in the highlands rather than a wrong number. Trying again an hour later, or aiming for a time the person is likely in town, often gets through.
Guatemala uses short 3-digit emergency numbers that are free and not billable: 110 and 120 for police (PNC), 122 and 123 for firefighters (bomberos), and 128 for the IGSS social-security ambulance - Wikipedia. These only work from inside Guatemala, so you cannot dial 110 from abroad to reach Guatemalan police; you would need the relevant institution's full 8-digit line.
Banks, ministries and larger companies publish toll-free 1-800 numbers (redirected lines) and 1-801 local toll-free numbers for in-country callers - Wikipedia. A 1-800 or 1-801 number is designed for someone dialing from within Guatemala and often will not complete from a foreign network, so to reach a Guatemalan bank or agency from the US you generally want its standard +502 2xxx xxxx Guatemala City landline instead.
Expect Guatemala City (2 / 6 prefix) hours: most offices, banks and government desks run roughly 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, with a real lunch pause. Calling a 2-prefix office line at 3pm local time is far more reliable than trying at 6pm.
The extortion backdrop shapes how Guatemalans treat the phone more than in most countries. Because so many extortion attempts come as cold calls from prison-smuggled phones - InSight Crime, a call from an unrecognized number, especially an international one, is often met with suspicion or simply ignored. Authorities have periodically pushed carriers to block cell signals inside prisons, with mixed results - InSight Crime.
There is also a well-known international angle: the classic one-ring (Wangiri) callback scam, where a number rings once to bait an expensive callback, has repeatedly used international codes - FCC. Guatemalans with family abroad are primed for it, which is another reason an expected, recurring call from a caller they know is the way to stay out of the ignore pile.
The telecom sector itself has a checkered trust record: Tigo Guatemala's operator paid over $118 million in 2024 to resolve a US foreign-bribery investigation - US Department of Justice. None of this changes how you dial, but it explains why Guatemalans lean on personal recognition over caller ID alone.
Guatemala sits on Central Standard Time, UTC-6, all year, with no daylight saving - Wikipedia. So the offset from the US shifts seasonally on the US side only. From November to March, Guatemala matches US Central Time exactly and is 1 hour behind Eastern. From March to November, when the US springs forward, Guatemala is 1 hour behind Central and 2 hours behind Eastern, while lining up with US Mountain Time.
For family in rural departments (the 7-prefix zones and rural 5-mobiles), life runs early: farm and market days start at dawn, so early morning or the 6pm to 9pm evening window in Guatemala is often when people are home, fed and free to talk. In Guatemala City, evenings after work and weekends are easiest.
A concrete anchor: at 7pm on the US East Coast in summer, it is 5pm in Guatemala, a comfortable time to reach almost anyone. There is no cheaper hour to call, since InternationalCall.co charges one flat per-minute rate to Guatemala regardless of time of day, so pick the time the person is most likely to actually answer, not the clock.
Exactly 8 digits, always, whether mobile or landline, with no area code and no trunk prefix. In full international form it is +502 plus those 8 digits - Wikipedia.
Look at the first digit. 3, 4 or 5 is a mobile; 2 or 6 is a Guatemala City landline; 7 is a landline in a department outside the capital such as Quetzaltenango or Escuintla - Wikipedia. With InternationalCall.co you dial mobiles and landlines the same way, from your browser.
No. Guatemala has no trunk 0 and no area codes, so there is nothing to drop or add: after +502 you dial the full 8-digit number exactly as written - Wikipedia.
Guatemala switched from 7 to 8 digits on 18 September 2004. Old landlines gained a leading 2, 6 or 7 and old mobiles gained a leading 5, so any 7-digit number is outdated and will not connect until you have the current 8-digit version - Wikipedia.
Phone extortion is a serious problem, with police reporting that most extortion calls come from inside prisons (one facility, Cantel, was linked to nearly half of them) - InSight Crime. Many Guatemalans ignore unfamiliar numbers as a result, so let family know to expect your call, or call again so they recognize you.
Guatemala is on UTC-6 year-round with no daylight saving - Wikipedia. It matches US Central Time in winter, and in summer sits 1 hour behind Central and 2 hours behind Eastern. There is no cheaper time to call: the per-minute rate to Guatemala is flat all day, so pick the hour the person will answer.
Your first call is on us. Sign up for $1.00 in free credit, no card needed, and dial any Guatemala number right from your browser.
Start calling