The municipality and the offices involved
Porlamar belongs to the Municipio Mariño, in Nueva Esparta, and its Concejo Municipal (municipal council) sits there. Its gazettes call it Municipio General en Jefe Santiago Mariño; the tax portal and SAREN (the national registries and notaries service) say Mariño. Pampatar (Municipio Maneiro) and Juan Griego (Municipio Marcano) have their own alcaldía (city hall) and their own Registro Público (public registry). Confirm the municipality in the title document.
We did not find an active official website for the alcaldía. Tax procedures are done at porlamar.sigat.net, the portal of the municipality's Administración Tributaria (tax administration), which publishes the ordinances. The tax ordinance calls it Dirección de Administración Tributaria (article 4).
| Procedure | Office | Published address |
|---|---|---|
| Ficha catastral (cadastral record) and municipal registration of the property | Dirección de Catastro Municipal (municipal cadastre office) | porlamar.sigat.net portal (no separate address published) |
| Tax (for the solvencia, or municipal tax clearance, see below) | Dirección de Administración Tributaria | Portal contact: Calle San Rafael, C.C. Bellas Vista, Alcaldía de Mariño, 1er piso, sector Genovés, Porlamar |
| Recording the sale | Registro Público del Municipio Mariño | Urb. Sabana Mar, Av. Rómulo Betancourt, al lado del INTT y el CICPC |
| Authenticating an option or a power of attorney | Notaría Pública Primera de Porlamar | Av. Santiago Mariño, Edif. Santa Cruz III, mezzanina |
| Authenticating an option or a power of attorney | Notaría Pública Segunda de Porlamar | Av. 4 de Mayo, C.C. Galerías Cente (SAREN's spelling), piso 1, locales G3 y G4 |
Registro and Notarías (notary offices): office finder of SAREN, October 2026. Confirm them before you go.
Cédula catastral and solvencia municipal
The ordinances say ficha catastral; the portal, Cédula Catastral (cadastral certificate) or Certificado de Empadronamiento (registration certificate). According to its guide, the procedure is online:
The Ordenanza sobre Tasas por Servicios Administrativos (administrative fees ordinance; Gaceta Municipal No. E-321-23, December 28, 2023) sets the fees as multiples of the exchange rate of the BCV's (Central Bank of Venezuela) highest-value currency (tipo de cambio de la moneda de mayor valor, TCMMV), at the value in force on the day of payment (article 10):
| Procedure | Fee | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Issuing the ficha catastral | 15 TCMMV | 22 |
| Updating the data on the ficha catastral | 10 TCMMV | 22 |
| Application to register the property (Catastro) | 15 TCMMV | 22 |
| Solvencias | 5 TCMMV | 20 |
Article 20 also lists a "fee for registration in the property registry" of 15 TCMMV for Administración Tributaria. It is not clear whether it is charged in addition to the Catastro fee: ask before paying. The planillas (payment forms) are valid only on the day they are issued (article 13).
Who issues the solvencia: according to the tax ordinance, the Dirección de Catastro (article 26); the fees ordinance places "Solvencias" among the Administración Tributaria fees (article 20). The portal does not explain how to request it: ask at the alcaldía. Without it the Registro does not record the sale (article 97 of the Ley de Registros y Notarías, the Registries and Notaries Law). General rules: solvencia municipal and cédula catastral.
After buying, the tax ordinance requires notifying the Dirección de Catastro of the change of owner within 15 business days (article 7) and registering the property in the Registro de Inmuebles (property registry) within the 30 days after the purchase (article 10), with a copy of the title document, the plano de mensura (survey plan), the cédula (national ID card) or RIF and payment of the fee (article 12). The fines are 50 TCMMV for not notifying (article 46) and 80 TCMMV for not registering (article 45). In propiedad horizontal (condominium property) each apartment has its own account (article 19).
The Impuesto sobre Inmuebles Urbanos (municipal property tax)
The reform in Gaceta Municipal No. E-319-23 (December 26, 2023) is in force, and it repeals the ordinance of October 2020 (article 56):
We do not cite the values per m²: in several tables the zone A column is out of proportion with the others (in one it is six times column B, in another 1.2 times). Ask Catastro for the cadastral value.
Rebates and exemptions:
There is no automatic increase clause, but the amounts in TCMMV track the BCV rate in bolívares. We did not find a later reform. More in the guide to the municipal property tax.