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Hello, we are planning to bring many household items in our suitcases, is anyone aware of restrictions we need to be concerned about. We are planning on paying the extra charge with the airlines, but don’t want to risk anything being confiscated because it’s not allowed. Thanks
You need to check with Costa Rican Customs if you plan to bring guns, drugs, toxic chemicals, live animals, seeds, bulbs, etc., food, and anything in quantity sufficient to make them suspect that it’s for resale.
On each of my last 8 trips to Costa Rica, I have 100 pounds of “stuff” that comprised the following household items: a 25-pound travertine sink, 50 oil rubbed kitchen knobs, doorknobs, every imaginable kitchen utensil including many knives in various sizes, kitchen spices, small light fixtures, pots, pans, towels, bedding, all kinds of my favorite organic shampoos, and assorted odds and ends. One time I even brought with me one of my husband’s turquoise mosaic buffalo skulls complete with horns, and nobody at custom’s checked my bags or even blinked an eye. They did stop me once when I had five pounds of elk tenderloin packed in dry ice, risotto rice, porcini mushrooms and a big hunk of reggiano, but they let me through with a shrug of their shoulders. Unless you are bringing in 50 toasters, or anything on the list previously mentioned, you should be fine.
Is it necessary to itemize & assign a value to each item on the customs form that is provided by the airline?
I will be setting up an office on this trip & will be bringing a computer, flat-screen monitors, printer, telephone, router & other small office equipment. Is there any additiional paperwork required for this?
only once did i fill out a customs form and that was to list the buffalo skull and the travertine sink. i valued each at $300, i think. they barely looked at it and waved me through. they expect that people bring computers, laptops, etc. I wouldn’t worry about customs for things like that. i’d worry more about the thugs at TSA who will rifle through your luggage, as they did mine on every single trip.
Just hold onto your receipts for anything you purchase in the US or elsewhere to bring to CR… and above ALL be POLITE if they ask you about it at the customs (x-ray) screenings in the luggage area. There is a dollar limit (about $500 I think) which you won’t hit if you’re smart… I’ve never had to declare or use my allowance. I’ve brought TONS of stuff in… ceiling fans… tools… and even a dehumidifier (took it apart and had it in three different suit cases!)… no problem ever!
Just a tip… but if you’re arriving at SJO… get on the line with the middle age male “screener”… he usually has on headphones (ipod) and spends very little time looking at the screen. I’ve been asked only once about the ceiling fans… I nicely told them they were for my home, showed a reciept, and smiled… they waved me through!
I’d guess if they think you’re bringing in commercial goods for resale you’ll have a bigger problem… for 99% of the other stuff… it’s not going to be a problem… more likely the THUGS at TSA will steal from you prior to your bags getting on the plane!
I read a funny letter to the editor on AM Costa Rica a while back about a guy from NY who had problems with bringing in baseball caps… for a “boys” party for him and a bunch of guys… he got nasty… demanded someone that spoke english…demanded a supervisor… and as you guessed… he had a VERY bad experience.
A smile goes a LONG way… I tell everyone that visits CR… getting nasty and raising your voice is like slapping someone…
Maybe I have that female advantage, but on my october trip, I had four boxes and pieces of luggage weighing 65 pounds each, loaded down with all kinds of household goods along with the Monet glass mosaic mural for my bathroom. The customs agent saw me struggling with the bags as I tried to get them off the trolley and onto the conveyor belt. I smiled and asked politely if someone could help me. The agent looked at his buddy behind him and asked him to please offload my boxes. The guy said he didn’t want to hurt his back lifting those things, so they let me go through customs without even xraying my stuff!!!! Meanwhile, TSA had rifled through everything, including the boxes with the mosaic in them, all marked fragile and boxed up as tight as they could be. I was lucky that nothing was broken because TSA doens’t much care about putting things back the way they found them.
My daughter recently returned to C.R. with 3 large bags – one was a hockey goalie equipment bag with 20 fairly unusual life jackets in it that I got them for their business. She was expecting to have to pay something but they waved her through after asking her what they were for. (They were not for resale – they were for their tour boat, but we still believed we’d have to pay duty on them.)
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