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We are thinking of a few days in Bocas del Toro and have heard that there is a company in SJ that provides transportation and makes arrangements for a hotel. Anyone know the name of the company?
Considering you will have to travel to town, possibly may need to spend a night, making arrangements for secure parking why not consIder flying from La Fortuna – Bocas del Torro with [url=http://www.natureair.com/domestic-flights-schedule.aspx]Nature Air?[/url]
Oh wow! Just what I needed!! http://caribeshuttle.com works with Nature Air and has tour packages from SJ to Bocas del Toro, Panama and amazingly low prices.
Now all I need is a definitive answer – do we have to be out of country for 72 hours or just the day?
I LOVE welovecostarica.com! 😀
If all you’re looking for is a new tourist visa, you need only cross the border out of Costa Rica and then return. The 72 hour rule has to do with renewing your Customs duty exemption privilege. The two are unrelated.
AHA!! Finally, someone who explained the difference between the hop and the 72 hours! TY TY TY David!
[quote=”VictoriaLST”]AHA!! Finally, someone who explained the difference between the hop and the 72 hours! TY TY TY David![/quote]
VLST
This has been explained SO MANY times it is redundant! I am glad you finally got it! Have a nice trip!David, I may be wrong but I always heard that for the customs exemption the time period was 6mos and the visa renewal was 72hrs but hardly ever enforced???? If you are correct it certainly makes it much easier for those expats in this situation.
quote=”DavidCMurray”]If all you’re looking for is a new tourist visa, you need only cross the border out of Costa Rica and then return. The 72 hour rule has to do with renewing your Customs duty exemption privilege. The two are unrelated.
[/quote][quote=”costaricabill”][quote=”VictoriaLST”]AHA!! Finally, someone who explained the difference between the hop and the 72 hours! TY TY TY David![/quote]
VLST
This has been explained SO MANY times it is redundant! I am glad you finally got it! Have a nice trip![/quote]We all miss stuff from time to time.
[quote=”orcas0606″]David, I may be wrong but I always heard that for the customs exemption the time period was 6mos and the visa renewal was 72hrs but hardly ever enforced???? If you are correct it certainly makes it much easier for those expats in this situation.[/quote]
Here and elsewhere, folks have talked about renewing their Customs duty exemption privilege with a 72-hour absence from Costa Rica, whereas just hopping across the border and back doesn’t accomplish that renewal but will get you a new tourist visa.
There are three possibilities and I’m not sure which one is correct:
One possibility is that you can cross the border and return [u]as a tourist[/u], get a new tourist visa, [u]and[/u] get a new Customs duty exemption just like anyone entering the country on a tourist visa.
The second possibility is that [u]as a tourist[/u] you must be absent from Costa Rica for 72 hours [u]and also[/u] must not have used your Customs duty exemption in the past six months. My understanding is that Customs will stamp your passport when you use the duty exemption, so there is a way for them to know.
And the third possibility is that, [u]as a legal resident[/u], you can be absent from the country for 72 hours and qualify for a new Customs duty exemption sooner than six months since you last used it. That seems unlikely to me, but what do I know?
As a Permanent Resident, I don’t know which one applies. Nor do I much care. And having used the Customs duty exemption once, we decided that it wasn’t worth the bureaucratic hassle. Remember, if you use the duty exemption, you’re still liable for the sales tax.
OR – a friend with excellent Spanish found out for us that we can go to immigration, pay $100 each, and get a 90 day extension. You can only do it once but that is all we need as they have (finally!) delivered my birth certificate and we can apply for our first cedula!
This isn’t so easy as it sounds as an acquaintance tried to do it. Check this [url=http://www.1costaricalink.com/live-retire-costa-rica/permits-work-student-tourist-extensions/]website[/url] but here it says [b][i]’you submit the application for an extension of stay before (at least 20
days)your current authorized stay expires’ and must still provide a ticket to leave the country.[/i][/b]
[url=http://www.migracion.go.cr/extranjeros/visas/visas_ingles/TOURIST%20VISA%20EXTENSION.pdf]Another link[/url] from Immigration states that the [u]maximum extension[/u] is 60 days.
In all, best to leave and renew your tourist visa, since you still have no guarantee how long it will take until you are issued the [i]’Comprobante expediente'[/i] which means you do not have to leave CR.
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