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Hi, I’m moving to CR for a year and leaving on a flight just before xmas hopefully. My question is what is the best ticket to buy to go to CR for a year? I called the airlines (TACA mostly) and have done a little research and have found that 1) I can’t buy a one-ticket because I’m not a resident 2) I can’t buy a round-trip ticket and then not leave on my return flight because I get fined, and 3) If I buy an open-ended ticket with year long duration it’ll cost me $1400 dollars! If anybody has any information I’d greatly appreciate it.
Thanks
First off, You cannot buy a 1 way ticket to Costa Rica – you must have a return ticket, This is correct. However you will NOT be “fined” by the government if you do not return on your return flight. As long as you leave the country every 90 days your are a legal tourist and have no problems. What I would try to do is get a ticket with a return date approx. 9 – 10 months out and then try to change your ticket (for a fee) for a few months later once the date approaches.
Depending on where you’re flying from, it might be cheaper just to book the return flight for ninety days in the future and go back there. Then do it again. Or maybe fly here and then in ninety days fly to Panama City and begin again.
I, too, am confident that no fine is involved if you abide by Immigration’s rules and leave at the end of ninety days.
The issue of your Tourist Visa status in Costa Rica revolves around the new Immigration Law which comes into effect on March 1, 2010.
Under the new Law, you will have at least one opportunity to pay a $100.00 U.S. fee to the Costa Rica Immigration Department, prior to the expiration of your initial 90 day stay as a tourist in Costa Rica, to extend your Tourist Visa by a further 90 day period without leaving the Country.
The new Law also provides that should you fail to renew your tourist visa in this manner, or by leaving the Country for a 72 hour period at the end of your initial 90 day stay as a tourist, there will be a fine of $100.00 U.S. per month, for each month that you over-stay your Tourist Visa time limit.
Note from Scott: ‘WatchDog’ is the username for my friend and attorney Richard (Rick) Philps who is a Canadian citizen, naturalized as a citizen of Costa Rica. Rick practiced law in Canada as a member of the Law Society of British Columbia, for fourteen years, prior to moving to Costa Rica in 1998. Mr. Philps the earned his Bachelor of Laws and Licensing Degrees (Civil Law), and a Post-Graduate Degree in Notary and Registry Law, from the Escuela Libre de Derecho University, in San Jose, is a member of the Costa Rica College of Lawyers, and has practiced law in Costa Rica for six years. Mr. Philps practices law in the areas of real estate and development, corporate, commercial, contract, immigration, and banking. To contact attorney Rick Philps and his associate attorney Roger Petersen, please use the Contact Form at the bottom of: https://www.welovecostarica.com/members/417.cfm
[quote=”mshasta”]Thanks a lot everybody. This really helps.[/quote]
I’m not sure how or why, but my wife and I fly to/from Costa Rica on one way tickets all the time and only once have we (she) been questioned. We purchase one way tickets because we never know the exact date(s) we will need to go back to the States – sometimes it may be before the 90 day limit. We have flown out of Orlando on Jet Blue, Atlanta on Delta (very expensive for one way ticket!), Tampa & Ft. Lauderdale on Spirit.
Only once was there any problem on a one way ticket, and that was when my wife did a 24-hour turn around – flying SJO to Tampa on Friday (with the grandkids) and returning the next day. Immigration questioned her about her flight back to the States (which she had not yet purchased). After 30 minutes or so of confusion they allowed her to complete the pass through at immigration and all was fine.
I know that it is the “law” that you must have a return ticket, but there are so many other ways to depart the country….car, bus, cruise ship, regional airline ….. I just don’t think that there is any way to enforce it. If ever forced by immigration to have a return flight, just get them to allow you to go to an airline ticket counter, buy a full fare, refundable ticket and then cancel it the next day for the refund – or save it and change it later for no fee.
People’s schedules change all the time, so maintain as much flexibility as you can!Immigration here has no way to enforce fining anyone . The government can’t even enforce traffic laws.
I’ve been flying back and forth for the last 6 years several times a year. I used to fly on 3 month tickets and always seemed to surpass the 90 days by a week to a month before flying back to the USA. Never was I questioned or fined coming back to CR. In fact 3 years ago I stayed in CR for almost a year without leaving once. No one questioned me on the return trip either. The first few years Ive been fying to CR almost no one asked for proof of return flights . However, these last 2-3 years , almost every airline that Ive flown asks to see a return flight or proof of residency. Ive gotten away with telling the agent I am aware of the consequences and their role is to inform not enforce, American let me go. Once I told them my wife and son are CR I am allowed to go as I please , Spirit let me go. Once I booked a future flight, not paid ,and just presented the itineray , Continental took it . And most recently just told the agent I was approved for residency which is why Im going , agent didnt even ask for proof of it , American let me go again. Other times I did have a return ticket. By the way , I was just approved for residency and Monday I get my cedula so I wasnt lying to the agent.
About a year ago, I was in Costa Rica and bought a round trip ticket to California and back. This is after I did not return on my return ticket months before, and made a trip to Nicaragua for my Visa. Anyways, while returning, the lady at the check in counter said I needed a return ticket. I played dumb… saying, “why did nobody tell me before”, and she said I should buy a ticket back. I said I didn’t have the money and I don’t have a credit card – and explained that I am aware of the law that I have to leave every 3 months and have always done so. I also told her I was studying spanish and was attending a spanish school. I also told her she was the only one “enforcing” this rule and if she let me board I would have no problem with immigration. She allowed me to board after providing some information about the spanish school I was going to attend, without having to purchase a return ticket. I had no problem after that. The lady (or guy) at the ticket counter is the only one who will ask, Immigration won’t even think twice.
We have had to purchase return tickets, before gaining residency. And since then, have been ‘questioned’ at the airport. We were on a flight from Florida recently, with Continental, and [b]7 people were refused permission to board[/b], until they had bought another ticket.
They various airlines are definitely requesting ‘proof of residency’, much more often.
But, how do one know that the airlines are ‘seldom’ fined?We came back from Ft Lauderdale yesterday without a return ticket. We were hassled about it by the airlines clerk, but we had a photo copy of our Costa Rican vehicle registration and told them we were planning to drive out. One clerk was ok with that explanation, but a second clerk was not. We prevailed and got home without the useless return ticket. This was Spirit. I was planning to buy refundable tickets if the vehicle registration didn’t work.
Get a Tica Bus ticket to Managua. The one I have in my passport folder has no date but covered me when I was a perpetual tourist. Back then, I believe the ticket was only $5 USD. That’s cheap!
I have suggested this many times in forums, and it really is best to ‘be prepared’.
But it is surprising that so many, still doubt or just say that this isn’t necessary.Okay, here’s a twist on this question . . .
Has anyone who is a legal resident or citizen of Costa Rica and who lives in Costa Rica had any problem with flying into the country without a ticket out? On three occasions, we’ve gone back to the U.S. for a visit and flown on a round-trip ticket the first leg of which began here, at Juan Santamaria. We’ve never had any problem with the airlines despite traveling on our U.S. passport and using our U.S.-based VISA account to pay for the ticket.
How do they know?
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