New Regulations for entry of foreign visitors to Costa Rica

As of September 2011, new regulations were established for the foreigners to enter Costa Rica.

According to the Immigration and Foreign Administration Department, countries are classified in four groups. Depending on the group that the person belongs to, s/he may or may not need a visa to enter the country.

For example, citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Great Britain, and Germany belong to group number 1. Visitors from these countries may enter the country without an entry visa, provided that their stay is no longer than 90 days. If you are a visitor from the United States, Canada, Mexico, or belong to a country from group 1 and 2, your passport must be valid for a minimum of 3 months (Please consult the table below on the groups and their corresponding countries). If you are a visitor from a country in group 3 or 4, your passport must be valid for a minimum of 6 months, except in cases where there is prior written consent between Costa Rica and the departure country contrary to that established.

Requirements for all groups have been established as follows:

• Non-residents must prove their solvency in accordance with credit means and specific minimum amount specified by the National Immigration Department.

• Non-residents must show their return or continuing ticket when the means of transportation is commercial.

• Present your Entry or Exit form provided by the airline or travel agency completely filled out and in legible handwriting.

 FIRST GROUPVisitors from countries in this group are allowed to enter the country without visa for a maximum stay of 90 days. Among them are:

GERMANY, ARGENTINA, AUSTRALIA, MEXICO, BAHAMAS, BELGIUM, NORWAY, BRAZIL, NEW ZEALAND, THE NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND), CANADA, PANAMA, PARAGUAY, CHILE, POLAND, PORTUGAL, DENMARK, PUERTO RICO, SPAIN, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, SOUTH AFRICA , UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN, FINLAND, NORTHERN IRELAND, FRANCE, CZECH REPUBLIC, REPUBLIC OF SOUTH KOREA, IRELAND, HELLENIC REPUBLIC (GREECE), ICELAND, ISRAEL, ITALY, SINGAPORE, JAPAN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, URUGUAY.

 SECOND GROUPVisitors from countries in this group are allowed to enter the country without visa for a maximum stay of 30 days. Among them are:BELIZE, BOLIVIA, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, TURKEY, VENEZUELA

 THIRD GROUPVisitors from countries in this group are allowed to entry the country with a visa for a maximum stay of 30 days. Among them are: 

MALAYSIA, ANGOLA, SAUDI ARABIA, ALGERIA, MOROCCO, NEPAL, NICARAGUA, NIGERIA, PERU, CAMEROON, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, EGYPT, LAOS PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, RUSSIAN FEDERATION, THAILAND, TAIWAN (REGION), INDIA , INDONESIA

FOURTH GROUPVisitors from countries in this group are allowed to enter the country with a restricted visa and with approval of the Restricted Visa Commission for a maximum stay of 30 days. Among them are: 

AFGHANISTAN, JAMAICA, BANGLADESH, MYANMAR (BURMA), CUBA, PALESTINE, ERITREA, ARAB REPUBLIC, SYRIA, ETHIOPIA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (MAINLAND CHINA), HAITI, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF NORTH KOREA, IRAN, SOMALIA, IRAQ, SRI LANKA.

For further information, please visit:

http://www.visitcostarica.com/ict/paginas/Requerimientos_de_Entrada_Extranjeros.pdf

Foreigners Have Already Paid $2 Million to the Immigration Department in Order to Obtain Residence

Immigrants entering the country with the intention of residing legally have paid about $2 million since March last year, when the Immigration Act was ratified.

This significant amount of money has been raised since every alien seeking temporary or permanent residence must pay $25.

These resources are allocated to the Immigration Social Fund. According to the Immigration Department, this money is used to take actions aiming at integrating the foreign population living in Costa Rica.

"The resources will allow us to eliminate any inequality faced by this population as to health, housing, and community participation," said the Head of the Immigration Department, Freddy Mauricio Montero to La Nación newspaper.

Montero's statements were delivered a few days ago in a ceremony held at the Aurora Hotel Holiday Inn, where the National Report on Immigration and Integration in Costa Rica was made public.

According to the latest National Report on Immigration and Integration in Costa Rica, to date, there are 374,000 foreigners, of whom 356,860 have documents up to date; they represent 8.2% of the total population (4,562,087).

The fund seeks to strengthen the activities of the Ministry of Security, Education and Health as well as the Judicial Branch and other institutions

tending to favor immigrants involved in technical training and with the Social Security Fund (CCSS).

According to the Institute of Social Studies on Population (IDESPo, for its acronym in Spanish) from Universidad Nacional, nearly 45% of people believe that the State should invest more in services for Nicaraguan immigrants; while almost 50% of commentators in the study think the opposite.

For Montero, the results show that a high percentage of citizens agree on investing further in services for foreigners.

Investment on addressing health issues of immigrants in 2010 was of ¢73 billion, an amount that exceeded the income received by the Social

Security Fund: about ¢68 billion contributed by foreign fees.

This study was based solely on health services and left out education and housing services for foreigners.

The report did not include any statistics on the crime rate of immigrants; although, as explained by the Minister of Security, Mario Zamora, despite the absence of data as to this regard, there might be a decrease on the number of foreigners who commit/have committed crime in Costa Rica.