Costa Rica shoots itself in the foot by denying long term tourism

When the new immigration law goes into effect March 1 tourists here will still be able to renew their visa by going to and returning from a nearby country. But the rules are changing.

Mario Zamora, the director general de Migración y Extranjería, said Thursday that a tourist will not be able to go to the same country twice and that after two trips to renew a visa a tourist will have to stay out of Costa Rica for a minimum of 15 days.

The new law seeks to crack down on perpetual tourists. What Zamora said is not in the law. These new rules are in the regulations that soon will be published in the La Gaceta official newspaper.

In lieu of going to another country to renew a tourist visa, a foreigner also can show up at any immigration location and renew the right to stay here for 90 more days for $100, Zamora noted. That procedure is in the law, but the new information from Zamora is that the renewal process will be available at immigration offices at international airports, at border posts, ports, marinas and any other location where immigration officers work. There had been concern that the renewals could only be done in San José.

In order to renew a visa that way, the tourist will have to establish financial responsibility and show that they have the means to support themselves for 90 more days. For those who do not have the money, such as students, a procedure is being set up so that the $100 can be waived by the Ministerio de Hacienda, said Zamora.

The rule that a tourist cannot renew a visa by traveling to the same adjacent country twice is a new concept. That means a perpetual tourist living near the Nicaraguan border can visit that country once. But the next visa renewal will have to be at some other country.

And after two visa renewals the tourist will have to leave Costa Rica for a minimum of 15 days, according to Zamora. The idea is to encourage perpetual tourists to seek another form of residency.

Tourists are not supposed to work in Costa Rica, but many do. They run the risk of losing their
possessions and holdings if they are grabbed and expelled by immigration police.

Zamora was among other officials who met to discuss the new immigration law at the Hotel Radisson in Barrio Tournon Thursday afternoon. The new law was outlined in general terms. The law was reported in depth when it was passed last Sept. 1 and signed into law. HERE!

The major changes for expats are:

• They need to join the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. Still unclear is if membership in a similar program in another country would be sufficient for the Costa Rican requirement. The exact system to enroll expats has not been made clear but they will have to show that they have Caja membership when they renew their cédulas..

• Tourists who overstay their visas will pay a larger fine when leaving, and they will be prohibited from reentering Costa Rica for three times the period that they were illegally in the country.

• Many more categories are created for persons who seek to work or stay in Costa Rica. Work permits traditionally have been difficult to get here unless the applicant is a large company.

• Pensionados approved under the new law must show a monthly income from a certified pension of at least $1,000 a month, up from $600. That amount also covers foreign spouses and minor children. Rentistas have to show that they have a continuing monthly income of at least $2,500, up from $1,000.

• Innkeepers and hotel operators will have to keep a registry of persons staying in their facilities for inspection by the immigration police.

The broad law creates an immigration police that is composed of Fuerza Pública officers. It criminalizes trafficking in persons. It creates an immigration council to issue visas to citizens of restricted countries and takes that job away from the immigration director.

The measure also gives the president the power to grant residency by decree. A.M. Costa Rica has reported that this creates the possibility of immigration amnesties of the type that were mandated twice in the 1990s.

A Tale of Two Cities

Some of the juxtapositions of my little town of Tamarindo are glaringly obvious.  I just had to share some of the reality of what goes on here.

This is the new government installed telecommunication tower located right smack-dab in the middle of a residential area.  They put it up over the weekend.  This is funny because no one knew about it and it flies in the face of the Ministry of Environment’s ruling that no construction is supposed to take place within 500 meters of the National Park, Las Bulas.  (The tower is within that 500 meter zone)

The other real eye sore is the garbage dump in Tamarindo.  Funny, because we don’t actually have a dump here.  Over the past six or so months, this piece of private property has become a place for people to dump all sorts of trash from construction materials to appliances to general waste.  It always seems to be a few ‘workers’ with dump trucks and pick up that are soiling the view.  I never see any of the ‘locals’ (read ex-pats) who create the havoc.

In fact, it was ex pats who got the recycling going in Tamarindo in the first place.