What are the requirements to travel to Costa Rica?
23 August 2006Free the Drones has been doing an in-depth series of posts that serves as a rough guide to retiring abroad to Costa Rica, a popular destination for people approaching retirement who find that they don’t really have enough money to live comfortably in their home country. The earlier posts:
1) Some general reasons why people retire to Costa Rica.
2) A list of books on retiring to Costa Rica.
3) Information on legitimate seminars you can attend on Costa Rican retirement.
4) Information on retirement tours of Costa Rica offered by current expatriates.
5) The basics of how to learn Costa Rican Spanish.
Today, we’re looking at the basics of taking a trip to Costa Rica. As part of your decisionmaking process, at some point you’ll want to take a vacation / scouting expedition to the country itself. So what do you need to know to actually do that?
First off, be aware that the U.S. State Department issues travel guides to pretty much every country. These are designed for U.S. citizens, but they’re pretty thorough and will be useful to people from other countries as well. They give warnings about problems tourists are facing in those countries, information on entry requirements, and basic details about traveling in that country. You can view the consular information sheet on Costa Rica at the State Department website here.
Here’s the basics:
For entry into Costa Rica, U.S. citizens must present valid passports that will not expire for at least thirty days after arrival. Passports should be in good condition; Costa Rican immigration will deny entry if the passport is damaged in any way. Costa Rican authorities generally permit U.S. citizens to stay up to ninety days; to stay beyond the period granted, travelers must submit an application for an extension to the Office of Temporary Permits in the Costa Rican Department of Immigration.
There’s more you need to know, however. The State Department information sheet is good, but it leaves out some information that you can find at a web site run by the Costa Rican embassy. They make it clear that you need three documents to enter:
1) A valid passport with an expiration date of 30 days to 6 months after the travel date (the exact date depends on the visa rules applicable to your home country).
2) A pre-paid airline ticket to exit Costa Rica.
3) For citizens of some countries, a visa.
So how do you know if you need a visa? If you live in the United States or a Western European country, chances are you don’t need a visa for any stay under 90 days. There’s a comprehensive list of the countries and their specific visa requirements here. Costa Rica has a four-tiered system of requirements that apply based on what your home country is - many countries can stay for at least 30 days without one, but some countries require an application.
You should also know that there is something called a “multiple visa” that allows frequent business travelers to make return trips over and over again, and you can read up on that here. It’s probably not an issue if you’re only going to make a scouting trip - but if you plan on going back a few times, you might want to apply for one.
You also need to go through this list of things that you’re allowed to bring into the country, because there are some restrictions.
Finally, if you are a retiree who has a pet, before you actually bring the animal into the country you have to get it inspected by the vet and get its shots up to date. The requirements are here, and they’re not that bad - so if you’re a prospective retiree, don’t worry about having to leave Rover behind. You shouldn’t need the pet on your scouting trip - but when you go there permanently, this requirement will still apply.
Discuss this on the Free the Drones Retirement Forums here.
3 Responses to “What are the requirements to travel to Costa Rica?”
August 27th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
[...] 6) The requirements to travel into Costa Rica. [...]
November 9th, 2006 at 11:23 pm
[...] Free the Drones posts a lengthy article with some nice details on the legal aspects, and includes some real estate listing sites to-boot. They also have a few other posts on the topic . [...]
May 29th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Opiniones de gente de verdad sobre asuntos de verdad en Costa Rica: http://tiquiciadeverdad.blogspot.com/