Central American Frontiers - Costa Rica

Step 2 -Costa Rica

Visa Preparation

Costa Rica Passport

Similar to Panama, those with US, most EU, Central or Southern American passport do not require a visa to visit Costa Rica. Panamanians, Nicaraguans and other Central Americans may alternatively enter with their National ID card for short visits. Costa Rica does however demand that all passengers hold an onward or return ticket, and this rule is strictly enforced.

Residence Permits - Perpetual Tourists
Costa Rica, as the name suggests, is the most wealthy nation in the region and this has proven an attraction for migrant workers. Despite significant numbers of foreign workers relocating here, work permit applications take months to be processed and this has lead to whats known as the "perpetual tourist status". People from all kinds of backgrounds, including Nicaraguan laborers and US owners of hostels and restaurants in Costa Rica, live as 'perpetual tourists' meaning that they must leave the country every 90 days, before re- entering on a new 90 day tourist visa. In this manner they maintain a semi legal status, in so far as their presence is legal but their labor is not. 'Perpetual Tourism' is such a common situation that expat types have taken to explaining the process step by step on websites, apparently with the knowledge of Costa Rican authorities.

Panama - Costa Rica Border

Entry - Costa Rica
Entry into Costa Rica from Panama at the Sixaloa crossing is a simple affair, once you don't fall between the sleepers of the abandoned Chiquita Banana railway bridge. There are no Customs inspections but those interested in following the rules are welcome to approach the immigration desk for an entry stamp. Arriving passengers must fill one form and, in theory, should present an onward ticket demonstrating how they will exit Costa Rica after their visit (local bus drivers tell us that a 50c bus ticket back to the first town in Panama is acceptable). Multiple others chose to (or accidentally) skip this hassle altogether and simply walk on past the arrivals immigration post unchallenged. Inside, the officer on duty did have a digital passport reader and arrival data seemed to be entered into a computer. We were asked where we were going and the answer "San Juan" proved sufficient. We were in Costa Rica.

Internal Controls

On entering Costa Rica, the next step was to get the capital San Juan. Bus combinations to the capital take approximately 7 hours via the regional capital Lemon. Not long after we started this journey, the public bus upon which we were travelling was stopped as we left the local canton. At the checkpoint, passports were carefully checked to ensure all on board had entered legally. This check would likely have caught anyone who failed to cross the border legally, including those who may have avoided the official checkpoint by coming via the mountains or sea (from Bocas Island in Panama). That said, locals told us that unofficial crossings are common, with one even boasting his using an ATV (quad bike) on a regular basis to sneak across cheap alcohol.

Hotels and transport providers do not register passport information with the authorities. Hotels are happy with a name for the residents log and bus tickets do not include names or ID numbers, as is the norm in some other Central American countries.

We traveled north along the Puenta Arenos Coast as far as the regional capital Lemon before heading in-land to San Jose. From there we took a long distance bus (8 hours) north to Los Chiles, where we had been told that speedboats bring passengers through dense jungle rivers across the border into San Carlos in Nicaragua. On this part of the journey we traveled with a group of young Nicaraguans, returning home to visit family. These migrant workers were heading back after completing a three month stint 'as tourists,' aka working in San Juan. Although they had family and friends working in the US, they had chosen the relative lower wages of Costa Rica after hearing of friends getting caught at US border and of others who had made it into the US but had not found work. One was an 18 year old from Bluefields in eastern Nicaragua and the other was 19 and from just outside the capital Managua. This was their first time travelling home, a journey they are likely to repeat every 90 days for many years to come. 

Departure - Costa Rica

Los Chiles Pier - Awaiting Boat to Nicaragua

Los Chiles is a difficult border to navigate, primarily due to the meddling of the speed boat company crew. Officially there is one form to fill out before getting your passport stamped, however the various speed boat crew members try their best to make the process confusing by stealing all the forms and by providing inaccurate information. At that point they then present themselves as a helpful source of information and forms (for a small fee of course). 

Our Nicaraguan travel companions planned on returning to Costa Rica in a matter of days, so they were nervous that the Costa Rican authorities would question them about their 'tourism' in Costa Rica. They chose to pay the speed boat company staff to fill all their forms, clearly nervous about the whole process and hoping to avoid attracting any attention. 

Boat Crew Fill Forms (for a small fee)

Official inspections when exiting at Los Chiles are in effect very lax, however the speed boat staff did strictly ensure each passenger had their exit stamp before letting anyone board. That said, when an incoming boat arrived from Nicaragua, it was clear that arriving passengers were subject to much stricter immigration and customs controls than we had seen at Sixaloa. We watched the authorities question some young men for almost half an hour, meanwhile our Nicaraguan friends sick with worry at what awaited them next week on their return. Perhaps Costa Rica are more focused on immigrants arriving from the North than the South! 

Once we got going, the boat made its way up a long meandering river to a Nicaraguan military outpost. Here we were boarded by members of the Nicaraguan Military and some bags selected at random were searched. After a further hour or so of travel, we arrived at San Carlos Immigration and Inspection area in Nicaragua. Goodbye Costa Rica, Hello Nicaragua!

Step 3 - Nicaragua - Check back in the coming days!

More Information:

Perpetual Tourism - Doing Costa Rica - Click here!

Migration Tensions - Geo Currents - Click here!

Immigration and Residency Law - CostaRicaLaw - Click here!

Migrant Workers in Costa Rica - USA Today - Click here!