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20 years

“Perpetual tourists” face problems at Panamanian border

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October 8th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) In recent weeks Inside Costa Rica has received numerous reports from so-called “perpetual tourists” attempting to renew their Costa Rican tourist visa by crossing land borders into Panama.

 

“Perpetual tourists” refers to those who either live in Costa Rica without official residency, or wish to stay in the country for a period of time beyond the 90 days permitted on a tourist visa.  Perpetual tourists usually cross one of Costa Rica’s land borders – either with Nicaragua or Panama – every 90 days in order to receive a new 90-day tourist visa after a quick trip out of the country.

 

According to verified sources, Panamanian border officials are now requiring those entering that country to provide an airline ticket with its destination matching the country that issued the traveler’s passport.  For example, a person carrying a United States passport is required to provide an airline ticket destined for the United States.

 

Previously, travelers were only required to produce an onward bus ticket.

 

In addition, travelers are being required to show $500 in cash or prove they have access to such funds.

 

Those who are unable to produce the requirements are denied entry into Panama at the border, leaving them in a sort of immigration limbo, having already “exited” Costa Rica.

 

One such individual, a Canadian citizen living in Costa Rica who wishes to only be identified as R.T., was one such person.

 

R.T., a perpetual tourist, recently attempted to enter Panama, unaware of the new measures.  Unable to produce an airline ticket back to his home country of Canada, he was denied entry into Panama after exiting Costa Rica.

 

Unable to enter Panama, R.T. was forced to turn back to Costa Rica, which could not issue him another tourist visa as he was not “arriving” from Panama.  Left in sort of “immigration limbo,” a Costa Rican immigration official gave R.T. a 1-day visa so that he could return back to his home in San José without being detained by immigration authorities en route.

 

Inside Costa Rica has received numerous reports from other travelers and perpetual tourists who have encountered the same situation, though there are no reports of any additional demands placed on those arriving to Panama by air, such as those traveling to Bocas del Toro on NatureAir (another popular option amongst “perpetual tourists”) or those arriving into Panama City on international flights.

 

For their part, there are no reports that Nicaraguan immigration authorities have changed their policies.

 

It should be noted that the new measures are on the part of Panamanian authorities, and do not reflect a change in the policies of Costa Rica’s immigration authorities.

 

While living as a “perpetual tourist” in Costa Rica is not necessarily illegal, authorities urge those who plan to live in Costa Rica to seek an applicable form of legal residency in the country.

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  • NorthendFool

    This is all due to abuse by the perpetuals. Yes some of them are really good neighbors who have invested heavily. But then there are the ones that are truly bums who have contributed nothing. Still there are taxi drivers at Puerto Viejo who have connections at Sixaola and for a fee you can have them transport your passport and get your two stamps, one out and one back in. The wife and I finally got our residency but before that always flew back to Miami for supplies.

    • Lav

      Just to clarify… the bought passport stamps are NOT legal stamps and if you are caught with them you are immediately deported. And because they are not legal, your drivers license is not valid in Costa Rica.

      Immigration has told me, that in order for your visa to be legal… you need to be stamped out of Costa Rica, stamped into another country, stamped out of that country and back into Costa Rica. Just getting stamped in and out of Costa Rica does not give you a legal tourist visa.

      And because of these lovely people who prefer to buy false stamps… us people who spend the money and leave every 90 days are suffering. At the airport now, you need to have a plane ticket showing your exit date, that was for us to get a 90 day visa… even though our kids are on student visas.

    • disgusted

      Giving your passport to someone else to stamp your passport. It could be stamped however was it placed in the system?? plus this is illegal and you could get burned. It has happened to a couple in Escazu they were kicked out. .. This I would not recommend.

  • El Torito

    We live near the Panamanian border. Before we acquired our residency, we had to endure the constantly changing regulations that the officials there impose. They’ve been playing this game for years. Though we now have our Residency, this annoying bureaucratic dance continues. Trying to cross last January, I no longer needed to show $500.00 but had to show the existence of a credit card instead. Good thing they didn’t check the expiry date! (Oops! I guess now they will!) The official also demanded that I go back and buy a bus ticket from David to Palmar Norte, in spite of my Residency status and the fact that I live nowhere near Palmar Norte. Two weeks later, crossing again into Panama with my husband, the official happily accepted our Residency status and didn’t want to see money or credit cards. He just merrily waved us in. It may simply depend on who you get, and whether he’d had a fight that morning with his wife, girlfriend, or both.

  • I have a dream

    Easy solution. Get old airline itenerary, edit and use. Done.

    • Liz Jones

      Tigre

      are they requiring an air ticket from Panama or a ticket from costa Rica?

      • jerry thomas

        Please, I would like to know the answer to this also.

    • Jonathan

      No kidding. Once in Japan I had a problem with United because I couldn’t prove I had an onward ticket from Taiwan… I did… On United!!! The poor woman couldn’t find it… Granted, after 15 minutes she called over her supervisor and he found it in about 5 minutes… But if in Japan at a United desk they can’t find another United ticket… please.

  • peter jackson

    There is a simple solution to the problem, just go to nicaragua and stay in rivas for 3 days on the beach, nicaragua immigration is not giving gingos any problems

  • Aitor Xaranga

    Uncertain interpretative legislation is the name of the game in the Third World. Get used to it folks! Another “legislative pearl” left behind by our Spanish ancestors to provide ever-growing sources of “mordidas” and “chorizos” to the government officials sent by the Spanish Crown to skim the natives and anyone who dared step in their path to an eventual 401K in the Peninsula!.

    • roberto

      Why not leave their First world attitudes and expectations at home and try to deal with Third world mediocrity?

  • Ken Morris

    Maybe an unintentionally casual word choice, but how does a tourist in Costa Rica have a “home” in San José? My sympathies to all the responsible folks caught up in the immigration quagmire (it happens), but at the end of the day I can’t sympathize with perpetual tourists. Sure, it’s a gray area in the law, and Costa Rica’s authorities are at fault for refusing to clarify it despite having ample opportunity to do so, but if you break out Webster it’s clear that a tourist is not a resident.

    • Frank Castle

      I’ll tell you how a “tourist” can have a home near San Jose. My Mom is a resident of Costa Rica and owns a home there. I visit my Mom and stay at her home. She has legally signed over the house to me when she passes on, the car too. See how it can be this way.

      The difference is when I visit, I never stay as long as 90 days.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-James/1011797365 Brian James

    Refundable airline tickets can be your friend.

    • Karen M. Mata

      Very good of you. Thanks.

  • William James Woodward

    The problem is not with immigration rules or how they’re applied, but rather with the fact that many individuals think that they simply don’t apply to them. They do everything in their power to find some loophole they can squeeze through, to the detriment of everyone who enters the country legally. This problem is common in most Central and South American countries, it’s a plague here in Brazil. Ironically, it’s these very same individuals who start whining when a nation takes action to close the loopholes they snuck through. It never seems to dawn on them that the end result of their actions could result in the country simply slamming the doors shut and not allowing further immigration if the problem becomes too pronounced. They certainly don’t get any sympathy from me. If you want to reside permanently in a country and reap the benefits that you’re seeking to obtain from doing so then you should be prepared to follow the rules and abide by the laws. If you choose not to do just that, then you’ve got no right to cry later when it all hits the fan.

  • LivingLifeInCostaRica

    This is NOT a “Perpetual Tourist” problem. This is happening to tourists as well, though, from what I get report back to me with my http://LivingLifeInCostaRica.blogspot.com blog is it’s happening 100% of the time to AMERICAN tourists ENTERING Panama (which REALLY makes me wonder if this is not an AGREEMENT WITH the U.S. government) YET – it is NOT always happening to quite a few people I’ve talked to from other countries.

    • Ron194

      You are correct. Teh fact is if you obtain residency in another country your banking will become a nightmare. US Banks will not allow you to have accounts in the US. And banks in other countries do not like American accounts. The reason being they have a lot of paperwork to furnish the US. Failure to do so they get fined 30% of all their assets. As for the Americans, they too have lots of paperwork and if not done or done wrong you get fined $5000 a day. All has to do with US paranoia of drug and human trafficking. In spite of my income all being from US Government Retirement sources.I still have this problem as the reason for not taking up foreign residency.

  • LivingLifeInCostaRica

    Does anyone know WHEN that return ticket to your country of passport origin must be BY – or is it just proof you’re going back one day?? I have yet to have OFFICIAL clarity on that.

    I have also heard of some people having the problem FLYING INTO Panama as well (in both Bocas & Panama City).

    • Lav

      Considering you can only have a 180 day visa, it needs to be within that time frame.

  • http://charlieontravel.com/ Charlie

    Needs re-wording: One such individual, a Canadian citizen living in Costa Rica who wishes to only be identified as R.T., was one such person.

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