www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I returned back home from a week long trip to miami yesterday morning. I had reservations on the Taca 7:00 AM flight. I arrived at 5:30 to check in. When I presented my passpot and ticket to the agent, he started to examen my passport and told me he would be right back. He consulted with some fat old ugly gray haired tica, who turned out to be the shift supervisor. She told me my passport appeared damaged and due to a "new law" Costa Rica would not allow anyone with a "damaged passport in to the country. My passport is certainly old and warn, but it is very readable, and the picture is clear. I argued that I am not a tourist, I have lived in Costa Rica for over 20 years. Also I had very little money left and I had no place to stay in Miami. I told her to let me on the plane and if there was going to be a problem with immigration I would solve it in San Jose. She told me in "that,s not my problem, next in line please. " I wanted to choke the b*tch. After I cooled off , I walked down to the American counter and inquired if they had space on thier morning flight. They did. I purchased a one way ticket, no problems with them cocerning the passport and off I went. Had no problems with immigration at the airport entering the country. This is just a heads up. If your passport is worn or torn or the picture is not clear, I suggest getting a new one. This senario can be a real pain in the ass. If American did not have space I would have been really screwed.

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not as good as I once was, but as good once as I ever was

you are going to start to see this happening more and more with old passports, the reasons will change but the hassle wont. I was stopped and told the passport didnt look like me. I was able to convince them, and it was a new passport only issued a month before. I think I had got a haircut since then.

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The Wizard

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein


Doesnt look like Costa Rica for a while. Got offer 2 years in Singapore. Now what is a good hotel in Thailand. (New Weekend home).

while waiting to leave cr on monday, i watched them put a guy back on the plane he just got off. his passort was worn. he said he went diving with it. came all the way from boston. so be carefull because they will not let you in the country if it looks bad.

If Immigration is getting that picky about passports then the airlines will really scrutinize your documents. They get fined and have to take you back to your origination point for free if you do not have a ticket on them for your return flight.

Seems like just another CR exercise in shooting themselves in the foot.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

hmmm i would be very interested in seeing pictures of Tuanis passport what TACA called unacceptable. and also how did the passport get in that condition? passports are renewed every 5-10 years. pura gatitas

My latest passport is about 14 months old. It has only been used 4 times and I keep it in a leather folder so it's in good shape.

The problem is the photo. It looks as if that they used too much heat and bleached out the top half of my face.

Fortunately I haven't had any problems yet but I wouldn't be surprised if I do.

Guys,
You have to remember..... Your passport is one of the most important documents that you possess. You need to take care of it, at all cost, so these types of things don't happen. My passport is 8 years old, and I keep in in a leather folder also. I only have 3 empty pages left in it, but it looks as new as the day I got it. I keep it in a safe (in my home) when I'm not travelling, and it stays in my room safe when I am travelling. The last thing you need to worry about, when flying out of the country, is the condition of your passport. Muy importante' !!!!!
Mikey-B

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

I work for the U.S. Govn't.........and my passport looks like He*LL......and I have never had a problen
As long as they can scan the numbers with the reader, you should have NO problem. YES I agree you should keep your passport in good condition.............but as long as the numbers can be read by the scanner you should be fine...........
Even though the officers KNOW why we are there ...they also know we bring $$$ into the country .........they aren't about to keep us out or give us to many hassles.

TBird48 wrote:



It would be nice if the real world operated that way but the reality of the situation is you are dealing with a human being whose interaction with you is going to be, in a large part, dependent on his state of mind at that time.

He may be an anti gringo person, he may be a guy who lost his novia to a gringo with money, he may have a daughter who is working the BM, he may be in a rotten mood, he may be on a power trip, he may be,,,,,,,,,, you can go on and on with different scenarios none of which have him giving a hoot that you bring $$$ into his countries economy.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

My passport got wet on a trip to the Caribbean side several years ago. Although it still looks good, the scanner is no longer able to read the numbers, so they must be entered manually. Although I have never been denied entry, it seems that sometimes the agent does get a little irritated when they must enter the numbers manually.

Zebra

This posting appeared today in a Yahoo group called Costa Rica Living.



Evidently the Costa Rican Immigration officials are becoming very picky about the condition of your passport. Can you get a replacement passport if your is not expired or not lost just in poor condition? I have never seen or heard of the US replacing passports because they are in poor condition but common sense would suggest there must be such a procedure.

Anyone know the procedure? What a catch 22 this could be. CR says you can't come in with that passport and the US says we can not replace it until you lose it or it expires.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I would pull a dill-doe out of my bag and stab him in the eye with it!
I washed my passport i hope it works. I remember the good ole tourist cards ( They did away with those after 911.

SD