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COPA Airlines took us through two countries and an emotional hell to tell us to go back and renew one passport - Result of a Systemic Breakdown

Flew from New York to San Jose, Costa Rica on Sunday. We were denied entry and put back on an airplane due to my wife’s passport having less than six month validity on her passport. Our baby and I have a US passport while my wife has a Moroccan passport and has been to Costa Rica twice before.

Every time I tried to speak to someone, I came across a brick wall. It looked like that everybody was trying to pass the buck or was in a hurry.

I have filed a complaint with COPA. I also have a video of my Ch*ld crying running behind her mommy when she was going to bathroom in the custody of COPA staff who thought she had become a security threat. I am thinking about putting this video on the YouTube; just to see how many opinions I get.


Update:

COPA wanted to give us credit for 50% cash back as their computers failed to check what is supposed be checked on their end. This is common for every airline and part of the agreement with the countries they fly to. This is just for asking and giving details.

I have asked for travel vouchers instead and they are working on it. So, all is well
KM

Sorry, but it seems like you are blaming everybody but those who you should be blaming, yourselves. When traveling abroad, it's good to know the immigration rules of the countries you plan to visit. (Reminds me of a guy coming back from Colombia without the yellow fever vaccine and trying to blame everybody but himself.)

http://www.costarica-embassy.org/?q=node/72

Tourist visa section, point #3. "In addition, he/she must be valid for at least six months from the date of entry into the country and a round trip ticket". The 6-month requirement has been mentioned numerous times on here and is listed pretty much on every webpage that deals with CR immigration entry requirements.

I'm not sure what recourse you are looking for. The only recourse is to renew your wife's passport.

BTW- if you put a video on youtube, you will get blasted for not knowing the rules. They can be harsh.

First of all thank you Orange, I value your comments and feedback. Yes, I should have clearly stated that the first we/I and then the airline share the responsibility.

Let us not forget that the airline is responsible for making sure that they checked the docs and COPA missed four time:

When I entered the passport expiry date on the website
AT the check-in time the agent exclaimed to my wife, you will be needing a new passport soon and my wife responding that she will be getting the US passport soon. She stamped the boarding pass with a "Docs OK" stamp.
AT the time of boarding at JFK
At PTY, the docs were checked again before boarding for SJO

The airline(s) will and routinely get penalized/fined for bringing in people with document issues.

Her passport is being extended for a year, to be replaced by a US passport soon.

My asking for recourse was to know whether COPA will take some blame or we lost all our money and the mishandling upon return was the penalty we paid.

Actually, you are right about one thing, COPA does share the blame. They probably got fined for letting your wife board the flight. Since they were partially to blame, I would try to get them to give you a voucher. I doubt they will give a free ticket, but I think a $250 voucher is possible, but it won't be without a fight.

Thanks again...

Going to fight for more than $250. Let us see. I'll post the results. Asking more because the process of flight back home and the treatment was atrocious.

Will let you know the results.

This must be made a sticky somewhere... Travel rule #1 to ANYWHERE in the world. DO NOT travel with less than 6 months left on your passport. There is no reason to take a risk.

This six months is true for most destinations. The CR INS told us that I and the baby are free to go into CR. They also added that we would have been allowed even if our passport was valid only for a day, albeit, in that case they will allow us for a day. They added that the US passports get treated differently.

The sticky above is a good idea along with a number of english speaking attorney.

Many of you brothers tried to help find one but COPA put us on the airplane before any help can be arranged for.

In CR, US passports are given some leeway on the 6-month rule, minimum is 30 days from what I read on other sites. And they may only give you entry stamp that expires the same your passport does if it's soon. I said "may" because we know that laws are not applied equally at all times, depends on the person's mood/time of the month.

Non-US passports, seem to be held to the 6-month minimum.

just a question, but could your wife's home embassy been of any assistance?

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

No they would not have helped. I asked them after we got back. THX

[quote="Lollypop54"][b][i]COPA Airlines took us through two countries and an emotional hell to tell us to go back and renew one passport - Result of a Systemic Breakdown
[/i][/b]
Flew from New York to San Jose, Costa Rica on Sunday. We were denied entry and put back on an airplane due to my wife’s passport having less than six month validity on her passport. Our baby and I have a US passport while my wife has a Moroccan passport and has been to Costa Rica twice before.

Every time I tried to speak to someone, I came across a brick wall. It looked like that everybody was trying to pass the buck or was in a hurry.

I have filed a complaint with COPA. I also have a video of my Ch*ld crying running behind her mommy when she was going to bathroom in the custody of COPA staff who thought she had become a security threat. I am thinking about putting this video on the YouTube; just to see how many opinions I get.

Passport must be valid for 6 months from date of entry. Be an adult and accept your responsibility.
Your mistake. Your fault. File a complaint on yourself.
KM[/quote]

Couple of things here:

1) It is always a good idea to have at least 6 months of validity on any passport, based on the date that you plan to leave the foreign country in question. You should also have at least 2 fully blank pages for visas/stamps when you enter a foreign country. These are not always required, but are pretty much standard requirements for any entry into a foreign country. Costa Rica's requirements for US passports are far less stringent, but for other passports, approach the standard.

2) You are ALWAYS subject to being denied entry into any country. It's a sovereign state and they can let in or deny entry to whomever they please. Never forget that. Don't push your luck with passport expiration dates or anything else.

3) If your airline allowed someone to board who would be ineligible for tourist immigration, then the airline should be held liable for that. Put the screws to them and stick to your guns. When you're at home, in private, kick yourself in the ass for not abiding by the rules.

I just posted an update. It was a piece of cake getting them to agree that they were at fault just as much as I am. So they are trying to comp with cash. I'll just take the travel vouchers. Yes, no doubt I am equally to blame

Note to self: Passports have a useful life of 4.5 or 9.5 years but are valid for 5 or 10 years

Pretty much the case. The country you're entering wants to make sure that you'll still have a valid passport when you exit, after your visit.

However, it's not a blanket requirement. You can enter Costa Rica with a US passport that is valid for one day. They may still give you a 90-day stamp. It's pretty easy to get a new passport in Costa Rica, and they will punch holes in the old passport, but return it to you, and you'll still have your entry stamp.

I have even had one client who lost his passport and get a new one in about 2 hours, then go through airport security at SJO, and volunteer that he had no entry stamp. The security guy doesn't even have a computer at his workstation, and just said "Ehhh, don't worry about it. If you're here illegally or overstayed your permission, it will show up on our computers when your airline submits their passenger boarding manifest. I'm sure that you're fine."

This Thread is a valuable reminder to check those expiration dates, especially if you haven't used your passport in awhile. Thanks to all for laying out the rules and probable consequences. I just got mine renewed today because of this.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED