www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Coming back from a visit to the States, I was asked for my departure date FROM Costa Rica. I told them I had none, I lived there/here. They (United Airlines) said okay but I would have to show a residency card (cedula) before I could board the plane to Costa Rica if I did not have a return ticket to the states.

SO... if you are flying OUT of CR on a round trip, and you do not have residency, you likely will need a return ticket to the USA to get "permission" to re-enter Costa Rica. I suppose you could buy a refundable ticket then cancel it. Others know more about such things than I do, but if you don't have a cedula or a return ticket, you could be in deep doo doo.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

I think this is the standard (but not strictly enforced). Getting a refundable ticket and then canceling is what people normally do.

Having to have a ticket out of CR has been the policy for several years now. As for as CR is/was concerned any ticket out (bus ticket to Nicaragua) has always been sufficient. Panama has change their policy (Now has to be a ticket to your country of residency) and CR may have theirs also, thou I have not heard of any change. The Airlines want to sell you a ticket so they will tell you that you have to have a plane ticket back to the USA (Country of residency). They have been doing this for years!
The last time I was in the states (Almost 2 years ago) Spirit tried to tell me I had to have an airline ticket back to the States, I told the guy he did not know what he was talking about and told him to get a supervisor. There was a very long line behind me and the clerk next to him looked over and told him I was correct and he let me go with my Tica bus ticket to Nicaragua from CR.

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

When I came through CR customs last trip the guy saw I had a plain ticket out of CR more than 90 days away, so asked me for my plans. I told him I was leaving for Nicaragua, and produced my Tica Bus ticket. He told me it was no good because it was marked "abierto" (open), and didn't have a specific date. We quibbled a little, and eventually he let me through, but he insisted that next time I should have a date on the ticket or risk not being allowed to enter the country.

I fly for nearly all of my visa runs and airlines have been asking for proof of exit to get your boarding passes printed for about 3 years now. People like ARCR and the crappy online news outlets for gringos like to scare people but the truth is if you follow the rules there is no problem being a perpetual tourist. Show some respect, use some Spanish and have your paperwork in order. It really is that simple.

This is some on-the-money info right here. I know that not everyone wants to fork over the cash to do an air run for a 90-day stamp, but this is what gets you there. Even better is chartering (since NatureAir bailed on us) into Pavas.

The CR Head of Immigration has already stated within the past few months that he has NO PROBLEM with perpetual tourism, as long as people are willing to jump through the hoops. However, I am still getting reports that land-crossing guys are getting short-stamped, and that SJO guys are occasionally getting short-stamped as well.

However, the SYQ guys are, almost without fail, getting 90-day stamps. Don't forget your full-fare tickets -- they do wonders.

Also, there is at least one location in San Jose doing the "$100 for an additional 90 days" deal, as specified by CR law.

This is one of those "How much BS do you want to put up with?" issues. Trust me, no Spirit employee cares if you die of thirst on the flight because they ran out of bottled water -- and I'm absolutely positive that no Spirit employee cares if any US citizen or resident departing the US has a ticket back to the USA or not. If you've ever been booked on a canceled Spirit flight, then you know what I'm talking about. The ONLY reason that they care about you having a ticket back to the US is because their gate and ticket agents have the bare minimum of training to legally qualify for the position and have no idea whatsoever what is legally required for a US citizen or CR resident to travel to and from Costa Rica. They are only concerned about how much Spirit will dock their pay if you end up being deported from Costa Rica because they screwed up.

I can't wait for the day that a Spirit airliner falls into the ocean because one of their maintenance techs cut one too many corners. It's coming -- I guarantee it. Actually, I'm just joking. It will be one of the unknown entities that Spirit farms out their maintenance to that cuts the corner. I laugh my ass off every time some Spirit sucker gets stuck in Newark for 5 days. You're flying on "Spirit" airlines -- That's where your spirit will end up, if you keep flying them. The folks that sing Spirit's praises are the ones that haven't experienced a flight anomaly yet -- but it will happen to those lucky few eventually.

Keep this in mind -- a Captain on a fly-by-night airline like Spirit can make less than $80K per year before taxes, and spends days and weeks away from home, while trying to pay back his costly flight-training fees. I know quite a few who sleep in airports or in their cars in airport parking lots to save precious minutes of sleep so they can work their second jobs as short-order cooks or bartenders before their next flight.

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Still amazes me that guys don't just pay Costa Rica Immigration $100 for a 90-day stamp instead of going through all of the trouble of crossing borders, when they don't really want to. On the other hand, I'm kind of happy that they are not clogging up the system and drawing attention to this little perk.

You need an onward bound ticket before your visa expires.
http://www.costaricabustickets.com/Cost ... ements.htm