Putting all the pieces together for a 1 year sabbatical

[JILLIAN V.]

My husband and I are from Canada. We have now figured out an itinerary for when we come over in May to visit 3 schools along the pacific coast; one in Tamarindo, one in Puntarenas and one in the south pacific. We will check out some rental properties as well and can hopefully decide after this visit where we want to be for a 1 year period. I am trying to put all of the pieces together so we can actually make this move happen.

I have some questions:

1. Will we all have to go across the border into Panama or Nicaragua every 3 months to renew our visas? Is there any possibility of running into problems with this that I should be aware of?

2. My husband will be flying back to Canada for work every other month. Would he run into any problems going back and forth like this?

3. Is there anything that pops up that you can think of that we should know before making this move?

Thank You

[JASON HOLLAND]

Sounds like you have a great trip planned. In answer to your questions…

1. Yes, you will have to exit and re-enter Costa Rica every 3 months (technically 90 days) to renew your tourist visas. It is very important to not overstay your visa or you could be deported. If you planned to make permanent or multi-year move to CR I would say look into residency. But if you know you’re staying only a year, “border runs” are a good option.

Some stuff to keep in mind. Always always always have a ticket out of Costa Rica within 90 days when you arrive in the country. This goes for border runs and even your initial flight in. When you fly in that return ticket should be a plane ticket back home. No one way tickets. You could buy a refundable ticket and simply change the date after you arrive. When you cross the land border into Costa Rica you could show a plane ticket or a bus ticket out of the country. Bus tickets are available to buy at the border.

Most border runs go pretty smoothly. But there can be issues. Sometimes the border official will only give you 60 days or 30 days… it’s up to their discretion. Sometimes they’ll make you stay out of Costa Rica for 3 hours or 6 hours before re-entering… other times you can simply exit Costa Rica, enter Nica or Panama, and then exit Nica or Panama, and then enter Costa Rica again in less than an hour. You just never know for sure what’s going to happen. For that reason, many people head into either country for a couple days as a mini vacation.

Some people have been doing this border runs for years and years and most have never had a problem. As people deciding to only stay a year you shouldn’t have any issues. So why is it so complicated you might ask? Well, tourist visas are designed for tourists, who stay only temporarily and then go back home. When you try to use this border run strategy it’s not illegal but it’s basically a loophole and Costa Rican immigration is not a big fan of people using that loophole. The govt would prefer people to seek formal residency status.

2. Your husband won’t have any issues as long as whenever he flies into Costa Rica he has a return ticket within 90 says.

3. A long long list. There is a lot to keep track of and prepare before making this move. I couldn’t list everything here. But as you do your research and prep work please contact me here with specific questions.

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