www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I appreciate all of the helpful information on my last thread and will be beginning the first few weeks of my trip at Vesuvio. I have seem to run into an issue I'm sure most on here would be able to answer. My flight that arrives the 29th was only a one way and I have been reading that I will not be admitted into the country without some sort of "onward travel". I'm getting dental work done and would like to explore the region so I don't have a set date to return. Can anyone tell me the least expensive way around this obstacle. Again all of your seasoned expertise is greatly appreciated from this rookie.

In many years going to CR, I have never been asked for proof of onward travel. But the window witch has a right to ask for that proof - - - and deny entry if you can't provide it.

Maybe the easiest and cheapest way for you to get proof of onward travel is to buy a FULLY REFUNDABLE plane ticket at a high price on your credit card. Then get the refund when you cancel the ticket within the time limit allowed for the cancellation.

I would be surprised if they let you leave the U S with only a one-way international ticket. I do this often with an old bus ticket CR-Nicaragua. They always have asked me when they see I don't have a return flight booked with them. And they always have to call someone over to see if the bus ticket is OK. Its 4 years old now and I have never had a problem with it. This has been with Spirit and JetBlue. It even tells you on the booking site that you need a return ticket. As Rac said the best would be the fully refundable ticket. When you get to CR call them and cancel. It would just float on your credit card for a month.

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Knowledge speaks...Wisdom listens

I agree with Seabee. I have used a Nicaragua bus ticket the 3-4 times I have returned to CR from the States over the last 10 years. Inmigracion here is not likely to even ask since they know the airlines will not let you on without a return ticket. I too have had problems with the ticket agent every time when boarding for the return trip here.

Seabee one thing you might want to do just to be safe is buy a new bus ticket! CR now will only accept open-ended tickets that are less than a year old. Also inmigracion here is cracking down on people with a lot of stamps in their passport. This is mostly at the ground crossing locations but could be a problem at the airport also. They have fussed, complained, and threatened me the last two times , and have refused to give me the normal 90 days - 70 this last time and 80 before that. I was also told that next time if I had not started the residency process I would only be given 21 days. A friend who has only lived here a year as a perpetual tourist was only given 60 days and they marked his passport for review the next time.

I have started the residency process!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had already planned to do so in January but with the problems I decided not to wait.

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

First time I came to CR with a one way ticket, I made up a bus ticket 'receipt' on my computer and printed it out. Sure enough, when I get to the airport, the lady asks if I have a return ticket and she did want to see the bus 'receipt'. It worked and I made it down. Don't remember if CR immigration even asked...

Second time, I used the bus ticket receipt again even though I had already put in my application for permanent residency (using a round trip ticket from/to CR). No problem at the US airport during check in but they did want to see the bus 'receipt'. However, when I got to San Jose, CR immigration informs me that my application for residency had been suspended 18 months before and she couldn't allow me entry. So I had to pull out all my paperwork and prove I was married to a Tica.

Poor lawyer caught hell when he got back from X-mas but he got my residency done less than three months later. Apparently, CR immigration had lost one document translation and didn't bother to tell anyone, me or my lawyer. It was the lack of proof they'd notified me or my lawyer that allowed me to not have to start over again from the start.

Third time, had a round trip from CR and again, the lady at the airport in Dallas asked me. Luckily I had my permanent residency by then and just had to show that. Then in CR, I got to go thru the residents/citizens line for the first (and only) time.

So yes, without an onward or return ticket, the airline won't let you go. This is a CR law, not an airline policy but the airline has to enforce it or they pay for your return trip when you are denied entry into CR.

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The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

I sure am thankful I found this community. I appreciate all of your input and look forward to passing on my own tips and pointers as the years progress. I'm interested in seeing other parts of Central America so I might as well use this as an opportunity to buy a bus ticket. Do you guys suggest Panama or Nicaragua? Mind you I'm only 27 and would prefer to be near a beach.

Keep in mind that if you go to Panama by ground (bus) from Costa Rica you will have to have an airline ticket from Panama back to your Country of Residence, not just a ticket out of their country to some other country-has to be your country of residence. A bus ticket back to CR will not help. Panama started this nonsense about a year ago and it has really hurt their tourist business! But the lines are much shorter at the border!!

There are several nice, small beach towns in Nicaragua. The closest is San Juan del Sur. Ticabus, Nicabus, and TransNica Bus all have several buses a day out of San Jose and the border crossing is easy unless you have a lot of stamps indicating that you are a perpetual tourist living in Costa Rica. The Nicaragua side all 3 buses take your passport to be stamped so you do not even have to stand in line.

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

As for having proof of a return flight, this is from the Caribe Shuttle website:
"Effective from April 2, 2014 there is a new $7 tax to exit Costa Rica. If you pay by credit card $7, pay in cash it is $10. This fee is not included in the ticket price.
Please have your passport, and printed flight itinerary with you for immigration officials.
Panama is only accepting flight itineraries for entry into Panama. (No bus tickets)
Your flight can be from anywhere in Central America.

Hopefully (Panama) has at least partially realized the stupidity of their requiring a ticket back to your country of residence. I was there the week they started this and at that time it had to be a ticket out of Panama to country of residence. The day I was there a lady from the USA had just spent 6 months traveling Central America and was to spend 2 weeks in Panama then fly out of there to Europe for 2 years. She had all her travel records and ticket to Europe but they made her buy a ticket from Panama back to the States good within 90 days before she could enter Panama!!!

Also crossing the border on the Caribbean side of CR has always been less of a problem than crossing at Canoas.

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

This info is all interesting and I think it is fantastic to have input from those that came before us. (No pun intended) I know this is what this board is all about but again want to show my appreciation to all of you sharing your knowledge with others that would be lost without it.
I hope to someday retire in CR or at least some level of partial residency, perpetual tourism, snowbird, whatever I can swing and the rules allow in 7-10 years. Hopefully in the mean time I can meet and but a drink or two with those of you that are making this such a great message board for others.

From the state department website it looks like you can show a ticket for ongoing travel. But what's all this about having cash and a credit card statement?
Comments anyone?


Tourists must present a return trip ticket or fare back to their home country or next destination upon arrival. Panama also requires a completed international boarding card which is provided by the airline and submitted by the traveler at the point of immigration. In addition to this, no less than five-hundred balboas (USD$500) in cash or its equivalent must be presented as proof of financial solvency. In addition to cash, travelers can show a credit card (with most recent credit card statement), bank reference, letter of employment, or traveler’s checks. Travelers planning to enter/exit along the Panama-Costa Rica land border should be prepared to present all required documents to immigration officials.

This is what the law in Panama states. What the director of immigration decides he wants to do is another matter. I personally experienced and witnessed the problems with only having a "next destination" ticket when trying to enter. We were told that the director had changed the requirements and it had to now be a ticket back to your country of residency. This occurred about a year ago and I (along with many others) have not been back since. Last I heard it was still this way (ticket back to home country required)!!

What you posted is from the USA state department which is notorious for not being up to date. In many Latin countries laws can be, and are, interpreted and enforced according to the whims of the person in charge. Hell in Costa Rica the clerks at the immigration windows when re-entering can decide on their own and without explanation whether to give you 90 days or 70 or 50 or 20 or even 0!! And there apparently is no appeal!!!!!

Panama has for years had a requirement that one must be able to show financial solvency. In about 25 trips to Panama I have had to show this about half the time. Once with a couple hundred people looking on I had to stand there and count out $500. On another occasion cash was not good enough, I had to show a credit card which was really kind of stupid since they had no way of knowing if the card was maxed out and useless. No credit card statement was required. In fact they saw the "Visa" logo on my debit card and did not even realize it was not a credit card but said it was all I needed!!! I think the law for Costa Rica is $100 (I know it is for Nicas) but once about 5-6 years ago they decided to start asking to see $1000 (Yes, $1000) when entering CR from Panama. This only happened once and the next time they never asked to see any money!! I had used the same open-ended bus ticket to re-enter CR for 4 years, then 6 months ago I was told they would only accept tickets less than a year old. I had to go buy a new one before I could re-enter.

After over a hundred border crossings into 10 different countries (counting the USA and Canada) over the years I have learned to expect the unexpected! Over the last 10 years I have entered Panama and Nicaragua nearly 50 times in total. I honestly do not think there has ever been 2 times at either border when the procedure and/or requirements were the same!!!

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

In all my international travels, never have I been asked for proof of a return flight by either immigration or the airline. This includes about 20+ countries.

Often times, I purchase one way on one airline to get there and will purchase a return trip on another. (I fly open jaw a lot.) Or I wait until I know when I am returning (while in-country) to book my return.

I guess the rest of us (all 99.9999%) are just very unlucky!! . Especially since virtually every country requires you to have a ticket out of their country in order to enter, and virtually every airline requires you to have a return ticket since if the country you are going to refuses to allow you entry, the airline can be forced to fly you back to where you started from.

Often when flying into a country immigration will not ask to see proof because they know the airlines normally refuse to allow you on the plane without a return ticket since they do not want to fly you back at their expense.

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

EVERY time I leave the US on either JetBlue or Spirit, they confirm my return ticket. Looks like I am in that 99.9999% with BangBang.