This post is not going to explain the ins and outs of obtaining a Costa Rica residency. I’ve written on that in the past. It’s complicated, but not so much. It’s not a bad idea to talk to a lawyer on that issue. Although I know of plenty who’ve handled it all on their own.

This post on Costa Rica residency is for those out there who choose not to become residents.

So, what gives? What’s the big deal?

The main advantages of Costa Rica residency are as follows (in random order)…

1. You don’t have to leave the country every 90 days.
2. You can participate in the CAJA, or medical/social security system (but at a price).
3. You can more easily obtain certain services that require a “cedula” or government identification card.
4. You can acquire a Costa Rica driver’s license.

Granted, those are pretty significant advantages. But are they really?

There’s also the “moral” factor. For some folks it just doesn’t seem right to live in a foreign country as an illegal. If you don’t have residency and you are renewing your passport by leaving the country every 90 days, you aren’t technically “illegal”, but truthfully you are sort of gaming the system.

The deal is this…if you come to Costa Rica on a tourist visa, and for U.S. and Canadian citizens that simply means you entered with a passport from your home country (there are no other requirements for the visa), then you are allowed to stay in the country legally for 90 days. Also, you are allowed to use a valid driver’s license from your home country to drive on Costa Rica’s roads for that same 90 day period. After the 90 days are up, you’re an illegal.

Are you subject to deportation? Well, yes…however Costa Rica generally won’t do that as long as you keep your nose clean.

Recently the law was changed (effective April 20th of this year) wherein if you overstay your visa you are charged $100 for each month you overstay. When you exit the country you must pay up and if you don’t, you will be denied entry for 3 times the amount you overstayed. I don’t believe this is prorated, meaning that if you overstay by a day, you’re gonna owe $100. I’m not sure on that, but I have not read anywhere about a reduction in fine if you only overstay a fraction of an entire month.

Here’s an example of how this works: Let’s say you overstay your visa by 47 days (so 2 months). Well, when you check in at the airport for your flight home, someone somewhere (not sure who nor where) will be charging you $200. And if you don’t pay at that time, then you can’t come back into Costa Rica for 6 months. Got it?

You can avoid all this ugliness by just leaving the country before your visa period is up. You can of course go home, but you don’t have to. You could go to Panama or Nicaragua, both nice places to visit. How long do you have to stay outside the country? Technically you are supposed to stay outside for 72 hours, or 3 days. However, that’s not readily enforced.

I know of many a perpetual tourist who will simply go to the border, cross it, have a beer, and then cross immediately back to get his or her passport stamped and visa renewed for another 90 days. I never did it that way. I was a perpetual tourist for my first several years in Costa Rica. I always left for Nicaragua and I always stayed gone for the required 3 days. Heck, I loved doing it! But I’ve heard enough stories about folks getting away with far less time out to lead me to believe that the official 72 hour requirement is just not enforced.

What’s my recommendation on Costa Rica residency – perpetual tourist or resident?

Well, I would have to say that if you easily qualify for residency, either due to a pension back home, or the fact that you’re investing $200,000 in Costa Rica real estate (which incidentally will qualify you, your wife and minor children all for that same $200K), then go ahead and go for it. However, if that’s a big problem for you, then the perpetual tourism route is certainly viable. Bearing in mind that it will now cost you to overstay your visa.

Back when I was a perpetual tourist I overstayed often. Usually because I was running my own business and the date I was supposed to leave wasn’t always commensurate with my ability business-wise to just up and leave. So, I would overstay for a week or two (sometimes even more). You won’t really be able to do that anymore without having to pay a price.

I was talking to a friend the other day, a guy who lives half the year in Costa Rica and the other half in Canada (so, not really a perpetual tourist as I would understand the term to mean). He said he didn’t understand why Costa Rica didn’t make the tourist visa valid for 6 months, rather than 3…apparently as they do in Panama? I agree that would be a welcome change, but it doesn’t seem to me that Costa Rica is going in that direction when it comes to their immigration policies.

For now perpetual tourism is still alive and well in Costa Rica. Who knows, however, what the future has in store?