When it comes to topics of discussion related to Costa Rica travel, onward tickets are seldom mentioned. Foreign visitors who arrive in Costa Rica with a tourist visa and a round-trip ticket do not generally have to worry about this issue; however, travelers who wish to extend their trips, explore Central America and the Caribbean, become perpetual tourists, or re-enter the country for any reason should be aware of onward tickets.

Foreign visitors to Costa Rica whose passports are issued by “Group One” countries enjoy automatic, 90-day tourist visas at our country’s port of entry with few requirements set forth by the General Law on Immigration, Number 8764, enacted in 2010. Among these Group One countries we find Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and member nations of the European Union, which explains why we see a high number of tourists from these commonwealths and republics.

For citizens of Group One nations, there are many advantages offered by Costa Rica travel; these include the enticement of visiting Nicaragua, Panama, various Caribbean island nations and territories, and even becoming a perpetual tourist. These enticements, however, will require the use of onward tickets at some point.

Onward Tickets in Costa Rica

In Spanish, onward tickets are called “boletos de continuidad.” They are not explicitly mentioned in Law 8764, but they are described in the rules set forth by the General Directorate of Immigration. The concept is easy to understand: All foreign visitors arriving in Costa Rica must present proof of onward or outbound travel. This requirement is easily satisfied with a round-trip ticket, but it can also be a ticket out of Costa Rica by either plane, bus or vessel.

With the above in mind, travelers from Group One nations could actually purchase one-way tickets to Costa Rica along with onward tickets. This is something that savvy backpackers (known as mochileros in Costa Rica) and budget travelers are familiar with. Booking one-way tickets can sometimes result in savings for travelers who plan to visit Costa Rica; however, they should be aware that immigration officers will immediately ask for proof of an onward ticket upon entering the country.

Potential savings are not the only convenience of onward tickets. Both Nicaragua and Panama have immigration rules similar to Costa Rica’s in this regard, although Panama is infamously draconian when it comes to rulemaking and enforcement. With this in mind, onward tickets are essential for backpackers who want to make Costa Rica their home away from home as they explore other countries in the region. The same goes for perpetual tourists, and this was explained to The Costa Rica Star by Javier, founder of the Central American Bus Ticket Network, a man who is thoroughly familiar with onward tickets and other immigration tidbits in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.

Border Crossings and Onward Tickets

Javier is used to midnight and early morning phone calls from travelers, backpackers and perpetual tourists desperately stuck at SJO, LIR, Penas Blancas, and Paso Canoas. These are foreign visitors whose tickets end in Costa Rica, a fact that contravenes immigration laws. Oftentimes, the travelers contacting Javier and his staff at ticketbuscr.com are exasperated because they cannot make online reservations with major bus lines such as Ticabus, Tracopa or TransNica.

The travelers who contact ticketbuscr.com often do so in despair for a number of reasons. Many of them are younger and confused, quite a few have suffered bad travel experiences such as theft or running out of cash. Some of them are perpetual tourists on their first-ever visa run, and they fear that they are going to be stuck in either Nicaragua or Panama.

Through his online service, Javier offers the convenience of booking online bus tickets that serve as bona fide onward tickets that satisfy immigration requirements in Costa Rica. The process is essentially an online booking, whereby travelers submit a copy of their passports along with a request for a bus ticket departing from Costa Rica to a point somewhere across the border; payments are handled via PayPal, major credit cards, or Skrill. Javier knows that most of his customers are in a travel bind about 80 percent of the time, which is why his staff tries to expedite service as much as possible.

What tourists get from ticketbuscr.com is a valid bus ticket that is valid for six months and can actually be used for a visa run or for a trip. Javier is frank about the fact that most onward tickets sold are actually never used as travel tickets, but the peace of mind and savings they provide is priceless. The cheapest onward bus ticket costs $59: it departs from the Bramadero Hotel in Liberia to Cafe del Barrio San Juan in Nicaragua. The carrier is EasyRide, a bus line familiar to many visa runners.

Javier is a traveler himself; he is thoroughly familiar with the immigration processes at the two major land border crossing points in Costa Rica. He knows about the myth of the three-day stay in Nicaragua and Panama for visa runs; this misconception arises from the customs form that travelers must complete as they move around Central America – that form includes a question about permanence in a foreign country for 72 hours. This is not an immigration requirement at all, but Javier has seen visa runners cross the border only to get their passports stamped and march right back to Costa Rica. Javier does not recommend doing this since the idea is to create a record of valid tourism activity; for this reason, it is better to spend a couple of days in Nicaragua or Panama. Crossing the border solely to get a passport stamped may be seen as disrespectful by immigration officers in a bad mood; this is not a situation anyone would like to get into with the quasi-militaristic immigration authorities of Panama.

As with anything else related to international traveler, tourists seeking onward tickets should plan in advance. Immigration officers in Costa Rica are already familiar with ticketbuscr.com, and thus they know what the onward bust tickets look like as well as the payment confirmations. Should the border officers call Javier or his staff, they may inquire about an element of the traveler’s passport, which the bus carrier is required to have a copy of. Javier also admits that travelers from Group One nations who already have a few stamps on their passports may not be asked for an onward ticket, but not having one and hoping to be waved in is a risky proposition.

In the end, an onward bus ticket could make the difference between getting stuck at SJO waiting for the Copa Airlines ticket counter to open so that a $500 ticket to Panama can be purchased just for the purpose of entering Costa Rica.