Costa Rica’s Immigration Administration will begin enforcing a fine at its borders Monday for travelers whose temporary residency visas have expired.
The $100 per-month fine will only affect people with expired residency visas or temporary work permits. While the fine has stirred up dissent among the Nicaraguan immigrant community, many of whom are here on temporary work permits, it will not be applied to travelers whose tourism visas have expired.
“There is no type of fine or penalty for people who overstay a tourist visa,” Heidy Bonilla, a spokeswoman for the Immigration Administration, told The Tico Times. “People caught overstaying a tourist visa will be deported, but not fined.”
Bonilla clarified that foreigners caught with expired visas on their way out of Costa Rica will not be detained as long as they leave the country immediately.
