I agree that tourists have no legal standing when it comes to policies. However, they do contribute to the economy through marchamo, property taxes, sales taxes, general purchases of goods and services. And there are those, like myself, who have applied for residency but still need to do border runs in order to be able to drive while waiting for approval. In my case, I have been waiting 17 months and counting. I would like the authorities to just give some consideration to:
1. Not all of us can afford to pay several hundred dollars for the airfare
2. The health risk for us to go to countries with high infection rates, which affects everyone in CR
Let Costa Rica make its laws and decide if you contribute enough to the economy. As for not being able to afford border runs, why is that the problem of Costa Rica? And for Covid risks, again, let Costa Rica determine their own federal health policy.
Agree with all above. It is an inconvenience with the land borders closed, but the real victims of this situation are those who have applied and paid for residency, have complete and clean applications, eager to participate in the economy and are waiting..waiting... waiting...over 15 months for approval. Applications are sitting on a desk in immigration somewhere, you would think they would be rubber stamped APPROVED to get the process and expats in play fast.
The last paragraph makes a false conclusion. If perpetual tourists are beneficial to the economy (which I'm sure they are, now more than ever), and you wanted to keep having the cash flowing in, reopening land borders is not necessary. The automatic extension of visas, as it was done for the past year, would be just fine.
Better yet, turn the money people were spending on border runs into a government fee for income. And demand some extra for mandatory basic health insurance for stays past 3 months. If people can not afford this, then why should CR be responsible for accommodating them?
I have no issue with Costs Rica enforcing it’s tourist visas. But I do wish MOPT would get on the same page as immigration when it comes to foreign drivers licenses for those who have legally filed for residency. If they aren’t going to allow you to get a CR drivers license until the residency process is completed, which is understandable, they could at least honor valid foreign drivers licenses until that process has been completed.
Your article makes some valid points like many contribute to the economy. But if you have lived here any length of time, you know that many do not and many illegally work at local businesses or are involved in questionable, if not illegal activities. How does a government decide who is beneficial or not? Easiest way is just slam the hammer down and whoever can qualify gets to stay and ones that don't, can't. The CR government has way to many big issues to deal with then spending a lot of time and resources trying to sort out a situation that was let get out of hand over the years.
Yes, for years I was a perpetual tourist as well. But, I always knew that the time would come and nobody would really care how long I had been here and how much money I spent.
Thanks for reading it :) I know what you mean, that is why I'm hoping for valid ways for those of us who are not illegally working or committing crimes to stay (and that is the vast majority), like this digital nomad visa that is already in the works.
And just for the record, it was me and a 2 other tourism colleagues that wrote that bill before the house and got deputy Carlos Benoviedas to introduce it. We have been heavily involved in coming up with new ideas for sustainable tourism.
Yeah, I’m not sure. It’s a hard thing to measure. But after “long term visiting” in the Tamarindo area for years I saw many tourists make contributions to the community in more impactful ways than straight spending.
I agree that tourists have no legal standing when it comes to policies. However, they do contribute to the economy through marchamo, property taxes, sales taxes, general purchases of goods and services. And there are those, like myself, who have applied for residency but still need to do border runs in order to be able to drive while waiting for approval. In my case, I have been waiting 17 months and counting. I would like the authorities to just give some consideration to:
1. Not all of us can afford to pay several hundred dollars for the airfare
2. The health risk for us to go to countries with high infection rates, which affects everyone in CR
Let Costa Rica make its laws and decide if you contribute enough to the economy. As for not being able to afford border runs, why is that the problem of Costa Rica? And for Covid risks, again, let Costa Rica determine their own federal health policy.
Agree with all above. It is an inconvenience with the land borders closed, but the real victims of this situation are those who have applied and paid for residency, have complete and clean applications, eager to participate in the economy and are waiting..waiting... waiting...over 15 months for approval. Applications are sitting on a desk in immigration somewhere, you would think they would be rubber stamped APPROVED to get the process and expats in play fast.
The good news is that they are now twice as fast as they used to be.
The last paragraph makes a false conclusion. If perpetual tourists are beneficial to the economy (which I'm sure they are, now more than ever), and you wanted to keep having the cash flowing in, reopening land borders is not necessary. The automatic extension of visas, as it was done for the past year, would be just fine.
Better yet, turn the money people were spending on border runs into a government fee for income. And demand some extra for mandatory basic health insurance for stays past 3 months. If people can not afford this, then why should CR be responsible for accommodating them?
I have no issue with Costs Rica enforcing it’s tourist visas. But I do wish MOPT would get on the same page as immigration when it comes to foreign drivers licenses for those who have legally filed for residency. If they aren’t going to allow you to get a CR drivers license until the residency process is completed, which is understandable, they could at least honor valid foreign drivers licenses until that process has been completed.
I don't think Costa Rica owes us anything and no one expects extensions to go on forever. I just wrote a blog post from the perspective of a perpetual tourist, if anyone is interested:https://nomaddesignhouse.com/2021/02/03/why-costa-ricas-perpetual-tourists-are-heartbroken/
Your article makes some valid points like many contribute to the economy. But if you have lived here any length of time, you know that many do not and many illegally work at local businesses or are involved in questionable, if not illegal activities. How does a government decide who is beneficial or not? Easiest way is just slam the hammer down and whoever can qualify gets to stay and ones that don't, can't. The CR government has way to many big issues to deal with then spending a lot of time and resources trying to sort out a situation that was let get out of hand over the years.
Yes, for years I was a perpetual tourist as well. But, I always knew that the time would come and nobody would really care how long I had been here and how much money I spent.
Thanks for reading it :) I know what you mean, that is why I'm hoping for valid ways for those of us who are not illegally working or committing crimes to stay (and that is the vast majority), like this digital nomad visa that is already in the works.
And just for the record, it was me and a 2 other tourism colleagues that wrote that bill before the house and got deputy Carlos Benoviedas to introduce it. We have been heavily involved in coming up with new ideas for sustainable tourism.
Oh wow, well thank you for that! I am a huge fan of the idea, if you can’t tell already. :)
I question whether the "vast majority" really brings adequate income and benefit to the country to make them worth the trouble.
Yeah, I’m not sure. It’s a hard thing to measure. But after “long term visiting” in the Tamarindo area for years I saw many tourists make contributions to the community in more impactful ways than straight spending.
Best let the democratically elected government make those determinations as to their value and rights to living in their country.
Of course. Just sharing my observations.
I will be very curious to hear your feedback on this article. Are you going to publish it in TT as well?