Penalties, Fines, and the Art of Postponing Them
A Recurring Issue in Costa Rican Immigration Enforcement
Once again, penalties and fines for overstaying in Costa Rica require discussion. As has been noted many times before, since March 2010 Costa Rica has attempted to impose penalties and fines on foreign nationals who overstay their authorized period of stay in the country.
The general premise has remained consistent over the years: tourists with expired entry stamps, temporary residents or special category visa holders with an expired DIMEX, and foreign nationals who have been formally notified of a rejected immigration status but have not yet filed an appeal, among others, should be subject to penalties or fines prior to departing Costa Rica.
Despite repeated announcements, enforcement has been delayed multiple times.
The Two Types of Penalties Established by Law
Under the current legal framework, immigration authorities may apply two distinct forms of penalties.
Economic Fines for Overstaying
Foreign nationals may be required to pay an economic fine of $100 USD per month of overstay.
For example, a foreign national who entered Costa Rica on January 1 with a 30-day tourist visa and remained in the country until April 1 would be required to pay $200 USD, corresponding to two months of overstay.
Re-Entry Bans for Non-Payment
If a foreign national is unable or unwilling to pay the applicable fine, immigration authorities may impose a re-entry ban.
The duration of the ban is calculated as three times the number of months overstayed. As such, an individual who overstayed for one month would face a three-month ban from re-entering Costa Rica.
A History of Announcements and Moratoriums
Since 2010, the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería has repeatedly announced its intention to enforce these penalties, only to later issue moratoriums postponing their application.
Most recently, immigration authorities announced that they were preparing to enforce penalties and fines starting on April 20, 2019. Shortly thereafter, they disclosed that due to technological and logistical limitations—specifically the lack of systems to collect payments or record entry bans at all authorized borders—they could not meet that deadline. As a result, enforcement was postponed once again, with implementation pushed to 2020.
Proposed Modifications to the Existing Law
Alongside these postponements, immigration authorities have indicated their intent to modify certain aspects of the law. These proposed changes were, at the time, under review by Congress and had not been officially approved.
Fractioned Fines for Partial Months
Under the existing law, fines apply only when a foreign national overstays by a full month. This means that an individual could technically overstay for up to 29 days without financial consequence. Immigration authorities have expressed an intention to modify this provision so that fines could also apply to overstays of less than one month, with the $100 fine being prorated accordingly.
Maximum Duration for Entry Bans
Authorities have also indicated an intention to impose a maximum re-entry ban of five years, regardless of the length of the overstay.
Non-Retroactive Application
Finally, immigration officials have stated that they do not intend for the law to apply retroactively to 2010, when it originally came into force. Their stated goal is for fines and entry bans to apply only upon proper enforcement of the law, projected for 2020, and not to overstays that occurred prior to that date.
Current Status and Practical Considerations
It is important to emphasize that these proposed modifications were, at the time, merely suggestions under legislative analysis. They were not official or approved changes to the law. Nonetheless, immigration authorities publicly indicated that these measures reflected their enforcement intentions.
For the time being, no penalties or fines were to be imposed until 2020. In the interim, foreign nationals were advised to continue completing border runs as required and to renew their DIMEX on time. Overstaying can create significant complications for individuals who later seek to file or renew residency applications in Costa Rica.
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