pistimarosi79 asked 8 years ago
Hi Everyone!
We will enter CR from the USA in 2 weeks with Spirit Airlines. We plan to travel in the country for about a month, with sidetrips to Nicaragua and Panama. We are from Hungary, Europe.
I read a lot about the onward travel requitements but it’s still not clear to me. Could you help with these:
- do they really require the proof of onward travel?
- what do I exactly provide to enter the country from the US?
- do I have to prove only that I leave CR in 90 days, or do I have to have a flight ticket back home to Hungary?
- bus tickets are enough or do they ask for flight tickets?
- is that enough if I provide a return bus ticket at the border when I leave the country to Panama and to Nicaragua (cause we really would like to return from these countries to CR, just plan to stay there about 5-6 days).
The information on the net is quite confusing, I’d really appreciate a correct answer.
Thanx in advance.
Istvan
Jenn and Matt Staff answered 8 years ago
Hi Istvan,
You might not always be asked for proof of onward travel when you enter Costa Rica (at the airport) but the airline might require it before you get on the plane, especially if you only have a one-way ticket into the country. When we traveled here on a one way ticket, we had small plane ticket from Costa Rica to Panama as our proof that we were leaving and the airline was satisfied with that. A bus ticket showing that you are leaving Costa Rica might also work but we are not sure. They are always making adjustments to the rules and that is why it is confusing online. As for making the crossing at the border, we just wrote a new post about crossing into Panama that has all the current requirements. You can read that here: Paso Canoas: Costa Rica and Panama’s Biggest Border Crossing
Hope this helps and you have a safe trip.