The proof of onward travel on Costa Rica

I'm sorry to say that your employer is playing you...and you are now working illegally.

This is such a common occurrence that the'employer' promises to apply on your behalf and they don't fulfill this commitment. You won't be covered by CAJA so hope you do not need it.

It could take up to a year to get a work visa...

Suggest you cancel your 'return flight' and purchase a bus ticket to Nicaragua before your tourist visa expires and hopefully you receive another 90 day tourist visa.. When there purchase another set of tickets, if necessary.  Much easier to do this than traveling  to Panama.

For any forward ticket if you use the US dollar and pay via a usa address and order from a flight place like expedia or etc you can then cancel your flight within 24 hours. So just order a one way flight from costa rica to wherever is cheap and then cancel it. Use a main carrier like American or Delta etc for your one way flight out of Costa Rica, then cancel it within 24 hours it will be fine.

I don't know if you have to leave the country every 90 days if you are truly applying for a legal work visa. I know that in the case of applying for residency, once you have proof of your application you do not have to leave the country , except if you want to legally drive in  Costa Rica on your foreign license; then you do have to leave the country for at least 1 minute or so (long enough to turn around and get a return stamp).

(Note that at some borders, some border agents if not all, will tell you that you MUST remain in Nicaragua for example, for at least 3 hours before returning. I believe this is b.s. but the border customs agents do say that and get away with it and if you fight it god knows what would happen...

We did however just return after about an hour and a half and they did let us return to Costa Rica at that time.
When walking across the border we were not asked for any proof of forward travel, either into Nicaragua nor back to Costa Rica. But they apparently have the right to do that.
I just figured if they would not let me back in, I'd go to an internet cafe or use the phone to Delta or whatever and buy a one way ticket out of Costa Rica for a few weeks from now, then cancel it within 24 hours. But we were not asked for a ticket out of Costa Rica when returning from Nicaragua.

kohlerias wrote:

I'm sorry to say that your employer is playing you...and you are now working illegally.

This is such a common occurrence that the'employer' promises to apply on your behalf and they don't fulfill this commitment. You won't be covered by CAJA so hope you do not need it.

It could take up to a year to get a work visa...

Suggest you cancel your 'return flight' and purchase a bus ticket to Nicaragua before your tourist visa expires and hopefully you receive another 90 day tourist visa.. When there purchase another set of tickets, if necessary.  Much easier to do this than traveling  to Panama.

Richard,

When I read your post, I was going to respond immediately with pretty much exactly what Kohlerias said above.  I would also suggest you really look into whether or not you're actually going to get a work visa prior to making apartment/house and car commitments.  Sounds like yet another scam.  Sorry.

- Expat Dave

Hi guys, thanks for your concerns but the blame goes on me. This is a corporate company and there are foreigners working in there already and I worked for them in overseas already... When I negotiated the contract, I was told to provide "duly apostilled" birth and wedding certificates and criminal records. I and did not understand the term, have explicitly asked them what that means, if that is official stamped copies translated by approved translator, they said yes, so I obtained the official copies as I would normally do in my country. The HR department saw nothing wrong with the stamp, so they applied for the work visa. That was rejected and I now learned the hard way that it should have been stamped by a ministry of foreign affairs in my home country. I should have made my homework better but I had no doubts that I do it the right way. Fortunatelly my old mum is going to save my ..., she has got an official written authorization from me to deal with a legal stuff on my apart, so she will run around the places and will get this for me. I have called the authorities and it should work.
I have been also told that once the paperwork is provided and the application process starts I can legally overstay my tourist visa.
So yes, I will risk it with the apartment rent, school enrolment payment and everything. I was longing for an adventure, I just hoped it is going to be some type of jungle adventure, not this bureaucratic one.

Yes you need onward travel.  The cheapest thing I know of is to go to the bus station. Get a ticket out of the country I believe they have open dates of travel. Good for one year from purchase. That way you can use it several times before having to buy another one. Cost I believe is about 12 mil.

RichardHol, hopefully it will eventually work out for you and your family. You shouldn't have to leave the country once you have received a expediente, meaning a file has been opened for you and your request is being considered .... unless want to keep driving, then you will have to keep renewing your tourist visa by leaving the country.

Note that driving infractions are expensive.

I regularly do border runs to Nicaragua and they ask me for proof of exit every time.  I would save yourself the hassle of doing it in the lineup and get it before your trip.