We visited Costa Rica between 24th January and 10th February 2012. Costa Rica requires Indian citizens to be in possession of a valid visa when they arrive.
However, people of ANY nationality holding valid US, Canada, Japan, South Korea or Schengen visas do not need a prior visa. The only conditions being that the visa must be valid for 3 months and should be stamped in your passport.
Since I have a tourist visa to the US that is valid until 2018, I was able to use the above provision and entered Costa Rica without needing a visa.
Thus, if you hold an Indian passport and have a valid visa to any of the above regions that is valid for 3 months from your date of arrival – you do NOT need a prior visa for Costa Rica. (Source)
We arrived at San Jose International Airport and the immigration official simply checked my passport for the US visa, and stamped me in for 30 days. Zara however was given a 90 day stamp on her Portuguese passport. We did not have to pay for the stamp.
Two caveats:
- Before we boarded the flight from Cuba to Costa Rica, the airlines (TACA, in our case) INSISTED that we show proof of our flight out of Costa Rica. (we were flying from there to Brazil and luckily had already booked tickets). They said that this was necessary for us to be granted visas on arrival in Costa Rica. The immigration official in San Jose never asked us for anything.
- When you leave Costa Rica you need to pay a departure tax of USD 26 per person, there are ATMs all over this area so it shouldn’t be a problem. You can also use a credit/debit card to pay the tax.
I predict this blog will become a go-to place for people travelling in south america. the practical info is always really good and clear. nice work, guys.
Thanks Anita :) I try to write a lot of stuff for Indians because we never know about visas and stuff with our passports :P People at immigration always look at me as if I dropped out of the sky, haha!
ur article is too much of a help cuz i visited Costa Rica 3 yrs back and i entered on u.s visa but now as im traveling again in June 2012 some body told me if they have changed the rules now im really relieved after reading your article thank you so much
Glad to be of help Fatima. Yeah as far as I’m aware, Costa Rica offers visa on arrival to anyone with a valid US visa. (regardless of nationality)
Hi, We Are an IT software development and consulting company based in Mumbai – India
Company’s one sr. Executive had planned to Attend the “Costa Rica Technology Insight 2012″
(CRTI) being organized by the Foreign Trade Corporation of Costa Rica
(PROCOMER) and the Costa Rican Chamber of Information and Communication Technologies (CAMTIC) during June 19-20, 2012 at San Jose, Costa Rica.
Already he have the Valid USA visa on his Passport, So we just want to know whether ha can travel on that visa or does he need to get sepearate visa for this,
Do let us know as soon as possible so that we can go ahead for this,
Hi Abdul!
Yes, I do believe that Costa Rica still offers visa free entry to Indians with a valid US tourist visa. You’ll find updated information at the following website:
http://www.costarica-embassy.org/index.php?q=node/72
It says over there that:
Citizens of other nationalities do not need a tourist visa to enter Costa Rica if they have a United States, a European Union country or a Canadian tourist visa, a visa for crew or a business visa (multiple entry). Note: Such visa must be stamped in the passport and be valid for at least three months.
So I guess you’re all set! :)
hi
i am from india and i need few information about how can i go to costa rica.
I have a student visa valid till 2015. So do i need visa for South American Countries. And my friend has a H1B, so does this apply to it also?
Each South American country has different visa requirements, you’d have to check individually. For Costa Rica, any American visa should do!
Hi
thank you for your valuable article
iam an egyptian citizen
and i want to ask
can i have visa on arrival to CR ?
there is no costa rican embassy in Egypt
can u plz tell me
Hi! Unfortunately we do not know about Egyptian passport holders… You should contact the embassy even in a different country if there is none in Egypt and they should be able to inform you better!
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