I was asked by BoqueteGirl on another thread if I could tell her how my recent visa run to Costa Rica went, so I thought I'd do it as a separate thread. Before I did the run, I also had a lot of questions about it, because I've seen a lot of different accounts of what you need to cross between Costa Rica and Panama and vice versa. I've heard you need to have $500 cash, as well as a confirmed plane ticket out of the country, and that they sometimes actually call the airline to verify that the ticket's legit.
I'm a Canadian in my early 40s here on a tourist visa. I just made the crossing first into Costa Rica, and then back into Panama in mid-June 2016. I arrived in Panama for the first in early March of this year and I'm house-sitting here outside of La Chorrera. I'm way out in the boonies, so the owner has a car that I'm allowed to use to go into town to get groceries. However for whatever reason Panama has decided to give 6 month tourist visas, but only allow you to drive for the first 90 days.
So to be able to continue to drive, I had to leave the country for ________ days (I have no idea how long you have to be out, because I've read varying accounts). As it took me a day on buses to get up to David, and then another half day to get where I was going in Costa Rica (Puerto Jimenez), I decided to spend 5 nights in Costa Rica.
I took a local bus from the bus station in David to the border. They probably run every 10 minutes or so, and they keep saying, “Frontera”, which means “border” and here it means the border at Paso Canoas. I think it took about an hour and a half to get to the border. There may be faster, more direct buses, but they're also much less frequent. I don't know how much the bus is supposed to cost, but I gave him $2.
At the border, you get off the bus less than 50 metres from the Panama Immigration Office. If you stay on the right side of the building, on the back side of the first section you'll see a few windows with “Salida” and “Exit” signs. Go there and give them your passport. There was no line when I went, and I was through in less than 5 minutes. I did NOT have to go through Customs nor have my bags searched.
You then continue up the same road about 200 metres until you get to the Costa Rica Immigration Office, on the right side of the road. It's not obvious where to go from Panama Immigration, but just continue up the main road towards Costa Rica and you'll soon see it. I had to fill out a form, and after filling it out, within 5 minutes I was stamped into Costa Rica for 90 days. Again, I didn't have my bags checked or have to do anything else. They did NOT ask to see any proof of cash or any flight ticket out of Costa Rica. Nothing – just my passport.
So in total, from arriving at the Panamanian side, until being checked in to Costa Rica, it probably only took me about 15-20 minutes.
I came back to Panama on a Sunday morning. I thought it might be busy with weekend day-trippers, but again I had no problems. I arrived at the border early, maybe 7:30 am Costa Rica time.
At Costa Rica Immigration, before you exit you have to pay some kind of exit fee (I can't remember what they call it). You go across the main street and up towards Panama about 50 metres. There's a tiny, little office which you should see. I think it had a sign that said, “Impuesto” (“tax”) but I don't remember exactly what it said. You show them your passport and I think I had to pay 4,500 colones which is about $8.50, but I'm not sure what they charge you if you pay in dollars. After you get the receipt, you then go to Costa Rica Immigration (it's in the same building, and the windows are right next to where you check-in to Costa Rica). You have to fill out the same form you filled in when you entered Costa Rica, and then I got stamped out. Including paying the tax, it took me 10-15 minutes total to get stamped out.
At Panama Immigration, it also wasn't busy and I gave them my passport and was stamped back in within 5 minutes. They did NOT ask for any proof of funds nor for any kind of plane ticket out of the country.
So this only represents my experience, but I was never asked for any proof of funds nor for any kind of ticket out of the country by Panama nor by Costa Rica. However I came back to Panama with an American couple I met in Costa Rica, and they had been in Panama for a short trip visiting relatives and decided to hop over the border into Costa Rica to see some wildlife. When they entered Costa Rica a few days earlier, the Immigration official wouldn't allow them into Costa Rica without proof of a ticket out. They showed Immigration their tickets back to the States from Panama City, but that wasn't good enough. So they ended up having to buy a cheap throwaway flight ticket from San Jose to somewhere in Panama.
At Panama as well as Costa Rica Immigration, the windows where you get stamped-in and get stamped-out are right next to each other. Also remember that Costa Rica is an hour behind Panama. So if it's 10am in Panama when you cross into Costa Rica, it's only 9am in Costa Rica.
As an aside, for anyone heading over to Costa Rica for a few days, I highly recommend checking out Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula. I caught a bus right at the border to Golfito via Ciudad Neily. I think it took about an hour and a half. Then from Golfito, there are small lanchas (like a mini-ferry) to Puerto Jimenez several times a day (except Sunday when there's only 3 or 4). I caught a bus from David at about 7 am, and I was in Puerto Jimenez about 4.5 hours later.
There's tons of wildlife in Puerto Jimenez and the surrounding area, including scarlet macaws, toucans, iguanas and all 4 kinds of monkeys found in Costa Rica.
Cheers
PanamaIMG_0016.jpeg)
Legal-Services-in-Panamá-MPU.jpg)
Living in Panama Guide
Panama Forum
Contribute
Best Places to Live in Panama
Healthcare in Panama
Cost of Living in Panama
Moving to Panama Guide
Pros & Cons of Living in Panama
Panama Visa & Residency Guide
10 Tips for Living in Panama