A Shotgun Wedding, Costa Rica Style!
or why legal residency in Costa Rica  is important!

Steve is a North American who inadvertently lost his life's savings in Costa Rica by making what turned out to be a bad investment. Steve was faced with returning to the States and working menial jobs until he could collect Social Security or trying to survive in Costa Rica.

He chose the second option and started a small business selling home baked banana bread to other ex-pats and tourists in downtown Heredia.

The word spread about Steve's mouth-watering banana bread and he was able to start getting back on his feet.  About two weeks ago I received a call from Steve's good friend Bill. He informed me that Steve has been picked up by the Immigration Police while at a café in Heredia. He was charged with being in the country for over a year illegally and consequently scheduled for deportation. Steve had been remiss and never renewed his papers.

Quickly I mobilized all of Steve's good friends. We met at the local ex-pat hangout in Heredia and planned our strategy to get Steve out of jail. We took up a collection and I headed for San José to meet with a lawyer.

I met my good friend Bruce downtown and we went to see the lawyer. The attorney proved to be excellent and knew exactly what to do.

Next, we went with the attorney to a police station located about three blocks northeast of the National Theater. Since visiting hours were still a couple of hours away, the lawyer was the only one who could enter. The lawyer showed the guard his special I.D. and disappeared inside the building.

About ten minutes later he emerged and informed us that Steve would be freed by the middle of the afternoon. He told us that in the event Steve was not released in the early afternoon, to call him and he would help us again. Bruce and I decided to return to the jail during visiting hours to talk with Steve.

We came back at one o'clock and were allowed to enter. This was the first time I had ever seen the inside of a Costa Rican jail. It was an old building but surprisingly clean and in better shape than I envisioned. The officers were very professional and courteous. They also had a very good sense of humor. I spent about ten minutes talking with them before we were allowed to see Steve and had them rolling on the floor with a strong dose of Costa Rican humor.

One of the officers paid me a nice compliment by saying that I seemed more Costa Rican that he was because of my knowledge of Tico Spanish and the local culture. Costa Ricans like to joke a lot and one can always break the ice by knowing how to humor them.

When we finally saw Steve he looked better than I had imagined for someone who had spent the night in jail. He was in excellent spirits and said that he spent a relatively uneventful night. We brought Steve up to date on what the lawyer told us. The lawyer said Steve would have to marry his long-time Costa Rican girlfriend in order to get residency and thus avoid deportation. Anyone who has a first-degree Costa Rican relative like a parent, wife or child, is eligible for residency.

Steve was released later in the day and we celebrated that evening. He avoided being deported by the skin of his teeth. Many others have not been so lucky.

The moral off the story: If you plan to live in Costa Rica, apply for some type of residency or at least leave the country every ninety days until you can find some way to stay here legally. If you are deported you may not be able to return for ten or twelve years. Imagine the consequences if you owned property or a business here.

Courtesy of The Real Costa Rica