Rights, limitations and obligations

of

foreign persons in Costa Rica

Articles 31, 32, and 33 of Law 8764 clarify the rights, limitations and obligations that a foreign person will have in Costa Rica. To facilitate the subject, I have separated them into 3 parts and I will try to mention each one briefly using the words of the law itself.

First: Rights

– Individual and social rights and guarantees recognized in the Political Constitution of Costa Rica.

– Access to justice

– Respect for the guarantees of due process

– Right to defense

– Right to petition and reply

– To circulate freely in the country, if authorized, for the time allowed by this authorization.

– Access to social security

– Seek and receive asylum and refuge

– Non-refoulement: asylum seekers or approved refugees may not be expelled, deported or rejected to another country, regardless of their country of origin and conditions.

– Integration into Costa Rican society, if they are authorized to stay in the country

Second: Limitations

– Requirements to enter, stay and exit the country established by the law 8764, its regulations and other applicable legal norms.

– Administrative sanctions, deportation, precautionary apprehension, etc.

Third: Obligations

– Contribute to the social security system

– Contribute to public expenses

– Comply with payments required by law 8764 and its regulations.

– Provisions established by law 8764 and its regulations and applicable rules.

– Communicate in writing any change of address

– Indicate way of receiving notifications

– To carry, keep and present identity documents from their country of origin and also documents proving their immigration status when requested by the competent authorities.

– To leave the country when the authorized period of stay expires. Otherwise, they must pay a fine of $100 per month or they will be banned from entering the country for a period equivalent to three times the time of their irregular stay.

As can be seen, these clauses are very general. When we dig into the details of law 8764 and its regulations, we can see that there are much more obligations and rights. As a source of rights and obligations for situations of ambiguity and need for interpretation, we turn to the initial part of article 31 which refers to equal constitutional rights and guarantees between foreigners and Costa Ricans.