Simple And Very
Lucrative Is The
Business Of Offering
Foreigners Residency
During the past years,
Costa Rica has seen a
massive influx of
Colombians, some masking
the real reasons for
leaving their country,
leaving open the door
for a large number of
Colombia criminals.
In 2002, the Costa Rican
government initiated a
visa requirement for
Colombians wanting to
travel to Costa Rica,
but some say that
action was a little too
late.
The visa requirements
are still in place
today, however,
Colombian criminals have
been able to mock the
visa requirement and
have made their way to
Costa Rica.
Currently the 28.000
strong Colombian
community in Costa Rica
has about 10.000
illegals according to
government sources.
Many of the now legal
Colombians entered the
country based on a
refugee claim, while a
greater number obtained
their residency and some
Costa Rican citizenship
by way of marriage. And
the whole process of
legitimization,
according to a report by
local channel 7
Telenoticias, begins
outside the immigration
offices located in La
Uruca.
Many of the Colombian
undesirables in Costa
Rican began their
legitimization by short
visit to immigration
lawyers offices located
outside the immigration
installations. Many of
these offices are not
larger than a broom
closet, one lawyer even
doing business out of a
modified minivan.
The lawyers offer the
Colombians, and other
foreign nationals as
well, an opportunity to
contract marriage with a
Costa Rican and then
submit their application
for residency in the
country, sometimes for a
fee that is in the
thousands of dollars.
The quickest way for
residency and
citizenship is through
marriage and since the
Dirección de Migración y
Extranjería (immigration
service) is powerless to
investigate these
marriages, the process
is simple and very
lucrative for the
lawyers and the "gavilanes"
- the hustlers - to
develop a profitable
business.
Prostitutes, drug
addicts, convicts and
the homeless figure
among Costa Ricans on
record of have been
married to Colombians
and other foreign
nationals, who are paid
a small fee for the use
of their "Cedula" and
signature on the
marriage document that
is registered at the
Registro Civil.
In Costa Rica, there is
no requirement to obtain
a marriage license and a
couple can appear before
a lawyer or notary, with
identification in hand,
sign the documents that
are sent for
registration and the
marriage is legal.
In the case of the
marriages for
convenience, the foreign
nationals never meet
their spouse, are only
given their spouse's
name and cedula number
and three years later
the divorce is filed.
Some of lawyers offer a
"combo" consisting of a
residency cedula, a
Costa Rican passport and
driver's license. Legal
residency is obtained
from the immigration
service after filing the
required documents, a
valid drivers license is
issued by the
transportation ministry
and two years later the
foreign national can
apply for a Costa Rican
passport that is issued
by the Registro Civil
based on the marriage to
a Costa Rican.
To understand the full
extent of this business,
one only needs to visit
the outside of the
Dirección de Migración y
Extranjería offices any
weekday from the early
hours of the morning.
Currently there is a
proposal to tighten the
marriage for convenience
laws, but the
legislative process has
been slow to make
changes, leaving the
current director of
Migración, Mario Zamora,
and his officials
powerless to put an end
to the practice. |
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