Recent Border Crossings at Rio Sereno

Once again, Mark Heyer posted the below a couple of years ago. So far as I know, things have changed little if at all The requirements at the Rio Serrano border should be no different although the likelihood of assistance if greatly reduced.:

We have driven to/through Costa Rica three times with our car. My wife Martine has reduced the process to a simple 17 step process. Be aware that unless you have a permanent residence visa, you will not be allowed to bring a car over the border - they are trying to discourage car-theft tourism. That said, you need to contact an ayudante, or helper, at the border (Joe below). You have exactly zero chance of figuring it out yourself, even if you speak good Spanish. Here are the steps, which may have changed, all the more reason for the ayudante:

Step 1 Be sure to have:

• Original pink slip “Registro unico de propriedad vehicular”

• Original (green) registration “Certificado de inspeccion”

• Original copy of taxes paid for the year “Documento de traspaso”

• “Certificate of insurance Panama”

• Copy of our/owners of cars’ Passport and Cedula

• Maybe purchase sales slip as well.

• Make about 5 copies of all the above

Step 2 Go to Banco National de Panama to buy a 50C “automobile” stamp

Step 3 Take the stamp and one set of copies to the Panama Adouana (before the David airport on the right – look for a high fence and green and beige industrial type building) and get paper “Certificacion de pago de impuestos de importacion” properly stamped and signed from them. Make 5 copies of this (no copier on site at customs) and take one full set back to the DIJ (Department of Technical Investigations) on the road to Boquete about 2km from the intersection with the InterAmericana. (not sure if this is still required)

Step 4 Persuade DIJ you need the paper today as you are leaving at 6 AM next day. This guy is nice but it takes him time to get anything done. Bribe with cookies and/or bottled water.

Step 5 Get two more papers from DIJ (you need to have your car on site, since he needs to verify the serial numbers of the chassis, engine, etc.) go make 2 copies of his papers and take one full set of paperwork plus extra copy to the PTJ at the courthouse (just before the adouana, right up a hill on the right – it is the only multi-story building around, which you will see through the trees after you pass it on the Interamericana. The intersection is not marked as to the existence of the courthouse) – sign in and ask for Mari Xenia at the PTJ which is on the ground floor to the right of the lobby.

Step 6 They will take one day to check with Interpol and make sure your car has not been involved in international criminal activities and all taxes have been paid and tell you to come back 12 to 24 hours later to receive the permission form, the “Salide de Pais – Costa Rica”

Step 7 Finally you are ready to go to Costa Rica! Take all remaining 3 full copies of everything including the last paper you got from PTJ “Salida de Pais – Costa Rica” to border. Figure it will take you 24 hours to do all of the above.

Step 8 Go to border and find Joe from Volcan at 507 6609 8103. Joe is Panamanian, speaks excellent English and is a personal friend of the Mayor of Boquete, Manolo Ruiz, who we met also going through customs. For $20 or so, he keeps you company for 1 or 2 hours and shows you the sequence of windows to attend. You CANNOT do it the first time without Joe or one of the other “facilitators” who work the border crossing. Getting through the border is like being on a treasure hunt in the Intergalatic bar is Star Wars. There are people you need to attend to who are just standing around among the hundreds of truck drivers, bikers, backpackers and hustlers. No official will tell you who they are or why you need to see them, but you do. Having all the paper work in order saves major time. If you try to do steps 1-6 at the border itself, it could be, well, days.

Step 9 Now for the actual border process: Get your Panamanian exit stamp in your passports. The windows are not well marked. For us, we went to keep our visas legal and thus we had to leave for 72 hours. Currently the Costa Ricans come to panama for 72 hours (or less) and we go to Costa Rica for the same purpose of renewing the 90 days tourist visa. Some passport inspectors will let you come back in one day, others insist on the full three days. But you are not into Costa Rica yet…

Step 10. Go up the stairs located on right hand side next to the Panama Entry and Exit passport lines. Here a lady in a completely unmarked office will take a full set of docs and for a few dollars, give you yet another paper, which will need to be copied somewhere else. Luckily Joe knows the copy machine place.

Step 11 Now with the blue paper you got upstairs go downstairs and stand in another line where a lady copies some more data into a computer, and pass your paper to another office, where someone will come out to your car and look to see if your license plate really says the number the paperwork indicates, you are not carrying a load of AK-47s, etc etc.

Step 12 You are done. Your car is now cleared to leave Panama, and with Joe on board, it’s on to Costa Rica customs, a mere hundred feet down the road

Step 13 Joe gets you 2 forms to fill out (again, you need to go to a window and ask for them, no sign tells you) and helps you stand in line for Costa Rica Entry. The forms are like the ones they give you on airplanes. Having them filled out in advance saves major time at the window, a real consideration when there is a troupe of 50 bikers in front of you in line who don’t have a clue.

Step 14 Now you get the entry stamp in your passport. However, there is still the matter of your car.

Step 15 One full set of copies of all docs go to the car entry window (again not marked in any way), where passports also get perused, another paper gets generated, sent to another office, where you wait and another gentleman comes and inspects the car for whatever, noticing we have a lot of bottle water he hints he is thirsty! So we give him a bottle (is this a bribe?)

Step 16 Then you take your passport and papers to the insurance window where you have to buy 90 days of car insurance, but as that is only $18.95 so we can handle it

Step 17 All of our papers are stapled together and filed, and we get a small slip of stamped paper and are told to hand these over to the guy 10 meters up the road who will now agree we are legal and let us pass into Costa Rica. But wait! Before you can see the guy, you have to pay $3.50 to someone in another unmarked window for the privilege of going through the quarantine “car wash.” THEN, on to the little man at the stop sign.

Magically I have one full set to docs left, I now also have the Aduana paper the first one we got that is good for life or so they say, and I have insurance for 90 days, but I will not use it again in 90 days but in a 100 days, so I probably have to do it all again (Postscript - they changed the law and this paper is no longer good forever - the next time we went over, we had to return to David to get a new one.)

Our total time in transit across the border was less than 1.5 hours, thanks to Joe and our pre-preparation. Coming back, about 30 minutes. Of course your time may vary, depending on the busload of sketchy looking migrant workers who arrived minutes before you did and whose passports might be equally sketchy.

Returning from Costa Rica it is very similar, except that we now have to re-buy a $5.00 each tourist visa, and Joe does not charge us $20 for the help the second time though Mark of course gives him a tip. But someone else sold us two $1.00 Stamps that are really a fundraiser for the local school, rather than a necessary entry stamp, but what did we know? Probably good karma for $1.00 each.

Replies

Suzi Arkebauer March 29, 2015 at 10:38am
- You can only enter CR once every 3 months with your car. They impounded ours for 3 days because the 3 month period wasn't up. We were just going to visit friends.
- norman collins > Suzi Arkebauer March 30, 2015 at 1:47pm
  
  when you leave CR, suspend rather than cancel the permit, this way you can have 90 days in a period of 9 months after which you have to keep the vehicle out of CR for 3 months, you must still have insurance though so you may have to buy more if it has run out.
  
  If you do not go back to CR for 3 months the suspended permit will be cancelled automatically
  - Suzi Arkebauer > norman collins March 30, 2015 at 2:20pm
    
    Don't quite understand..how many times can you enter in a 90 day period if you suspend it and how do you ask them to suspend?
    - norman collins > Suzi Arkebauer March 30, 2015 at 4:03pm
      
      ask on the CR side to suspend the permit, you can return as often as you like in a period of 9 months so long as you do not exceed 90 days total in CR.
      
      They simply file your first permit then when you return just dig it out of the pile & re activate it
      - Suzi Arkebauer > norman collins March 30, 2015 at 4:51pm
        
        Thanks
Randy Pigott March 29, 2015 at 8:39am

With all that has been said regarding crossing at Rio Sereno, can anyone tell me a safe place to park my truck in this area for a few days? Any help would be appreciated.
- Ken and Becky Campeau > Randy Pigott March 29, 2015 at 5:11pm
  
  We used to park in the park near the border, but I heard they don't want you to anymore. You could park near the police station, it would be a nice safe place.
Randy Pigott March 29, 2015 at 8:38am
Bonnie Williams March 28, 2015 at 8:49pm

Once again, Mark Heyer posted the below a couple of years ago. So far as I know, things have changed little if at all The requirements at the Rio Serrano border should be no different although the likelihood of assistance if greatly reduced.:

We have driven to/through Costa Rica three times with our car. My wife Martine has reduced the process to a simple 17 step process. Be aware that unless you have a permanent residence visa, you will not be allowed to bring a car over the border - they are trying to discourage car-theft tourism. That said, you need to contact an ayudante, or helper, at the border (Joe below). You have exactly zero chance of figuring it out yourself, even if you speak good Spanish. Here are the steps, which may have changed, all the more reason for the ayudante:

Step 1 Be sure to have:

• Original pink slip “Registro unico de propriedad vehicular”

• Original (green) registration “Certificado de inspeccion”

• Original copy of taxes paid for the year “Documento de traspaso”

• “Certificate of insurance Panama”

• Copy of our/owners of cars’ Passport and Cedula

• Maybe purchase sales slip as well.

• Make about 5 copies of all the above

Step 2 Go to Banco National de Panama to buy a 50C “automobile” stamp

Step 3 Take the stamp and one set of copies to the Panama Adouana  (before the David airport on the right – look for a high fence and green and beige industrial type building) and get paper “Certificacion de pago de impuestos de importacion” properly stamped and signed from them. Make 5 copies of this (no copier on site at customs) and take one full set back to the DIJ (Department of Technical Investigations) on the road to Boquete about 2km from the intersection with the InterAmericana. (not sure if this is still required)

Step 4 Persuade DIJ you need the paper today as you are leaving at 6 AM next day. This guy is nice but it takes him time to get anything done. Bribe with cookies and/or bottled water.

Step 5 Get two more papers from DIJ (you need to have your car on site, since he needs to verify the serial numbers of the chassis, engine, etc.) go make 2 copies of his papers and take one full set of paperwork plus extra copy to the PTJ  at the courthouse (just before the adouana, right up a hill on the right – it is the only multi-story building around, which you will see through the trees after you pass it on the Interamericana. The intersection is not marked as to the existence of the courthouse) – sign in and ask for Mari Xenia at the PTJ which is on the ground floor to the right of the lobby.

Step 6 They will take one day to check with Interpol and make sure your car has not been involved in international criminal activities and all taxes have been paid and tell you to come back 12 to 24 hours later to receive the permission form, the  “Salide de Pais – Costa Rica”

Step 7 Finally you are ready to go to Costa Rica! Take all remaining 3 full copies of everything including the last paper you got from PTJ “Salida de Pais – Costa Rica”  to border. Figure it will take you 24 hours to do all of the above.

Step 8 Go to border and find Joe from Volcan at 507 6609 8103. Joe is Panamanian, speaks excellent English and is a personal friend of the Mayor of Boquete, Manolo Ruiz, who we met also going through customs. For $20 or so, he keeps you company for 1 or 2 hours and shows you the sequence of windows to attend. You CANNOT do it the first time without Joe or one of the other “facilitators” who work the border crossing. Getting through the border is like being on a treasure hunt in the Intergalatic bar is Star Wars. There are people you need to attend to who are just standing around among the hundreds of truck drivers, bikers, backpackers and hustlers. No official will tell you who they are or why you need to see them, but you do. Having all the paper work in order saves major time. If you try to do steps 1-6 at the border itself, it could be, well, days.

Step 9 Now for the actual border process: Get your Panamanian exit stamp in your passports. The windows are not well marked.  For us, we went to keep our visas legal and thus we had to leave for 72 hours. Currently the Costa Ricans come to panama for 72 hours (or less) and we go to Costa Rica for the same purpose of renewing the 90 days tourist visa. Some passport inspectors will let you come back in one day, others insist on the full three days. But you are not into Costa Rica yet…

Step 10. Go up the stairs located on right hand side next to the Panama Entry and Exit passport lines. Here a lady in a completely unmarked office will take a full set of docs and for a few dollars, give you yet another paper, which will need to be copied somewhere else. Luckily Joe knows the copy machine place.

Step 11 Now with the blue paper you got upstairs go downstairs and stand in another line where a lady copies some more data into a computer, and pass your paper to another office, where someone will come out to your car and look to see if your license plate really says the number the paperwork indicates, you are not carrying a load of AK-47s, etc etc.

Step 12 You are done. Your car is now cleared to leave Panama, and with Joe on board, it’s on to Costa Rica customs, a mere hundred feet down the road

Step 13 Joe gets you 2 forms to fill out (again, you need to go to a window and ask for them, no sign tells you) and helps you stand in line for Costa Rica Entry. The forms are like the ones they give you on airplanes. Having them filled out in advance saves major time at the window, a real consideration when there is a troupe of 50 bikers in front of you in line who don’t have a clue.

Step 14 Now you get the entry stamp in your passport. However, there is still the matter of your car.

Step 15 One full set of copies of all docs go to the car entry window (again not marked in any way), where passports also get perused, another paper gets generated, sent to another office, where you wait and another gentleman comes and inspects the car for whatever, noticing we have a lot of bottle water he hints he is thirsty! So we give him a bottle (is this a bribe?)

Step 16 Then you take your passport and papers to the insurance window where you have to buy 90 days of car insurance, but as that is only $18.95 so we can handle it

Step 17 All of our papers are stapled together and filed, and we get a small slip of stamped paper and are told to hand these over to the guy 10 meters up the road who will now agree we are legal and let us pass into Costa Rica. But wait! Before you can see the guy, you have to pay $3.50 to someone in another unmarked window for the privilege of going through the quarantine “car wash.” THEN, on to the little man at the stop sign.

Magically I have one full set to docs left, I now also have the Aduana paper the first one we got that is good for life or so they say, and I have insurance for 90 days, but I will not use it again in 90 days but in a 100 days, so I probably have to do it all again (Postscript - they changed the law and this paper is no longer good forever - the next time we went over, we had to return to David to get a new one.)

Our total time in transit across the border was less than 1.5 hours, thanks to Joe and our pre-preparation. Coming back, about 30 minutes. Of course your time may vary, depending on the busload of sketchy looking migrant workers who arrived minutes before you did and whose passports might be equally sketchy.

Returning from Costa Rica it is very similar, except that we now have to re-buy a $5.00 each tourist visa, and Joe does not charge us $20 for the help the second time though Mark of course gives him a tip. But someone else sold us two  $1.00 Stamps that are really a fundraiser for the local school, rather than a necessary entry stamp, but what did we know? Probably good karma for $1.00 each.
- Anne Harper > Bonnie Williams March 29, 2015 at 7:41am
  
  Thank you for that very complete picture of the process required to cross the border into Costa Rica with a car.. The trip was really a chance for me to see some old friends there while Jim took care off business. Having the car
  
  would give me the freedom to get around. I think that Jim will probably now fly to San Jose and I will just stay put in beautiful Boquete for the week. That's for helping us make that decision.

of 2

This reply was deleted.

Forum

Recent Border Crossings at Rio Sereno

Replies

Recent Activity