ETIAS Visa Waiver for Travelers From Costa Rica

Costa Rica will be a member of the EU’s new ETIAS (European Travel Information Authorisation System) visa waiver, for all travel amongst nations that are part of the Schengen agreement. The visa waiver gives Costa Rican holders the right to travel in the entire Schengen area for three months. The new visa comes in from the start of 2023. Standard visas will be required for short-term travel to the EU until then.

The ETIAS visa waiver scheme comes in response to growing international threats. A new refugee crisis comes to Europe, as well as terrorist threats and the existential threat of foreign espionage. To counter the worsening situation, the ETIAS visa waiver will help the EU to better screen individuals coming into the EU. Costa Ricans will use the ETIAS visa to prove that they are a low-risk traveller.

The ETIAS visa will easily give Costa Ricans access to most of the EU and non-EU nations. It will allow Costa Ricans to travel to the 22 Schengen states (Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Greece, Latvia, Estonia, and the Czech Republic), under one electronic document.

Costa Ricans can also use their ETIAS visa waiver to gain access to the non-EU Schengen members, including Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland. Because of the logistical difficulties of screening travellers coming into the Micro-states that are inside Schengen states, Costa Rican’s will also be able to use their ETIAS visa waiver to visit these states. The micro-states in question are San Marino, Monaco, and Vatican City.

The visa will allow Costa Ricans to travel to the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days. They must make this journey within three years of getting the visa.

All Costa Ricans citizens will need an ETIAS visa waiver to travel to all the nations in the Schengen agreement. This includes children and older Costa Ricans over 70 years old. These groups will not have to pay an application fee when they apply.

Costa Ricans will not need an ETIAS visa when they are travelling to areas of Europe outside of the Schengen agreement. For EU nations not in the Schengen agreement or the EU, no ETIAS visa is required. Similarly, EU states that are not part of the Schengen agreement, such as Bulgaria, Ireland, Cyprus, Romania, and Croatia, will not require an ETIAS visa waiver.

Costa Ricans must deal with border forces to visit those countries; the borders are not open. Costa Ricans should find the local representative of their destination nation, to find out which visas and permits will be required.

It shouldn’t require much time for Costa Ricans to prepare for their ETIAS visa application. Only a passport, proof of address, and credit or debit card is required, and that will save Costa Ricans time.

The questions on the online form are not difficult to answer either. They are mainly personal information. The Costa Rican will need to give a full name, date of birth, and birthplace consistent with their passport and an address consistent with their proof of address. They will also need to give similar information about their parents and a detailed travel itinerary.

Other questions are closely linked to the safety of the EU. This includes questions about the Costa Rican's past involvement with illegal activity such as human trafficking or the illicit drugs trade. More serious than this are questions that aim to protect the lives of EU citizens directly. Costa Ricans will have to confirm they have no prior terrorist connections or travel to conflict zones.

ETIAS applications will have an astonishingly high success rate of 95%. They will be processed with speed, with most applications just one business day. More documentation will be required for a minority of Costa Ricans, and getting a response could take up to three business days.

Lots of reasons could cause Costa Rican citizens to have their ETIAS visa application denied or revoked. Costa Rican citizens must ensure that they do not falsify any information as this will automatically fail their application. Even if all the information they provide is correct, Costa Ricans may still have their application denied. These include concerns about why the person is traveling. Most importantly, they are a risk to European citizens while traveling.

All is not lost if a Costa Rican has their ETIAS application rejected. Most of the time, the Costa Rican can sort issues with more documentation. Refused Costa Ricans are granted four days to supply the requested documentation. The receiving nation then gets the decision over whether or not to approve the visa. The response from the destination nation will likely take as many as four weeks.