Lack of regulations turning immigration into circus

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

Editor's Note: While this article was accurate at the time of publication, some information may now be outdated. We are currently preparing a comprehensive update. Sign up for our Alerts to be notified as soon as the revised content is live!

Immigration law in Costa Rica is currently a circus.  Peoples’ tempers are raging.

Immigration employees do not know the answers to questions.  If one is lucky to get an appointment, it could be so far into the future one seriously wonders if he will be around to use it.  There is a moratorium on renewing foreigner identification cards until July because the renewal system has disintegrated.

One of the many problems is there are no rules for the new immigration law which came into effect in December 2005.   

Laws are like policy, a course of action.  For example, “honesty is the best policy.”  However, laws like policy do not set out rules or procedures to follow.   Laws are sometimes vague and need step-by-step instructions.  This is especially true in Costa Rica, where the rule is “if something is not prohibited, it is permitted.”  Ethics and honesty be damned.

The legal right to steal A valid power of attorney

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

Editor's Note: While this article was accurate at the time of publication, some information may now be outdated. We are currently preparing a comprehensive update. Sign up for our Alerts to be notified as soon as the revised content is live!

A U.S. citizen returned to Costa Rica in February 2003 to find his lawyers living in his Pacific coast villa.  They had taken all his possessions and burned them to complete the takeover.

A criminal court case ensued, and the lawyers won.  They got away with transferring millions of dollars in real estate to different companies to cover their tracks of plunder.

The shysters had so much audacity they offered the U.S. citizen a mere pittance to drop his case during the proceedings. They said they had buyers for his property and if he did not accept, he would get nothing in the end.

They were correct.  He did not accept the absurd offer and now has nothing to show for his investment in Costa Rica.

How is this possible?  How did the lawyers win?