Immigration Checkpoint

Starting September 26, the Immigration Department (DGME) will implement a pilot plan at the national level that consists of systematizing the Entry and Exit Card (TIE), improving the current entry and exit process. We are moving from the use of a physical Entry and Exit Card (TIE) to a digital migratory control system.

Currently, a procedure called Invisible Migration is carried out when people are leaving the country through the airport. Under this procedure, immigration control is not enforced directly with the traveler, but is done through the airline. The requirement to complete is established in Section 37 of the Immigration Law (General Law of Migration and Aliens Act 8764), mandatory for all persons entering or leaving the country, whether national or foreign, of legal age or a minor, whose content, characteristics and format are determined by the DGME.

In Invisible Migration, when leaving the country completes the TIE and delivers it to the airline’s personnel, who have the obligation to verify that the qualities of the passenger that are on the TIE are the same as those in the passport, passing it through an electronic reader that subsequently transfers the information to the migratory control system of the DGME. The DGME then performs the police and security filters with this data and manually validates the information with the one indicated in the TIE, verifying that it is the same and is correct, serving as support; if so, they proceed to close the flight and authorize the departure of the aircraft, in coordination with the corresponding authorities.

For a person entering Costa Rica, whether by bus, boat or plane, each person must fill out the TIE before disembarking; once at the immigration control post, the passenger presents his / her passport and the TIE to the officer for the corresponding procedure.

If the person is a minor, the exit procedure is similar, but includes verification of the “Exit Permit for Minors”. This is done in the Migration Minors Office, where the minor is presented together with the persons who travel with him/her in order to validate the departure, and thus to be able to go to the airline.

With the systematization of the TIE, the adult or minor person, first goes to the airline, where they will be given their boarding ticket and then to a desk for immigration control, where the Migration Officer will review the requirements for exits (including the exit permit for minors, should it be the case) and will record the information required in the system immediately, automating the use of the Entry and Exit Card (TIE) and making the exit process easier.

For entry, the immigration control officer will conduct an interview of each passenger that will include questions such as the reason for the trip, place of stay, and others; and then immediately input this information in the system. These consultations are essential in all migratory control, since the State has the obligation to know or investigate the activity of each visitor within the national territory and be traceable for any national security event. 

The advantages of the TIE automation and Visible Migration are as follows:

• The validation of the exit permit for a minor is eliminated, which added an additional procedure for the passenger. This validation will be done directly with the Officer, granting the passenger ease at the exit and preventing him/her from an additional stop, since it is the Migration Officer who directly checks with whom the child is traveling and the corresponding exit permit.
• Ease in the process of control of entries and exits of the country as the passenger will not fill out forms, thus reducing the waiting time to enter or exit.
• The registration information will be more reliable when it is entered by the Immigration Officer, who will also have direct contact with the passenger allowing, through his or her police expertise, to detect any abnormal behavior or situations that could arise. In addition, the registration of the information in the migratory systems will be in real time.
• It will facilitate the air or maritime electronic closings to authorize the departure of the flights, allowing the tracing and the investigation of the passengers, and strengthening the security of the country.
• It will favor border modernization projects and the implementation of future projects, such as the Intelligent International Migration Control System (SICOMI).
• This is an environmentally friendly project, as it eliminates the use of paper for the printing of the TIE.
• Passengers with restrictions or alerts will be assisted in the secondary control, and therefore will no longer be called when they are in the boarding room or in the airplane, a situation that bothers the passenger. Secondary control assistance will also give more fluidity to the departure control line of passengers.
• The closure of flights will be electronic, as well as the departure authorizations to the Control Tower, speeding up the flight departure.
• It facilitates the control of the person’s identity and the travel documents, with 100% certainty in real time.