Foreigner Marriage Ban Gets Support

Autor: rod

~ 28/08/07

by Rod Hughes

A bill that would ban foreigners marrying Costa Ricans solely to obtain residency is gathering support in the Legislative Assembly, reports the daily paper La Nacion.
This practice usually takes the form of a foreign man going to a lawyer, who then seeks out a poor or drug addicted native woman for a bogus marriage. Many times, the Costa Rican mate has never met or even seen anyone except the spouse’s lawyer in order to sign the papers in exchange for a one-time payment ranging from 5,000 colones to 25,000 (about $10 to $50) and many times, if they wish to marry later, find themselves prevented by the convenience marriage.
Immigration chief Mario Zamora has found himself twice running afoul of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court for slowing down applications for residency status because of these marriages. By attempting to control the situation, Zamora finds himself personally liable to lawsuits as well as his department.
The immigration reform bill currently in special session of congress attempts to close this loophole.
Zamora points out that lawyers, for a legal fee of about 10,000 colones, will seek out the indigent or the addicted. The notaries who witness the signatures also receive their cut.
“We’ve seen a case in Cristo Rey barrio (a rough part of San Jose) where a drug addict received drugs for her signature on marriage liceses,” said Zamora.
But not all locals who lend their signatures to this trade are women. La Nacion interviewed Jose Amgel Aguilar, 47, who told the reporter, “I was broke and needed money. All I knew was that I married a woman I’d never met. There in Pavas and Lomas, they marry anyone.”
The bill that would end this practice and for which Zamora is lobbying hard, has gathered the support of Evita Arguedas of the Libertarian Movement and National Liberation deputy Francisco Antonio Pacheco who have promised their support. The bill, which would also make adjustments in the Family Code, the Penal Codes as well as the natoary codes, is currently in committee. Nine Costa Ricans who “married” for a fee have testified that they have applied for anullments.

Posted in: Costa Rica News, Politics | |

8 Comments »

I only have one question. How will this effect those that truely wish to meet and marry a Costa Rican woman and reside in Costa Rica?

Comment by AlaskaDan — August 30, 2007 @ 7:03 pm
That’s a good question. An article I read later stated that the ban will be on marriages by “power of attorney”. This means that the two parties don’t need to appear together to get married, they leave a signed letter authorizing the attorney to marry them. So this would not affect legitimate foreign/Costa Rican marriages, where both parties appear before the attorney in his or her office or in a ceremony.

Comment by Writer — August 31, 2007 @ 11:18 am
Greeting, AlaskaDan.
Writer is right, as I understand it. The key word in your question is “meet.” No one in his right mind is legitimately going to want to “meet” a Tica AFTER he has married her. Just isn’t done, you know. Why, they haven’t been properly introduced!
Seriously, the divorce rate is high enough without playing this kind of roulet. No, the kind of marriage they would ban has nothing to do with love or romance.

Comment by rod — August 31, 2007 @ 4:06 pm
I thought that might be the case just want to know for sure that it would not have any affect on true love and or romance, thank you both for the input.

Comment by AlaskaDan — August 31, 2007 @ 5:18 pm
[...] bill to ban fake marriages in order to obtain Costa Rican residency visas (see newsfeed 1312) is being blocked in the Legislative Assembly by a large, stubborn obstacle—the bruised ego [...]

Pingback by Costa Rica Blogs - Newsfeeds � Blog Archive » Ban on Fake Marriages Blocked — September 19, 2007 @ 11:21 am
Though it’s a shame it is true that all to often elected officials allow thier egoes to influence practical sense when dealing with important issues. Sadly that’s human nature it seems.

Comment by AlaskaDan — September 30, 2007 @ 10:02 pm
Amen, AlaskaDan, although you’re commenting on a later story than the one above. The later story is about the foreigner marriage bill being blocked by a childish Legislative Assembly deputy (congressman) who feels hurt that HIS bill was wsurplanted by a new one that is more complete. He may sulk the entire rest of his term.

Comment by rod — October 1, 2007 @ 9:57 am
free quotes…

Excellent post. Keep it up!…

Trackback by Anonymous — March 7, 2008 @ 9:41 pm