QCOSTARICA — Costa Ricans will be able to enter the United States more quickly, after the inclusion of Costa Rica in the ‘Global Entry’ system.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Government of Costa Rica signed a joint statement of cooperation this Tuesday.
“Basically we will have a corridor that will be the fast lane through which Costa Ricans will be able to enter North American territory. While the world closes, the United States opens up to our country, thanks to the security that we have managed; We will also have support to digitize our immigration systems and we have a biometric passport,” Zamora said.
Entrepreneurs in the tourism sector welcome this news and assure that the program will offer travelers greater facilities in their transit through airports in the United States and therefore will facilitate travel to and from Costa Rica.
“For anyone, it is surprising that their entry is easier and expeditious, something that more tourists will surely take advantage of to visit a destination. However, this also applies, and with greater impact, for those who travel on business, for someone who travels repeatedly between the United States and Costa Rica since they do not have to invest many hours in immigration lines and others at airports,” said Bary Roberts from the Movimiento Turismo por Costa Rica (Tourism Movement for Costa Rica).
Global Entry is a program of the CBP that allows pre-approved, low-risk travelers to receive expedited clearance upon arrival into the United States through automatic kiosks at select airports and via the SENTRI and NEXUS lanes by land and sea. In the case of Costa Rica, it will only be by air.