Costa Rica gov't to submit immigration bill to legislature

The Costa Rican government will send an immigration bill to the Legislative Assembly, the nation's legislature, Public Security Minister Fernando Berrocal announced Wednesday.

Berrocal said the bill calls for an annual immigration tax of 25 U.S. dollars on every foreign resident in Costa Rica, which will help fund social programs by the Costa Rica Social Security Service and the Education Ministry.

Berrocal said the bill will also grant the Immigration Service six billion colons (11.5 million U.S. dollars) to improve its computer system and fight corruption.

Another proposal of the bill is to set up a possible 10- to 16-year sentence for the capture, transport, and reception of foreigners with sexual or labor exploitation in mind.

According to the bill, Public officials will face two to five years in jail for bribery in immigration-related cases.

Costa Rica's Security Ministry estimates that between 900,000 and 1 million foreigners live in the country.

Source: Xinhua