All Entries in the "Expat Living" Category
United States obligates foreign banks to sign agreement with IRS
Foreign banks worldwide that fail to sign an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service by June 30, 2013 will be subject to stiff sanctions. Expats also face new requirements when filing tax returns if their foreign assets exceed $50,000. A recent article in La Nacion quotes Franco Naranjo, President of the Costa Rican Banking Association [...]
Independence Day Celebration in Costa Rica
The annual celebration of United States Independence Day for expatriates living in Costa Rica will be held this year at a new venue, Avenida Escazú and will start at 3pm on Monday, July 4th. The event is taking place later in the afternoon in order to accommodate a fireworks display at 7:30pm in the evening. [...]
Citizenship Not Automatic Right for Foreign Born Children
Decisions made by parents with respect to the education and direction of their expatriate children can influence the nationality of grand children. The United States Supreme Court on Monday denied citizenship for a Mexican born man who is the son of a United States citizen. Justices in the case, Flores-Villar v. United States No. 09–5801, [...]
Costa Rica Ratifies Apostille Convention
Authenticating U.S. issued documents for things like residency in Costa Rica is about to get much easier now that the legislature has signed onto the Apostille convention. The law was approved in second debate on Tuesday, and adds Costa Rica to the list of countries that participate in the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation [...]
Watch Cable TV from United States on Slingbox
Expats tired of dealing with too few choices among local Cable TV providers in Costa Rica should consider another option, which is to simply receive cable television service from the United States via the Internet. The concept should come as no surprise as high speed Internet has for years provided an alternative to expensive long [...]
Drivers License May Present More Difficulties for Foreigners
The group of transit officials who are authorized to recognize foreign drivers licenses in Costa Rica is relatively small, and following arrests by the judicial investigative police the group is even smaller, perhaps non-existent. The chief of the Acreditación de Conductores and two of her lieutenants at the nation’s transit authority were hauled off to [...]
Christmas Holiday in Full Swing in San Jose
Without a doubt Christmas has come to San Jose and estimates are that annual holiday bonus injected almost $1 billion into the bank accounts of workers who are expected to part with these funds quickly. The figure is impressive considering that Costa Rica has an annual GDP of $48 billion and annual exports are valued [...]
Appeal to President Laura Chinchilla in Abuse of Expat Woman in Jaco
A youtube video that appeals to President Laura Chinchilla in the abuse of an elderly woman in Jaco should really be directed to the nation’s top law enforcement agent, Fiscal General Jorge Chavarría. While in the United States the job of criminal investigation is handled by the executive branch of government this is simply not [...]
St. Mary’s School Guachipelín, Escazú- San Jose, C.R., Says “NO” to FAILING 1st Grader who wishes to attend their school!
We have just been informed our first grader will be retained in first grade. After months of trying to figure out why our first grader is having a difficult time in school, he has been diagnosed with ADD. It makes sense now that we’ve learned more about the condition. He also exhibits signs of dyslexia. [...]
Setback for Costa Rica Cell Phone Network
Last week an accident at data center operated by the national telecommunications network disrupted services for prepaid cell phone and 3G Internet. Users of the more traditional GSM, 3G and TDMA lines are also seeing problems a week later. News reports of the accident and the subsequent fallout paint a bleak future for the growth of [...]
