All Entries in the "Expat Living" Category
Immigration Officers Are Taking Passports Now
Imagine you plan your vacation to Costa Rica, and take extra special care to make a photocopy of your passport and keep the original locked away in a safe place. One evening you are enjoying a meal at a restaurant in San Jose when a group of heavily armed police enter the establishment and demand [...]
Kolbi 3G Cellular Internet Service No Substitute for ADSL
The new mobile Internet service is called “Kolbi Banda Ancha”, and while no substitute for Acelera ADSL service it’s worth looking into if you need Internet on the go. It could also eventually represent the future of broadband Internet service in Costa Rica. The system uses the 3G cellular telephone network, but you do not [...]
English Language Media Blindsided by New Residency Law
The new law took effect on March 1st, and it’s clear that the English language news sources have failed to educate us. Apparently the only way you could begin to understand the scope of changes would have been to read all 268 articles of Spanish legal text published in La Gaceta for yourself. Perhaps the [...]
American Living in Costa Rica Discovers Public Health Care
I am a United States citizen and would have never thought it was possible to walk into a hospital emergency room and receive treatment at no cost had I not come to live in Costa Rica. The first time I went to a “Caja” or publicly funded social security Hospital in Costa Rica was after [...]
Living Abroad in Exponential Times
The video talks about the proliferation of Internet technology, and scale of International population growth. It’s basically a power point presentation with music that puts forward some interesting statistics. It’s a good thing to watch if you are feeling down, think all the great novels have already been written or are just trying to put [...]
Legal Residency: Costs and Wait Time
Perhaps the most common questions that most expatriates tend to ask each other their residency is how long did it take to receive, and how much did it cost. Since I prepared and submitted my Residency Application personally I was able to get the cost down to about $200, and like most people I waited [...]
The Residency Waiting Game
Residency applicants can be expected to wait more than a year for immigration to process their applications. A common question is what to do to remain legal while the application is in process. Prior to the immigration law enacted in March of 2010, applicants were told to remain in Costa Rica as the previous law [...]
Dealing with Immigration Department
Dealing with immigration is not for the faint of heart. Hours long waits are typical and it is necessary to move quickly when a number is called. Improvements in recent years have greatly reduced the lines and better organized the facility, however patience is required and those that do not speak Spanish fluently are encouraged [...]
Costa Rica Police Background Check for Residency
All residency applicants are required to present themselves to the Ministry of Public Security for fingerprinting and a criminal background check. The procedure is available weekdays in the morning at the Criminal Records Office of the Fuerza Publica in San Jose, which is in the old police academy building just across the street from the [...]
Police Clearance Letter for Residency
Perhaps the most enigmatic requirement for obtaining residency is the “police letter”. This is because the United States is actually a collection of 50 states, and each state has its own special form of bureaucracy. The basic requirement is that the records check should be based on both legal name and fingerprints. When checking government services [...]
