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We are trying to get our ducks in a row with regard to the documents we need. Which documents need to be verified – and can the verification be done at the consulate in Costa Rica – We are referring specifically to the police report we have to get here.
Also – Is the letter from the Social Security Administration advising us of what our 2013 benefit will be sufficient? Certified Birth certificates are adequate, right? Any additional info would be helpful – We already have a lawyer in San Jose.
Your documents have to have an “Apostile” stamp – an international certification. This is something you can do in the States and I suggest it. We did not have the stamp and, since we had already moved here, had to hire a company in the States to finish the process. Expensive and time consuming. For Social Security, you need a letter from the embassy here certifying that you are receiving ‘X’ amount.
we were married in Michigan and born there so our certified marriage license and birth cert had to come from there. You can do it on line in Michigan and have it sent here. Because we came her from Arizona the police report had to come from there, your last place of residence in the states. That is time sensitive. The letter from social security comes from the embassy showing your income, go wait in line at the embassy,they type it up in Spanish and charge a fee. It is certified and signed by an official with our government. Fingerprinting was done at the police department and you need photos which you can get ahead of time or at the embassy when you pick up your social security letter. we used an attorney in san jose near the embassy. Once all the papers are gathered they go to the United States Secretary of State office for approval in Washington D.C. then back to Costa Rica for their approval.Lots of papers, I might have forgotten something. This is what I remember.
Your certified and dated birth certificates and the other required paperwork must be less than 6 month old when officially ‘accepted’ by immigration, and be a ‘complete’ package
You must already be [b]receiving a guaranteed pension,[/b] [b]not paperwork[/b] what your 2013 benefits will be
You do [b]not[/b] go by yourself to be fingerprinted, though, as this will be done with your legal representative.you know everyone has a different interpretation and experience with residency,.My birth cert was more than six months old..so my advice to you is find a competent attorney. Ours did a wonderful job and took us to immigration and walked us through that day to get our residency card. He never left us on our own. Every time I see these questions there are different answers than our experience.
Accepting a certificate that is dated over the 6 months is highly unusual, so [b]please[/b] do not count on this!
as I said before have a good attorney and follow his advice because everyone has an opinion and you wont know which to follow..We have our residency and that is how we got it with the birth and marriage license from Michigan over 6 months old. they were certified.
there is no charge for the letter from the embassy verifying your SS income. you MUST make an appointment to do this though, so you have to call the embassy and set it up. also, i doubt that any paperwork was sent to the Secretary of State office in DC — in order to get any documents apostilled (in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1964) those documents must be sent to the Secretary of State’s office in the state in which those documents were issued and certified. the apostille is the certification of the certification.
we must have been taken advantage of by the embassy because we paid for each of us,as I said go to an attorney that knows what has to be done because this advice is contrary to our experience last year.
did you pay the embassy directly? or, did your lawyer just charge you something that was for free? i went to the embassy in july and got that letter and didn’t pay a cent.
we went to the embassy together and paid together, they had one window open and we waited awhile. Our attorneys office is close and he charged less than ARCR
I think by now it is pretty clear that everyone has a different idea of what needs to be done and has different experiences when they did it, so I would rely on your “good attorney’s” advice and follow his direction – UNLESS he/she is NOT an experienced immigration attorney.
In that case if I were you I would find another “good attorney” that does do immigration work.
In 2011 I requested original long form birth certificates, forms from Gov. showing pension amounts, completed criminal record checks, filled out an application form and wrote a letter of application in spanish while my husband and I were still in Canada. Previously we had spent 4 months in Costa Rica each year for 3 years and own a house here.
Before leaving Canada in Dec. 2011 we met with the Consulate General de Costa Rica in Vancouver. He signed and stamped all the paperwork. We went to Migracion in San Jose to submit our application, after having all documents translated into spanish. Our neighbor accompanied us to help with procedures and language and then we went for fingerprinting. Our status was changed from tourist to ” in Costa Rica for the purpose of attaining residency”. We are to return in February when Migracion opens again but were assured that all our paperwork was good and that the process was almost complete.
The entire process cost under $1400. for both(not each) of us. Including translation, consulate fees, cost of obtaining documents,photos, etc. It was quite easy but a little stressful at the time. Even if it takes more time to complete, or falls apart, we have already saved two years of having to leave the country. We carry letters from Migracion that state we are allowed to stay more than 90 days.and then there will be the non-refundable deposit to la migra in the amount of $350 per person, and then the cost of your cedulas.
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