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I’m 63 years old and I have reached a point where I’m sick of living in the United States. OC California to be precise. I was actually born in Puerto Limon with an Connecticut yank father, and a Costa Rican mother, but I was registered as an American with the US embassy in San Jose.
I understand that I qualify for dual citizenship, and I was in Costa Rica in 1968 with an Costa Rican “Cedula de Residencia” as a student. I visited in 1978 for a few weeks, and was not too thrilled with San Jose. I do daydream about living on the Caribbean side, perhaps Puerto Viejo or Manzanillo. Do I retire as an American? Do I enter as a Costa Rican? And perhaps work. I’m fluent in Spanish. And I have a lot of family on my mom’s side. I feel that I still can be useful. Of course I’ll be getting social security from here. And I have investments in mostly gold and silver as I don’t trust stocks or bonds. I’m single thank God, or just plain lucky. No kids, no wife, what every middle aged to senior citizen dreams off. Any thoughts. Thanks, JohnJohnny, you’ve intertwined several issues that need to be addressed in an orderly fashion.
First, are you actually a citizen of Costa Rica? Do you have some proof of that? Or are you merely presuming that you “. . . qualify for dual citizenship . . .” based on having been born in Puerto Limon? It’s an important question because I think I know that your birth and citizenship in Costa Rica must be established by a certain age cutoff date (maybe your age 25, but I’m not sure).
If you are, indeed, a legal Costa Rican citizen who holds a Costa Rican passport, then you are free to enter Costa Rica at your will. If you are not a legal Costa Rican citizen and do not hold a Costa Rican passport (or cannot obtain one), then you’ll either have to assume the status of an American citizen or go through whatever legal process is available to you to establish your Costa Rican citizenship.
If your only citizenship is American, then you will be subject to the same restrictions and have available the same benefits as any other American citizen. If, in fact, you only qualify to enter Costa Rica as an American (as a tourist and perhaps later as a legal temporary resident), then you cannot legally work in competition with any Costa Rican citizen.
Your Social Security benefit (if it equals $1,000 per month or more) and the other necessary documentation would qualify you for [i]pensionado[/i] temporary residency status. After three years in that status, you could apply for permanent residency.
Thanks David!
No I don’t have a CR passport. What I have is a “Registro Civil” document certifying that I was born in the Province of Limon. I also have a “Colegio de Medicos y Cirujanos” document stating that I was born on the 17th of July 1949 14 hours and 10 minutes in the Hospital de la Compania Bananera de Costa Rica in Puerto Limon. It is now called Tony Facio hospital.
Since I have a few years to go to collect my full social security, I was just wondering what my options are.
JohnIt sounds to me like you need to consult a knowledgeable Costa Rican attorney. Your [i]Registro Civil[/i] document may confer Costa Rican citizenship on you, but I certainly don’t know.
Seems like that’s the first question to resolve.
[quote=”johnnyh”]Thanks David!
No I don’t have a CR passport. What I have is a “Registro Civil” document certifying that I was born in the Province of Limon. I also have a “Colegio de Medicos y Cirujanos” documentJohnny……..my understanding is that if you are born in CR and can prove it you are legally considered a Tico. Also if you can prove that one of your parents is Tico you can also qualify. This is called “lazos de sangre” Could be that there have been changes in the rules, ya can never tell.
Johnny would have been designated a [i]cedula[/i] number when his birth was registered.
I don’t think he will have a problem … as long as he isn’t in a hurry.
To gain residence under the [i]vincula[/i] catagory, he has passed the age limit, which is under 25 years of age.Thanks to all! Having been raised in Puerto Limon and lived there until 1960 I considerd the Puerto as the happiest times in my life. A paradise! We lived in what was probably the best looking house in the City. It was located about 200 to 300 feet from the beach, which was considered at the time the “American Zone” from the heights I could see everything, and if I climbed even higher there was a water reservoir where I could see the city 360 degrees.
Besides currently asking questions in this forum, I have looked at quite a few properties and their values. I understand that the humidity is much higher (as a kid you don’t worry about the heat) in the Caribbean as opposed to the Guanacaste beaches. And it looks like properties are less expensive in the Caribbean side.
From what I have been reading, it looks like with the coming depression there will be considerable drop in housing values worldwide. Including Costa Rica. Bubble anyone?[quote=”johnnyh”]You do keep the cat inside, right Dave?[/quote]
Long-time participants in this Forum know that Dave [i]is[/i] the cat. The nameless bearded dude is just there to give Dave a place to sit . . . and to scoop the litter box.[quote=”DavidCMurray”][quote=”johnnyh”]You do keep the cat inside, right Dave?[/quote]
Long-time participants in this Forum know that Dave [i]is[/i] the cat. The nameless bearded dude is just there to give Dave a place to sit . . . and to scoop the litter box.[/quote]have 2 of them, one a lap cat, the other not….:lol:
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