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Hi,
I plan to move to CR very soon. I’m over 62 and have a secure income of 1300 per mo. from Soc. Sec. I plan to buy a condo. Will I be required to leave the country every 90 days and if so for how long will this requirement last.
Thank you,
MarciaMarcia,
Come on down, and join in. You will only be required to leave every 90 days until your application is submitted for pensionada status. After your lawyer has submitted your paper work he will write a letter that can be used to support your staying past the 90 days. We even used that letter when going to different tourist attractions that charge a higher fee for tourist then they do for Tico’s or legal residents.
So, get all of your paper together and come down, apply for your pesionada status right away. That will save you from having to exit the country.
If you are 62 Marcia, unless there are two Marcia’s how can your son be 55. Just thought I would ask.
You really will not have a lot of problems. If you dont drive, but the law is that you can only be a tourist for 90 days. So, just apply for your status and forget about the 90 day limitation. It cost about $200.00 or more every time you go out. Plus it is rough going through those borders unless you speak Spanish.
Thank you Jenny. You’ve put my mind at ease. Now I have to find a nice apt. Is it really dangerous to drive there and wear jewelry in public? One last question, are potatoes like we use for mashing and baking available? I’m addicted to them.
Marcia,
Potatoes are here and good ones. I eat a lot of them lately because I am just tired of rice. Never ate so much in my life. I wear my jewelry but they think that I am a black Costa Rican from Limon. Since Limon people are assumed not to have much the look at it probably and think it is fake.
That is just a supposition, not reality (smile). I wear jewelry but I do not travel at night nor do I live in San Jose area. My girlfriend Shirley wore it and she was loaded down. Shirley is white, blond and about 6ft tall. She looked like a North American. Her house got robbed but she thought it was someone she knew. It bothered her so much until she went out and purchased some more.
Bus transportation is very good. You can drive if you want but,you can get along with out driving. Taxi’s are cheap enough. We used to ride a bus to the store and take a taxi home.
Thank you so much Jenny. I can’t imagine life without my “taters”. (smile). My son lives in San Jose and that’s probably where I will locate so I guess I’ll stick to the costume jewelry to be on the safe side. I like your idea of bus to shop, cab to home. I never thought of that. Take care,
MarciaHi Jenny,
Please help me if you can or point me in the right direction.
I read on the CR Embassy websight that,amoung other requirements,
a potential pesionado must show official proof that the retirement
fund will send the pension directly to a Costa Rican bank.Is this real or am I having a problem with reading comprehension?This has probably
been discussed before but I couldn’t find an answer doing a search.
Thank you for any help,info,or advice you care to share.It is absolutely NOT a requirement that your pension benefit be deposited in a Costa Rican bank. Marcia and I are retirees from the State of Michigan. The State will not directly deposit our retirement benefits outside the United States.
What you must prove is that your income ($600US per month or more) is permanent and guaranteed.
At your option, you may have your Social Security pension benefit directly deposited in a Costa Rican bank.
What IS required to maintain your pensionado status is that you convert $600US per month to colones. This will be audited when you renew your residency status. You must be able to show bank transaction records which bear your name, cedula number, date, amount in dollars, amount in colones, etc. While you may be able to get away with converting (say) $7,200US once a year, what I hear is that Immigration prefers to see a pretty much steady pattern of conversion throughout the year.
It is not adequate to withdraw money from your U.S. bank account (which is expressed in U.S. dollars) at an ATM and ask for the withdrawal in colones. That won’t show your cedula number, etc. If you’re going to keep your money in a U.S. bank and withdraw it via ATMs, what’s needed is to get U.S. dollars and then take them inside to the bank to conver them to colones — and get the receipt.
Edited on Nov 09, 2006 07:15
Rallycry,
That name almost sounds military. Are you military, retired, or vet? If you are there is a lot of information I can give you about our benefits in Costa Rica. You have to be a disabled vet or career retire, military or Reserved retired to benefit.
Now the question you asked has been answered in full. The one thing I would like to add, is that a lot of information given word of mouth within the US is usually way off base. The best thing to do is go to a website search and look up information requarding Pesionado status or residency in Costa Rica. The Embassy post a lot of inforamtion. Look at several post because sometimes they are not updated.
You can locate the Costa Rican Embassy you will need to get your papers certified through. Find out exactly what you need and get all of your papers together, come on over after you have all of your papers together. The Embassy usually sends your paper work to a lawyer so as for some referrals. Contact the lawyer in Costa Rica from the US. You can then ask him his fees and everything. It is even worth your while to make a trip to Costa Rica to contact a lawyer and check on everything but it is not necessary. I suggest that if you have not been to Costa Rica, you need to come here first. The most successful people do just that.
So many people come without all of their information and have to make trips back home. So take all the steps dont cut any corners thinking you are saving money or time,It will be costly.
Mr Murray did one of the best jobs of getting his paper work together, he is an excellent source for information regarding Pensionado. When we did ours the ruling regarding paper submission was much different..
It saves money and time. If you start your paper work as soon as you get here , after they are filed you will be given the letter saying you are filing for pensionado status and that keeps you from having to leave the country every 90 days. Please contact a lawyer who has been referred. Many brag about being able to do the work but then they lose papers and also service their clients poorly. So get referrals.
Rally, one of the things you need to do is just keep asking and keep checking like you are doing and you will not go wrong.
I gave you more information then you requested , one reason is that your question indicated that you really do not know very much about the process.
Your pension certification of funds has to be a letter from the personnel office of the company you retired from or the Social Security Admin. It must be a current date and on their letterhead. You can not use end of the years earning statements or pay slips.
Thank you for all the great information. The way you outline it
makes much sense and easily manageable.Jenny,
Thank you for taking time to give me so much info.I am not military.
I adapted the Rallycry alias from a term used in stock trading to
celebrate a market rally.Yes I have been to CR once but briefly and will return again before I
make a final decision.Of course I imagine myself with many more questions and I appreciate the offer to help me.It is very kind and
thoughtful of all of you.
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