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We are on our way to Atenas 11-30 for a 5 month trip to hopefully find a more permanent situation there. But as the hours are winding down, we are finding more and more questions. As if we didn’t have tons anyway!
We were told that most folks use Skype for contacting back home, at less than cell phone tremendous charges. We got an account here in the US (although we really don’t need it here), but how does it work once we are down there? Do we need to get another account in CR (with a CR phone number?)and have our relatives use one here in the US? Then we converse back and forth? Skype says we only need one account, but their customer service so far is not impressive, and I do not know enough about it yet to understand.Secondly, I looked back over the forum and could not find the info I was looking for. But I am positive I saw info regarding bringing your pet to CR. And that all we needed was a recent Veterinarian Vaccination Certificate. But on the ARCR information it shows that PLUS sending them payment – $85.00 for Pet Paperwork! And that they would send to us an authorization to import said pet. However, it does not state what the 85 bucks is for. Now we have only 4 days until we fly and I am nervous. Can someone verify? I have a 14# adult dog in great shape and an airline ticket for her to fly with us on Friday.
Forget the ARCR and their $85 fee. You don’t need an import license to bring in a pet! All you need is the recent rabies certificate notarized by the USDA vet. You do have the international health certificate, right? Your vet has to fill that out stating the health of your dog, which vaccines it has received and that multiple form is what gets taken to the USDA, and they charge $24 to have it notarized. This is the paperwork you give to the customs agent when you get to San Jose. You also do NOT need consular stamps on that paperwork, which I was told was absolutely necessary but it’s not.
I have nothing but the Vet certificate, which I get Tuesday. Yikes!!! Do you know where I get the International Health Certificate? I take that to the USDA to get notarized? OMG!
Bogus: You get the international health certificate from your vet in the U.S. If he/she doesn’t know what one is, I would switch vets. You can either mail or take the international health certificate once filled out to the USDA in your state. When we moved here with our dogs and cats, we took it in person to Gainesville to get notarized due to time constraints.
As for Skype, we have an account and a US skype in number, but live here in Costa Rica. The great thing about having a SKYPE in number is that anyone in the US can call you from a regular phone and it reaches you anywhere in the world (in this case here in Costa Rica). We have a Tampa phone number that we pay $6.00 per month for and anyone in the USA can call us for free (of course, they may have long distance charges, but most people have long distance included in their rates these days). There is no charge for incoming calls on the skype in number other than the flat fee you pay per month ($6.00). You can also forward your skype in number to a cell phone or land line in Costa Rica and you are only charged the regular skype in rates (6.4 cents per minute US to Costa Rica OR 2.1 cents per minute Costa Rica to US). Of course, if you talk to other skype members when they are online, it’s free, which is great. I just got into Skype about 2 months ago. I have no idea why my husband and I didn’t get with Skype a long time ago! We would have saved tons. Of course, as with everything, there are drawbacks. Skype is not perfect. Or should I say the VoIP technology depending on your internet connection. We have satellite internet and it works well usually, but some 10% of the time there are large delays or the connection cuts out. However, for the overall cost and quality, I don’t know of anything better than Skype. Rest assured you will be able to use your account here in CR.
Becky
Edited on Nov 28, 2007 06:03
Regarding Skype; you can also purchase a Skype phone, connect it to your router and when people call, it rings on your Skype phone, even if your computer is not on. They offer a lot of cool products (even a cell phone, but isnt available for use in CR yet). Also, the sound quality is usually good even though we receive our internet via satellite here in CR. For us, this was the only option because there are no land lines or cable TV in our area (yet).
Becky is right, your vet should have this multiple form which you will then have to take to the USDA nearest you because of your time constraint. Let your fingers do the walking and call them immediately. We had to make an appointment to get this done in Denver because they weren’t open every day.
We brought two cats in with us and all we needed was the health certificates from the vet. In fact, when we got to customs in CR we could have just walked right on through, but we went and actually looked for the person we were supposed to give the form to.
Skype is awesome, but the only draw back is it will not work with dial up. If you don’t have a highspeed connection, don’t waste your money. We just got cable and cable Internet here in Esterillos Oeste and it works fantastic.
I can reply to the Skype question for you as I have used it for two years now with very good (most of the time) results in several continents. I have a single account and have it installed on my apartment computer, office computer, and laptop. I use them frequently and they do not cost anything unless I call a phone or someone uses my “Skype-in” number. The quality depends on the connection speed with good results except on dialup which gets pretty choppy. I have used it in CR, Europe, China, Japan, Singapore, USA, with no differences.
Just connect the computer to the net, open Skype and log in, then call. same account no matter where you are. A headset is best as the speakers cause echo. Have fun and talk a long time, it costs nothing.
Roy
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