Options for Non-Retirees Relocating to CR

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  • #199625
    janetl2424
    Member

    My spouse and I have been in communications with an attorney in San Jose who advised us that an option for us to relocate from the US to CR would be to form a local corporation in CR wherein one of us is appointed Manager, which would qualify the appointed Manager for residency as Executive/Self Employed. We would then live off funds we deposit into a bank under the corporation’s name until we are eligible to apply for citizenship, which he explained would take 7 years. Can anyone elaborate on this? Thank you.

    #199626
    waggoner41
    Member

    [quote=”janetl2424″]My spouse and I have been in communications with an attorney in San Jose who advised us that an option for us to relocate from the US to CR would be to form a local corporation in CR wherein one of us is appointed Manager, which would qualify the appointed Manager for residency as Executive/Self Employed. We would then live off funds we deposit into a bank under the corporation’s name until we are eligible to apply for citizenship, which he explained would take 7 years. Can anyone elaborate on this? Thank you.[/quote]

    You can take a look [url=http://www.residencyincostarica.com/residency.html]here[/url] for more information. It sounds like he is talking about the “Rentista” residency.

    #199627
    jreeves
    Member

    Honestly, I don’t think immigration would approve your residency status this way. If it were this easy to gain residency, why would they have categories for pensionado, rentista or investor? We have our residency through the rentista program. You may want to look into that.

    Jessica

    #199628
    janetl2424
    Member

    [quote=”jreeves”]Honestly, I don’t think immigration would approve your residency status this way. If it were this easy to gain residency, why would they have categories for pensionado, rentista or investor? We have our residency through the rentista program. You may want to look into that.

    Jessica[/quote]

    I am not sure why the attorney is advising us to go that route rather than rentista. He only stated that the rentista regime would “tie up” our money. I have read everything about the rentista category and understand that we must deposit $150,000 in a bank, and then we live off $2,500 a month we can withdraw from those funds, is that correct? We are then eligible for permanent residency after 3 years, but until then are not able to work in CR. That is my understanding. Please correct me if I’m wrong. And please let me know if there were any obstacles you encountered with this process. Thank you so very much.

    #199629
    DavidCMurray
    Participant

    janetl, I think you or your attorney is glossing over some of the details. As Jessica says immediately above, if it were this easy everyone would do it this way.

    One detail you’ve overlooked is that, even if you could become a legal resident by being the Manager of a Costa Rican corporation, what about the spouse and family? None of that would cover them.

    The two practical routes to legal residency are, as Jessica says, [i]pensionado[/i] and [i]rentista[/i] which are both categories of [u]temporary [/u]residency. They require significant documentation and can involve long waiting periods. Then, after you’ve been an approved temporary resident for three years, you can apply for permanent residency and sit out another wait. The process of becoming a legal permanent resident can easily take five years altogether — or longer.

    Should you apply for rentista residency, you will be required to deposit $150,000 and withdraw at least $2,500 per month. That deposit need not be in the name of a corporation, so for those purposes, at least, a corporation is not necessary.

    Until you are a legal permanent resident, too, you cannot legally work in Costa Rica, even in your own business, and should you be caught you could be subject to immediate deportation.

    Without intending to disparage the legal advice you’ve been given, you need to explore these matters in much greater depth with an attorney who specializes in residency matters.

    #199630
    costaricafinca
    Participant

    [b]janetl,[/b] although you are indeed ‘ eligible for permanent residency after 3 years’, it [b]could still take another year or more to get[/b].

    #199631
    janetl2424
    Member

    [quote=”costaricafinca”][b]janetl,[/b] although you are indeed ‘ eligible for permanent residency after 3 years’, it [b]could still take another year or more to get[/b].[/quote]

    Can anyone recommend an attorney who specializes in CR residency?

    Thank you.

    #199632
    costaricafinca
    Participant

    Contact Ryan Piercy at [url=http://www.arcr.net/]ARCR[/url] who manages this office. But even a ‘good lawyer’ can’t guarantee a quick transfer over to ‘Permanent residency’ as a few of us who have responded to this post, can attest.

    #199633
    maravilla
    Member

    or try javier zavaleta @ http://www.residencyincostarica.com

    #199634
    jreeves
    Member

    Well, hopefully I’m not going to jinx anything here…but I got an e-mail today from my attorney & she said our resolutions are being signed today. She is going back tomorrow to confirm it has been done. She also says she was able to get my resolution back with the rest of the family so they can be signed together. Now, I’m specifically not typing any exclamation points in this post because I don’t want to get my hopes up. I’ll post back to let you know if the almost 3-year wait to get our permanent residency (3 years after applying for the status change, to be clear) has actually come to an end.

    Jessica

    #199635
    costaricafinca
    Participant

    Dare I say ‘good news’!
    I won’t tell you, that now it could take a year to get an actual [i]cedula[/i]…like ours did. Or at least my hubbys. I have to go back, again, in another 20 days….

    #199636
    janetl2424
    Member

    [quote=”jreeves”]Well, hopefully I’m not going to jinx anything here…but I got an e-mail today from my attorney & she said our resolutions are being signed today. She is going back tomorrow to confirm it has been done. She also says she was able to get my resolution back with the rest of the family so they can be signed together. Now, I’m specifically not typing any exclamation points in this post because I don’t want to get my hopes up. I’ll post back to let you know if the almost 3-year wait to get our permanent residency (3 years after applying for the status change, to be clear) has actually come to an end.

    Jessica[/quote]

    Jessica ~ did you have to submit a bank reference letter in connection with your application for residency?

    #199637
    maravilla
    Member

    you have to prove you have a lifetime income for pensionado status, and every other category will require massive amoounts of documentation to prove you are worthy to reside here. and now you can’t even get a bank account in this country without being a resident. things change daily here and what we tell you today won’t necessarily apply tomorrow. check the http://www.residencyincostarica.com website — they have some new updates.

    #199638
    janetl2424
    Member

    [quote=”maravilla”]you have to prove you have a lifetime income for pensionado status, and every other category will require massive amoounts of documentation to prove you are worthy to reside here. and now you can’t even get a bank account in this country without being a resident. things change daily here and what we tell you today won’t necessarily apply tomorrow. check the http://www.residencyincostarica.com website — they have some new updates.[/quote]

    That is the company we are working with. We have all the necessary documentation except for the bank reference letter with the mandatory language, which we have yet to find a bank that will provide same. Very frustrating!

    #199639
    costaricafinca
    Participant

    I read this morning on another forum, that a former European residents pension provider will not write the letter as required since [i]’the recipient may go be imprisoned or return to work which will then make pension invalid'[/i]
    Also you may want to read [url=http://www.amcostarica.com/073112.htm]this article.[/url] on pg.3 where it mentions [i]”Government creates more pitfalls for expats lacking DIMEX”[/i]

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