Costa Rica Retirement – Honk if You Are Street Legal

Sound the trumpets: I got my Costa Rican driver’s license, and I did it all by myself.

Before I ventured over to the south side of San Jose via cab, I did plenty of research. I had talked to fellow gringos, most notably my chiropractor in Santa Ana, Costa Rica Dr. Jim McClellan, 2282-3998, who, besides being my primary healer, provides a wealth of information to me regarding how to do and see things in Costa Rica, including the procedure for applying for a Costa Rican driver’s license.

First on the checklist was a physical. When the cab dropped me off in front of the license bureau, no fewer than six men approached me, each clamoring in rapid Spanish for me to go with them to the doctor.

Costa Rica has a silly law that requires license applicants to pass a medical exam. Dr. Jim had prepared me to negotiate the price of the exam, so when I was told by the most insistent medical salesman that the exam would be 5,000 colones (about $10), I shook my head and said “cuatro mil” (4,000).

(This articles was first published in 2006 so these prices have since changed… )

He led me to a newspaper clipping posted inside the Licencia (License Building) that said the minimum cost of a medical exam had risen to 5,000 colones. Okay, so I couldn’t get a lower price, but at least I was on the alert for scams.

I followed the guy across the street to a storefront office where the receptionist completed an official form with my name, address and passport number.

Then I entered a 6′ x 10′ room where the “doctor” in a white coat took my blood pressure faster than I could hiccup, and asked me a dozen health-related questions to which I gave the obvious answers that would get me a license. I read a line on the optometry chart and I was whisked out the door in less than three minutes. I had passed the physical.

Next stop was a photocopy storefront half a block down the street, where I had copies made of my Florida driver’s license, the first two pages of my passport and my entrance visa to Costa Rica. A foreigner who wants a Costa Rican driver’s license must apply for one within 90 days of entering the country. I was safely within that timeframe.

Paperwork in hand, I entered the Licencia and stood in the first line I saw. Dr. Jim had advised me to arrive around 2PM when the workers would be hardest at work so they could go home at 3:30.

To my delight, the line moved quickly and soon I was seated across from a woman who looked at my papers and my passport and said something in Spanish about my needing “un vista bueno” and pointed around the corner.

I followed her finger and stood in another line for a woman to come back from lunch so she could manually record the information from my Florida driver’s license into a book and then stamp a form. I returned to the first line, got done whatever had to be done on the computer, then stood in the bank line.

Banco de Costa Rica has several tellers set up inside the Licencia to collect fees for the licenses. I paid $8.00 for my automobile license and $8.00 for my motorcycle license. Years ago I went to motorcycle school before driving my Suzuki 425 from California to Georgia.

I still keep the motorcycle endorsement on my U.S. license, and now on my Costa Rican license, in case I ever want to ride again, because I never want to have to go to school for another license.

Off I went to my final line to have my picture taken. In this line I got to sit down; in fact, I HAD to sit. A man gestured frenetically to everyone to get up whenever the person at the head of the line got called, then to move to the next vacant seat.

It was like playing musical chairs where everyone got a seat. Finally I got to sit in the picture seat, and I smiled at the camera. Two minutes later I held two official Costa Rican licenses – one for autos and one for motorcycles. The entire process from medical exam to licenses in hand took just an hour. And now I am street legal. Honk. Honk.

The Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT), 523-2000, is the governmental arm that oversees driver’s licenses. Unfortunately, their web site does not provide useful information for this process. You’ve just got to know what to expect.

[custom_script adID=97]

Written by Margie Davis – Retirement in Costa Rica.

If you are serious about buying a home, apartment or land in Santa Ana or Escazu, then please contact us using the simple form below:

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.