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CAJA doesn’t care what your net income is. it’s based on the gross even though they ask for your monthly expenses. it’s 13% of the gross, but even that is kind of woofy because when i first applied under my name it was going to be $86 a month just for me, which is less than 13%. but when i canceled that account and we reapplied using my husband’s SSA, it dropped down to $28 a month for both of us even though that too is way less than 13%. so i don’t know how they REALLY calculate it, but most people who get hit with significant fees opt to join ARCR and go with their group plan, which will probably go up but nobody knows by how much.
Well, maravilla, I don’t know if they care about your net income or not, but when we first enrolled and when friends recently enrolled we were all asked, and the monthly cost was adjusted accordingly.
As with all bureaucracies, there may be some variation in practice from office to office.
i asked them how they determined that my premium would be $86 when i didn’t have that much leftover after expenses, and he said, it doesn’t matter, we go on your income not on what is leftover.
As [b]David[/b] mentions, ARCR, does offer the chance to use the group rates if one is a member, but one has to take into consideration the cost of the yearly membership.
If you’re a legal resident couple, ARCR’s annual dues are $50 + $10 = $5 per month. So enrolling in the CAJA via ARCR costs $45 per month at current rates and you have the opportunity to take advantage of ARCR’s other services which may or may not be particularly valuable to you.
Somebody (maravilla?) said they’re paying $86 per month. Somehow, $45 sounds like a bette deal to me, especially if it endures.
$86 was what my premium was going to be if we went with my income statement, but we switched over to my husband’s income, and now we pay C16,000 which is $28 mas o menos. for some reason CAJA doesn’t like to put a husband as a dependent on the wife’s income, but i also heard that most people go with whichever spouse has the least amount of social security. so if someone were going to have to pay more than what ARCR charges, it’s a better deal to join them and pay the group rate, except in my case where our group rate is way less than the cost of membership and premiums.
Yeah. You can do it on a grand a month.
The farther you get from San Jose the easier it is.
Why SJ ?
Hialeah Florida is just as cheap and a whole lot cleaner.[quote=”Joan&Troy”]Your advice sounds very sound indeed. My husband and I recently purchased some property and are still about 3 years from having enough income to meet the new residency requirements. I noted in the articles that it is also indicated that you will be required to enroll in the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. Does anyone have an idea how much that would cost two people per month? Again, we are just trying to get an idea so we know what kind of resources we will need to make the move. Thanks![/quote]
My wife has been on CAJA for over a year and the cost just went up from 13,125 to 15,125 per month. I just joined CAJA and mine is 31,250 per month. Both of us are on SSI and only $130 difference in income so I’m not sure why the difference.The last time I looked at the exchange rate it was 525 colones per $. That puts our current cost for CAJA at $88.33 per month.During the past 2 1/2 years the exchange rate has fluctuated between 492 and 580 colones per $. You can keep up with the exchange rate at: http://www.bccr.fi.cr/flat/bccr_flat.htm
We applied for our residency as individuals but if you apply as a couple with one income you might get into CAJA at a lower rate. You might look into that through a good attorney [b](beware the attorneys in Costa Rica).[/b]
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