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If I read an article correctly recently, you need to be a legal resident; to obtain a CR drivers license. We plan on shipping a SUV and filing for legal residency, upon our return,in the very near future. Does anyone have any insights or additional information?
Before we applied for residency we obtained a costa rican drivers license within our 90 day passport with a valid drivers license from somewhere else, the states or canada. If you are late on your passport or dont have a valid drivers license in another country you have to take the test in spanish. Maybe things have changed, You get a physical and have your blood type done for your license, they used to do it right at the office for your license. We have residency now. We shipped our car here from Arizona. No problems with the car. the residency was hard because we had an attorney that was awful and let our file sit for a year without touching it. We have a great attorney that did our residency in san jose near the united states embassy and someone that did a great job shipping boxes and the vehicle. It is not cheap to bring a vehicle in. Maybe someone can give you the website so you can get an estimate. I cant remember the site.
Barbara Ann,
Thank you for your thoughts! Fortunately, we retained a great lawyer, she once worked for Costa Rican Immigration!!!!!!!!!
Now, you cannot get your CR license until you have your Temporary residency [i]cedula[/i] in hand! You are required to exit CR within the 90 days allowed by your tourist visa to ‘reset’ the legality of driving with your home license. So, be prepared to exit 2, 3 or more times.
[b]Then[/b], you can go and get your license without having to retake the road test and the written test in Spanish.costaricafinca,
Thanks for the advice. I guess I am mistaken in that, if you have a CR corporation cedula, you have no issue with obtaining a CR license.
[quote=”Sailor”]costaricafinca,
Thanks for the advice. I guess I am mistaken in that, if you have a CR corporation cedula, you have no issue with obtaining a CR license.[/quote]
I’m afraid you’re out of luck on this one, Sailor. There’s no practical way to give a corporation a physical exam or type its blood.
We been told recently that the new law requires you to apply after 90 days and with your immigration registration completed.
We were also told previously you need to apply for DR before your 90 days expire from entry to CR.
Sounds like a Catch22!
The latest word in this regard is that you must have your residency [i]cedula[/i] in hand in order to be given a Costa Rican driver’s license [b]AND[/b] that your most recent entry into Costa Rica must have been fewer than ninety days ago when you apply [b]AND[/b] that your “home” driver’s license (from the U.S., Canada, or wherever) must be unexpired.
So even if you have your Immigration file number in hand and are no longer required to leave the country in order to qualify for a new tourist visa, it appears that you must leave and re-enter in order to renew the ninety days during which your home driver’s license qualifies you for a Costa Rican one.
You can only legally drive on your “home” license for ninety days after your most recent entry, and that license must remain unexpired.
OK, so what about those of us that have a CR drivers license AND a immigration file number and we are still waiting for the folks at immigration to notify us that our application is approved?
They have told me several times that everything is complete, just waiting on the “resolution”.[quote=”costaricafinca”]If you already have the CR license, you [i]sh1ould[/i] be good to go….[/quote]
I’m more interested to know if “I am good to [u]stay[/u]”.
I assumed I was – at least until renewal time for the DL.
[quote=”costaricafinca”]If you already have the CR license, you [i]should[/i] be good to go….[/quote]
I’m confident that crf is right, Bill. Once you have your Costa Rican driver’s license in hand, renewing it should not be a problem.
Note this, however . . . Your driver’s license number today (the one that was issued to you based upon your passport number) must be the same as your [i]cedula[/i] number once your cedula is issued to you. So when you go to renew your driver’s license, you’ll need to begin by having its number changed to your [i]cedula[/i] number (assuming you’ve been issued your [i]cedula[/i] by then).
I don’t think there is any compelling reason to have your driver’s license number updated until you go to renew it.
Remember that a few years ago we got new cedulas and the #s were changed and your licence # must agree with your new cedula # So I had to make a special trip to the MOPT offices in Paso Ancho for the paperwork. I hope next time it all can be done in the Bank
b][/b][quote=”DavidCMurray”][quote=”costaricafinca”]If you already have the CR license, you [i]should[/i] be good to go….[/quote]
I’m confident that crf is right, Bill. Once you have your Costa Rican driver’s license in hand, renewing it should not be a problem.
Note this, however . . . Your driver’s license number today (the one that was issued to you based upon your passport number) must be the same as your [i]cedula[/i] number once your cedula is issued to you. So when you go to renew your driver’s license, you’ll need to begin by having its number changed to your [i]cedula[/i] number (assuming you’ve been issued your [i]cedula[/i] by then).
I don’t think there is any compelling reason to have your driver’s license number updated until you go to renew it.
[/quote]I honestly don’t consider that much of a recommendation after some things that I have seen from “la migra”
[quote=”Sailor”]Barbara Ann,
Thank you for your thoughts! Fortunately, we retained a great lawyer, she once worked for Costa Rican Immigration!!!!!!!!![/quote]
as of now, you cannot renew your DL at the bank. that is only for costa rican nationals.
i did not have to go to Paso Ancho to change my numbers, although i know many people who did. they did all the changing at the MOPT office i went to. this is one instance where sweet-talking the officials in Spanish really pays off.
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