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If you enter San Ramon from the autopista, you turn in at the mall, right? So continue into San Ramon on that street with the mall on your right. Go all the way through town (maybe eight blocks) until you get to a “T” intersection. You have to turn.
Turn right and immediately look for some guys waving you into their parking spots or their medical clinic where you can get your exam. If you need the exam, they’re there. Otherwise, drive past them a short block and you’ll go down a hill. It appears that you’re driving off the public road. There’s parking at the bottom and the MOPT building is on the left.
As I recall, you’ll need copies of the front and back of your existing license and your cedula or the picture page of your passport and the most recent entry stamp page. Might as well bring ’em along.
And you’ll have to go to BCR first and pay the renewal fee. Do that first, too, and bring the receipt (and maybe a copy of that, I dunno).
No appointment is needed, but I’d recommend that you not go at midday when some of the staff have gone to lunch.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]If you enter San Ramon from the autopista, you turn in at the mall, right? So continue into San Ramon on that street with the mall on your right. Go all the way through town (maybe eight blocks) until you get to a “T” intersection. You have to turn.
Turn right and immediately look for some guys waving you into their parking spots or their medical clinic where you can get your exam. If you need the exam, they’re there. Otherwise, drive past them a short block and you’ll go down a hill. It appears that you’re driving off the public road. There’s parking at the bottom and the MOPT building is on the left.
As I recall, you’ll need copies of the front and back of your existing license and your cedula or the picture page of your passport and the most recent entry stamp page. Might as well bring ’em along.
And you’ll have to go to BCR first and pay the renewal fee. Do that first, too, and bring the receipt (and maybe a copy of that, I dunno).
No appointment is needed, but I’d recommend that you not go at midday when some of the staff have gone to lunch.[/quote]
Excellent directions! Thanks much. We did, however, encounter an unexpected twist. My husband’s original CR license was issued using his passport number. Since then, he has received his cédula (hooray, hooray). We were told that we have to go to the Educación Vial, Departamento Matricula in order to have his driver’s license number converted from his passport number to his cédula number. Our task for tomorrow will be to go get the numbers straightened out and then proceed to renew the license which expires this Friday. My license is not expiring, but was also issued in my passport number. I will try to deal with those numbers while we are there anyway, but I will not be surprised if I am told to come back when the license is expiring.
The “Educación Vial, Departamento Matricula”, eh. What the heck is that? And where?
Please share your experience with the rest of us.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]The “Educación Vial, Departamento Matricula”, eh. What the heck is that? And where?
Please share your experience with the rest of us.[/quote]
Apparently, the Educación Vial is a branch of COSEVI. From the website, I gather that it is mostly a driver education agency. However, I guess that they have an office that merges ID numbers. Their offices are 500 meteros south of the Hospital de Mujeres on the road to Paso Ancho. I will tell you more after I have made the trip. This requirement will obviously be impacting more people than just my husband. ARCR offered to take us there for $35, but we think we can go it on our own.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]The “Educación Vial, Departamento Matricula”, eh. What the heck is that? And where?
Please share your experience with the rest of us.[/quote]
We managed to renew my husband’s license today. Since we hate driving in SJ, we parked near La Sabana and hired a cab. The “Educación Vial, Departamento Matricula”, is about 500 meters south of the Hospital de Mujeres. About 300 meters south, there’s a fork in the road. To get to this place, stay to the left. After another 200 meters, or less, there’s a blue and white government-colored building on the right surrounded by a chain link fence, topped with razor wire. You can’t see a lot of the building but the color is pretty distinctive. Turn right onto this street. The gate is 50 meters up, on the left. It’s guarded and you need ID to enter. Take the walkway to the right and go to the farthest building. The signs say “matricula”, “control”, and “registro”, but not until you get to the building itself. We had 8 or 9 people in front of us in line. When it was our turn, we handed my husband’s driver’s license and his cédula to the clerk. I speak some Spanish, but I think one could manage without as the situation is self-explanatory. She did ask for a phone number and a physical address. She produced a print-out and stamped it, and we were on our way back to the renewal office minutes later. A staff-member recognized us from yesterday and pushed us up to the front of the line. Sweet! She was dressed as a cleaning lady, but seemed to run the joint. She also is the one who headed us off early in the process yesterday, so that we didn’t wait in line for hours only to be told that we had to go to the Educación Vial first. Customer service at its best.
His new license uses his cédula number instead of his passport number. Last week, I was looking at COSEVI’s website and it said that renewals were good for 5 years. Yesterday, I noticed that the site said the renewal was for 6 years. His renewal is good for the 6 years. I think this is something new. My license will expire in 2 1/2 years. I thought about trying to deal with the dual-number issue today, but decided to wait. Who knows what the process will be by then.[quote=”bobr”]We have been told that you now have to have a police report that says you have no criminal record. Anybody know anything about this?
Bob
San Ramon[/quote]Nope this is not true.. all you need is your passport and money. Then get your medical and blood. At my wifes family biz next to the place that you get your drivers lisc you pay there and take the exam. I understand that is the only one that you can do that. If you go to the others you will need to go to the bank to deposit the money and then take the recpt for prof.
[quote=”ticorealtor”][quote=”bobr”]We have been told that you now have to have a police report that says you have no criminal record. Anybody know anything about this?
Bob
San Ramon[/quote]Nope this is not true.. all you need is your passport and money. Then get your medical and blood. At my wifes family biz next to the place that you get your drivers lisc you pay there and take the exam. I understand that is the only one that you can do that. If you go to the others you will need to go to the bank to deposit the money and then take the recpt for prof.[/quote]
If you have an account with BCR, you can pay the license fee online and print out the proof to take to the renewal.
I went to the doctor in Esczzu and had my health and eye test done Then right down to motor vehicle office in San Jose accross the street from the moercedez benz dealer You will need a photocopy of your passport. Wait in line there to have your picture and pay about $8 each I think for motorcycle, auto or truck license bring the bank receipt back to the mv office and they hand you the license. The bank is just outside the gates of the government motor vehicle office. Get there early 6:30 is good or expect long lines.
[quote=”maravilla”]and getting a license after that 90 period expires is not what you want to do. you have to take a 5 day driving class and that is $35, then you have to take the written test in Spanish and that costs extra too, then there is the actual driving test, which is also an extra charge. i doubt most gringos would pass any of those exams.[/quote]
Hi, That is not tottaly correct. I lived here for one year without a CR license, But, I went back to the states for two weeks and when I returned I went to get my license no problems. And not having a car for that first year was not a problem, but in fact great because I walked almost everywhere and lost over 30 pounds in that first year. Ron USCG Retyou didn’t have to do the things i listed because your 90 days started running when you went back to the States for two weeks. Had you tried to get a license before that, i guarantee you would’ve had to jump through all the flaming hoops i mentioned.
No, the driver’s license office will want to see your U.S.license but they will not take it. I would advise you to bring a copy, however, in case they want that.
As an aside, you can legally drive in the U.S. on your C.R. license.
[quote=”trainak”]Thanks David….bringing a copy is a great idea! :lol:[/quote]
Let me make a somewhat more global recommendation . . .
Whenever you’re dealing with the bureaucracy here, whether it’s the government, the bank, ICE, INS, AyA or whomever, it’s a good idea to have a copy or two of your identification papers as well as whatever else they might be interested in.
If you’re not a resident, have a copy of the picture page of your passport and the most recent visa stamp. If you are a legal resident, bring a copy of both sides of your cedula. If you’re going for a driver’s license, bring a copy of both sides of your U.S. license. If it’s ICE, bring a copy of a bill for whatever account is in question. It can never hurt . .
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