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Greetings,
I (think that I)understand that one way to gain CR residency is, amongst other things, to deposit $60K per adult and $30K per child in a CR bank account. My questions include:
Do these amounts need to be maintained, or can they be used for living or perhaps put towards home construction?
For those who are too young for pensioner status, does the $600 per month income rule apply in addition to the $60K, or is the deposit alone enough?
Thanks for any insight!
“Pensionado” status is not dependent upon age. To qualify as a pensionado, you must (among other things) have a liftetime-guaranteed income of at least $600 per month for a couple. This requirement is normally met by a governmentally-provided pension (such as Social Security, a military retirement, etc) but some annuity plans will qualify. Pensionados must convert $600US to colones each month.
If you cannot qualify as a pensionado, then “rentista” status may be available to you. This is where the $60/30,000 bank deposit applies. Rentista status requires that you convert $1,000US per month to colones. I’m not clear about the accessibility of the required $60/$30,000 bank deposit for other uses.
In either status, when it’s time to renew your residency (just in case Immigration ever gets its act together), you will be required to provide receipts which show those currency conversions.
Edited on Jan 21, 2008 05:08
I always thought the amount for couples would be two times $600 per month, or $600 apiece. I am lousy at catching details sometimes. I was also under the impression that the rentista was required to withdraw and convert $1000 per month…no more, no less.
These amounts, I suspect, reflect what the government considers minimal for self support.I also wonder what the thinking is behind these two different amounts. I find it hard to believe any couple could survive on $600 a month or even $1200 and more reasonable to assume an individual could get by on $1000 per month, although I don’t know if that would be comparable to a North American life style. So why the difference?
My wife and I did the Rentista Residency a few years back when it was $60k per couple. Now I believe it is $60k per person. Anyway, its basically deposited in something similar to a CD account (which accrues minimal interest) and we receive a direct deposit from this account, which is in dollars, into a Colones account at the beginning of each month. This is supposed to be returned over a five year period. Its definitely not enough for the two of us, and now our son, to live off of, but its money that you know will be coming in each month. Hope this helps.
This makes sense. $60,000 for a couple would mean an approximate amount of $500 a piece per month. I am sure that is not enough even in Costa Rica and that would explain why the government has changed the rules. I know that much of the Tico population gets by on even less but I also know that, like most north americans, I would be unable to adjust to that life style willingly. I am guessing that a minimal amount for an average north american life style for a couple with a child owning their residence and no debt would be in the range of between $2000 and $2500 per month.
All these numbers change with inflation and other macro economic factors so who knows? In 5 years time, perhaps $3000 a month would not be sufficient.I am sorry to burst your bubble but the reason why they up the amount was not because of inflation but because the goverment wants to curb residency’s from foreigners
I think you’re right, Scott. I’m betting that somebody in the government has had the foresight to realize that Costa Rica is perceived to be a haven for retirees who are not fortunate enough to have made good plans for their financial futures. Were I the Costa Rican (or any other) government, I would not be recruiting lower income foreigners as residents.
David and ScottB both make valid points. Costa Rica was still considered a third World destination and had to have lower requirements to attract foreign residents in past years. As their lot as a country improves, they can be more discriminating in the type of foreign resident they court. And make no mistake, they will limit the influx of foreigners by monetary and other means.
If you’re child is born in Costa Rica while you are on a tourist stay, are the parents able to then obtain residency if they would like to stay and raise there child there?
Lotus, on Article 61 of CR’s migratory law it states that you can seek (doesn’t guarantee) permanent residency if you have a Costa Rican family member who is your spouse, child, parent or sibling who is single.
http://www.migracion.go.cr/Leyes%20Migratorias/index.htmlAccording to US: Birth of child to Two U.S. Citizen Parents:
http://sanjose.usembassy.gov/consfaq.html
“A child born to two U.S. citizen parents abroad acquires citizenship at birth, so long as either parent had a residence in the United States or its possessions sometime before the birth. There is no specifically required length of physical presence.”The question remains as to whether a child born to 2 foreign parents in CR would be considered a Costa Rican citizen or a have access to dual citizenship which both CR & US don’t promote, but acknowledge & allow…Since you would be provided with a CR birth certificate for any child born in CR, it would appear that this child would be considered CR…Best to check w/attorney to make sure and consider any pertinent details…
My understanding is that Costa Rica will not give permanent residency to anchor baby parents. They will accept aplications but they don’t give permanent residency status easly to people with children born in CR.
In our case we are in the oposit with our daughter, she was born in the states and she is also a Costa Rican citizen since we did the paper work. It was really easy and it only took two days.
How ever we dont have to worry about residency because my wife is a tica.
Thanks I was curious as I read somewhere but can not remember that the parents would get some form of residency. Considering the child would be “Costa Rican” why deny he/she the right to life in CR? Don’t worry SB I was just curious not planning on knocking the old broad up and exploiting your country..lol.
My sister and brother in law had their baby in CR a year ago, and continue to reside there. They are both US citizens. The baby was granted CR citizenship immediately, but it took months of paperwork and waiting before US citizenship was also granted. They did not leave CR to visit the US until citizenship in both countries was finalized. They have submitted documentation, with lawyers assistance, to become residents based on their child’s CR citizenship. They have not expressed any concern that residency wouldn’t be granted, but I’ll post here if it isn’t…
can anyone tell me what happens after being granted permanent residency status? namely, how long do you have to exercise it? when do you have to come up with the 60K, before or after being accepted? i’m sure most of you have timing issues like that such as selling your house, cashing retirement funds etc.thank you
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