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Hello!! Brand new to this site and forum as my young family and I are in the early stages of planning a move to Costa Rica in 2017. Have loved all the insights and info on here so far!!
The plan is for a 2 year stay, but we are also keeping an open mind to both the chance we fall in more love and decide to stay and raise the girls here, or the off chance we simply decide to come home before two years.
I’ve hunted and hunted but can’t seem to find any solid info on our specific situation.
I’ll be working f/t remote (in the IT business), and we also have a couple of small, self-employment ventures that we’ll be continuing to build while in CR.
What residency bucket do we fit in with this sort of setup? We don’t intend to purchase property, are not on a pension, and at this point do not have the funds or desire to set up as a business owner or investor.
Is the only option to border hop ever 90 days, and hope we don’t find ourselves in the perpetual tourist grinder?
Would love any insight on best path for this.
If you are a “young family” then pensionado is out of the question, if you prefer not to invest in a home or invest in a business to become an inversionista then the only status left would be a perpetual tourist ….
Although you may not have the funds, you did not mention the Rentista Residency option. You must have $60K that you can invest in a CD savings account, with monthly payouts over two 2 years. But it would take about a year to get residency, so if you want the duration of the stay to be flexible, you are best off with the perpetual tourist route.
If Rentista Residency is not an option for you, you have 2 options left:
1. as a perpetual tourist where you have to leave the country every 90 days to renew your visa or
2. Since you are a young couple, have another child while you are in Costa Rica. That child will be a citizen of Costa Rica and you will both then be eligible for permanent residency and allowed to work. Costa Rica does not want the parents of its citizens not able to work and support them.
You still have to apply for residency once the child is born but once you get it, your other children will be your dependents and thus residents also.
The child will also be eligible for dual citizenship because he/she will also be a US citizen (or a citizen of whatever country you are from).
Thanks for all of the info. At the very least this confirms what I thought I knew.
Is it true that the border checkpoints have gotten more strict with cracking down on perpetual tourists? I’ve read that this has been the case, but what does that actually mean? Just shorter approval times, or could we actually get stuck on the Nicaraguan/Panama border or airport (if hopping back to the US)??
Would hate to be blocked out with a rental and whatever belongings we do have in CR without us.
Again Great Info. I’m not going to give my wife any ideas of adding another little one…ha!!
Border runs can be hit or miss. And like many issues with the government and their employees here, it depends which way the wind is blowing. A couple of years ago as a frequent visitor to CR my passport was full of entry stamps to CR.
Mind you they were accumulated over several years and reflected visits lasting at most 2 weeks perhaps 3 or 4 times per year. In no way a PT doing the border shuffle. The official at immigration looked at the passport flipping through the pages he then paused for a moment and then stamped it giving me only 15 days instead of the usual 90.
This happened during a period that the PT issue was hot and reforms where being planned to the system.
The rules are very fluid here. While the PT issues seems to come and go it might be best to have a more legit plan should the issue become one that will impact your planned stay.
Good luck and enjoy!!!
I agree with Imxploring – you are at the whims of the immigration officer at the border. Technically there is no explicit law against being a perpetual tourist, but if the border agent feels that you are “abusing” your Visa privileges, he has the right to give you less than 90 days. I have also heard of people getting 5 or 15 days. (I haven’t heard of anyone being denied entry for this, but it may be possible.)
I did read of 2 different instances where people were denied entry into CR because of being a PT, but I forget where I read it and the exact details. I know someone who lives here and runs a business. She’s been doing this for almost 8 years and has never been denied entry, but she also doesn’t always get a 90 day stamp either. Because we have applied for residency, I always ask for 90 days. The last time the immigration officer at SJO scrutinized my paperwork (expediente) so long I thought she was going to either deny me entry or give me less than 90 days, but she did give me the 90.
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