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Our “stuff” has arrived in Nosara (Good job, ShipCostaRica!!), we made it through the earthquake only loosing small, decorative items and an egg, the nerves are still a little frayed every time the house shakes, but we must get back to the issue of obtaining residency.
We know all about the different categories and requirements, have the papers in order etc. etc. but…who do we get to do the “leg work” for us?
I seem to recall Javier and “Residency in Costa Rica” being mentioned several times on WLCR, but now, no matter how I search, nothing comes up. (and I am a “creative” searcher, sorry Scott.)
I made a contact to them via ResidencyinCostaRica.com, got an auto reply that we would be contacted within 24 hours, and finally, after several days, got a reply with an explanation that they had been on vacation.
Their fee of $ 5,000 (for a married couple) plus a few extra fees, totaling about $ 6,000, seems high, especially compared to ARCR who charges $ 2,200 + stamps and fees to the system.
Any insight about these two options – and others – would be greatly appreciated.
Please and thank you!!! :):)
This is a typical problemita in doing business in Central and Latin America and with people from those countries who are living elsewhere.
Javier Zavaleta is obviously good at what he does however, “communications” is often a problem with him and most Latino run businesses…
I turn down the vast majority of people who want to have articles of some kind on my site however, I personally asked Javier if he would like to have articles on my site to help our VIP Members with their residency.
On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 11:33 AM I wrote:
“If you can give me an article (rewrite it or create a new one) similar to this one below which covers all these points and more, I will feature it on my site at WeLoveCostaRica.com and refer to it every time – which is every frequently – when someone talks about residency – It is sure to bring you new business….
Would you do that for us?”
Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 8:25 AM Javier replied:
“Good morning, Scott. Yes, I will be delighted to modify the e-mail into an article. We are out in the Napa, CA area until tuesday afternoon. OK if I have it ready by Wednesday?”
He could have had hundreds of new customers from WeLoveCostaRic.com since 2009 but we never received anything.…
On Tue, Mar 27, 2012 at 1:38 AM he said that:
“I would be happy to atone for my sins by writing an assessment of the new Reglamento for WeLoveCostaRica once we have the opportunity to analyze the Reglamento.”
On Tue, Mar 27, 2012 at 7:52 AM I replied:
“Whenever you’re ready Javier ….
You’ve probably missed out on about 100 clients in that time and the environment now is very, very different but we’re always interested in quality information from reputable and trustworthy sources.. “
So since my first request in April 2009 – over three years ago – I’ve never received anything but Javier has consistently done a good job for people so the secret to success is the ‘3Ps’
You must politely and persistently, pester him until he does respond….
Scott
We used Javier at Residency in Costa Rica while still living in the US. Our experience with them was great. They are extremely knowledgeable, professional, polite, and helpful, while making everything simple, easy and stress free. They may be expensive, but for us was well worth it.
We did not research ARCR. Let me know if you have any questions.[quote=”Bibi”] Any insight about these two options – and others – would be greatly appreciated.
Please and thank you!!! :):)[/quote]
If you are still having problems you might try my attorney. Her office is in San Sebastian just south of San Jose.
Licda. Bárbara Jiménez Coble
Abogada y Notaria
Attorney At Law
Office + (506) 2272-3860
Cell + (506) 8358-7075
Fax + (506) 2271-1486We were referred to Lic. Romulo Pacheco by ARCR whose (relatively inexpensive) fee schedule he adheres to. For us, and for everyone we’ve referred to him over the past seven years, the experiences have been just fine.
He or his assistant will take you to be fingerprinted, meet you at Immigration when necessary, etc. We were sufficiently pleased with Sr. Pacheco’s work that we had him process our application for permanent residency when we became eligible.
You can reach Romulo Pacheco at:
(or)
2255-1592 (voice)
(or)
2255-0061 (fax)
Just be sure to put “Costa Rica Residency” in the Subject line of your e-mail so he doesn’t mistake it for spam.
And tell him Dave Murray sent you.
I would like to recommend our attorney, Mr. Gonzalo, (affectionately known as Junior) or Visquez Oreamuno y Asociados. The firm has offices in San Jose and Playa del Coco on the NW coast. Phone is 8816-1681 and the email is costaricalegaladvice@gmail.com
The firm came highly recommended to us and the cost, two people for $2950, is quite reasonable. Another benefit? The SJ office is down the street from the US Embassy in SJ.
Best of luck
Thank you for the feed back and recommendations.
I was well aware of the “3M’s” (Momentito, Mas tarde and Mañana), but had never heard of the “3P’s”. However, after spending more than 10 years building with a local contractor and developing a business, I am quite adept at being a “Persistent and Polite Pest” – something my husband, recently rescued from corporate America, still has to learn. (“But I told the boss once”.) Smiling a lot and bringing lemonade and cookies to the workers will also get you far :).From what I have read over the years, I really don’t doubt that Javier can get the job done in the best way possible. We are wondering if the (high) cost of his services are in line with others doing the same thing and thus are open to hear about the experiences of others.
we used residencyincostarica for our status. they were the best i could’ve hoped for. trust me, scott, he is not lacking for clients. in fact, i know of several instances where he turned a client away because they were either too difficult, wouldn’t cooperate, and were completely ill-suited for dealing with the bureaucrazy here. his sister is in SJO; she is extremely tight with every office that matters. i had never seen such respect towards anyone ever as i did towards his sister when we went to la migra and the fuerza. top notch and worth every colon!!!
Couldn’t agree more with Maravilla, Javier and his sister Mayane are efficient and every thing is done right the first time, we had our cedulas before we made the final move. friends we know have had to restart the whole process after waiting 3 years and paying out over $3000 (and that doesn’t take into account the cost of having to leave the country every 90 days.)
Junior mentioned in a previous post is also excellent.
9 days (on the calendar) after the first meeting with a residency lawyer, we have the receipt that our application for residency is “entramite” 😀 😀 – and we would like to add another name to the list of recommended law firms: GLC Abogados in Los Yoses, San Jose. http://www.lawyersofcostarica.com
After receiving the recommendations here on the board, we drafted an email explaining that despite having lived in the US for a number of years, our passports are still “European Red”, and sent it to Romulo Pacheo, who never responded and to “Junior Visquez” who recommended we apply as US citizens! ❓
Reading on another forum, I saw a post by Augusto Arce of GLC Abogados which impressed me because he actually answered the posted question.
I sent the same email, at 6:30 am, and before 10 am, I received a call from Augusto. He just wanted to confirm that they had received my email and he had a few questions he wanted answers to before he put everything in an email.
We hired them on the spot for $ 1,000 to retain them and another $ 1,000 when they had the receipts for filing, total $ 2,000 for the two of us plus the stamps and fees that everybody will charge.
All subsequent communication has been “Prompt and Polite”, the only P’s in use so far. 🙂If we had not gotten sick, we could have met with them 3 days later. Instead, we went to San Jose 10 days later, met with Eugenia Viquez who is the immigration coordinator for the firm, and went for the fingerprinting the following morning. They sent a guy to stand in line at 4 am, we arrived a little before 7 am and were joined by Yannsi, a paralegal from the firm, who was with us all through the process, and we left at 11 am.
The line was extra long because the “illegals” (mostly Nicaraguans) have been given till Nov. 7, to get their papers in order, so the whole system is swamped!Yannsi even gained another set of clients while we were in line. An American couple had paid $ 3,000 to a lawyer in March and since then, nothing had happened. Now, they were trying on their own, with very limited Spanish skills, and when they realized that we were only on day 2 of the process and already where they were, they decided on the spot to go with GLC Abogados as well.
The entire process to get our residency (as inversionistas) is expected to take 5 months, 1 month longer than normal because of the swamped system.
While in SJ, we stayed at Hotel Boutique Jade (behind Mall San Pedro and in walking distance to the GLC office) where we got a special rate of 25% off because we were clients of GLC. Very nice hotel with breakfast included and the “Jurgens Restaurant” part of the hotel was great.
I have read some posts from the lawyer you hired, and was impressed by his responses.
However, he did mention that[i] ‘… even if you have the ‘entramite’ that one would have to leave to renew their visa, until they had been issued a cedula’ [/i]or words to that effect
I have been trying to find out, whether this is correct.
Possibly you could ask him about this?[quote=”costaricafinca”]I have read some posts from the lawyer you hired, and was impressed by his responses.
However, he did mention that[i] ‘… even if you have the ‘entramite’ that one would have to leave to renew their visa, until they had been issued a cedula’ [/i]or words to that effect
I have been trying to find out, whether this is correct.
Possibly you could ask him about this?[/quote]We were ensured by Eugenia who is the expert on immigration that we would not have to leave, but I will ask her again and let you know.
[quote=”Bibi”]
We were ensured by Eugenia who is the expert on immigration that we would not have to leave, but I will ask her again and let you know.[/quote]Here is a post from this past July that seems to hit the nail on the head! I looked up the law, printed this section in Spanish, translated it to English and printed both versions along with the authors citation. I got it all printed on one piece of paper and carry it in my passport holder. Send me a PM amd I’ll forward the file to you. It has helped a couple of times.
[i]RE: Residency requirements
Posted Tuesday, July 10, 2012 at 3:23 AM
The short answer to your question is “No, once you have a permanent number issued by Migracion and you have the receipt proving your documents and application were filed you are not required to exit Costa Rica to renew your tourist visa (which may or may not be for 90 days)”.In practice, that has been the case for at least six years. However, the Ley de Migracion, in effect since March 1, 2010, specifically addressed the issue. See Ley de Migracion y Extranjeria, Article 33.3 (you can’t get an easier number to remember). Paraphrasing Article 33.3: Thou must exit CR when your tourist visa expires EXCEPT if you have a pending application for a change of status. In your case, you are changing from tourist to temporary resident under the pensionado program.
Cordialmente,
Javier Zavaleta
Residency in Costa Rica
Tel (323) 255-6116 – Fax (323) 344-1620
On the Web at http://www.residencyincostarica.com[/i%5D
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