Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
we must have been taken advantage of by the embassy because we paid for each of us,as I said go to an attorney that knows what has to be done because this advice is contrary to our experience last year.
as I said before have a good attorney and follow his advice because everyone has an opinion and you wont know which to follow..We have our residency and that is how we got it with the birth and marriage license from Michigan over 6 months old. they were certified.
you know everyone has a different interpretation and experience with residency,.My birth cert was more than six months old..so my advice to you is find a competent attorney. Ours did a wonderful job and took us to immigration and walked us through that day to get our residency card. He never left us on our own. Every time I see these questions there are different answers than our experience.
we were married in Michigan and born there so our certified marriage license and birth cert had to come from there. You can do it on line in Michigan and have it sent here. Because we came her from Arizona the police report had to come from there, your last place of residence in the states. That is time sensitive. The letter from social security comes from the embassy showing your income, go wait in line at the embassy,they type it up in Spanish and charge a fee. It is certified and signed by an official with our government. Fingerprinting was done at the police department and you need photos which you can get ahead of time or at the embassy when you pick up your social security letter. we used an attorney in san jose near the embassy. Once all the papers are gathered they go to the United States Secretary of State office for approval in Washington D.C. then back to Costa Rica for their approval.Lots of papers, I might have forgotten something. This is what I remember.
we use magic jack. If the number is in the states then u use a prefix for your area code from there. then use it in costa rica. Our kids call us all the time. they have an international plan but I cant remember what the charge is. When we go back to the states we take our magic jack with us. It works great as long as the internet signal strength is good, I guess they have a way to use a cell now.
MEDICARE..In case retirees have not received your Christmas Present from Congress and Obama OurMedicare went to 152. plus 14.9 for prescription coverage..
[/quote]
here is an email address from a friend at Stewart Title. He might be able to help
fmata@stewartlat.comThe tax is fair if you believe in free stuff for every American and are one of them., If you are someone that goes to work every day most of your life and does not have your hand out for freebies………….NO IT IS NOT FAIR
we used him for our residency and a friend used him for a house transfer and problems with his overstay on his passport, His office is near the US embassy
My husband went there to show our bank statement and receipt tonite. they said we were not there and have to come back and look at the camera to prove we stopped. We are contacting the bank in the morning, It is the station just before you get on the highway at the Jaco exit.
Dental..I have a wonderful dentist in Jaco on the pacific coast. I had a crown done for 250 not including a root canal, it was a replacement, I also had a bridge done for 750. the dentist is so gentle you dont even know he is working and he speaks english.
swimming. the higher up you go in altitude the cooler the temp. Jaco is humid but you have a beach that runs all the way down and up the coast but it gets hotter than San Jose. This is where we live so we know this area..Oh and there are salt water crocs….
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.
On our house, we have been here 3 years. taxes were not paid so we went to the municipality in Jaco and paid one year back taxes and current taxes for 2010. We received a ten percent reduction for paying in January.
Today in Inside Costa Rica there is an article that says that property taxes on gringo style homes are going up 40 to 60 per cent. In order for us to figure out our taxes from the original sale the title guy was kind enough to help us with the process that included paperwork. we submitted that in Jan 2012 paid the difference and the one year we were behind, which we did not know, and now we are good to go this January,
Dont know if our taxes will go up again for next year. but hopefully we will at least get the ten percent for paying in january, The rumor I heard is that people typically did not pay property taxes until there was a transfer of ownership and then there is no notification of your tax bill.
It is your responsibility to find out when where and how on almost everything you do with the government here,
turkeys are available at pricesmart, masxmenos,and automercado..cranberry sauce in cans is available at automercado, swee potatoes are here but look different and are not as sweet. stove top is available at mas x menos and automercado, canned sweet potatoes at automercado, American Usda choice beef available at pricesmart. We have been here three years and love it. You just learn where things are but American imports are not inexpensive
