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With expats from so many nations, I am sure you can find a teacher for any music genre. However, Costa Rica in general is not as openly passionate about “latin” music as you would find in Cuba, Puerto Rico or Brazil. Flamenco as the norm is pretty limited to Spain and Argentina. You will find more Salsa in Central America. There is good Jazz in San Jose and plenty of classical.
Wait until th full text of the new immigration law is passed and published (6 month lag from publish date). No change in the “anchor baby” caveat that I know of.
crhb
When is the substantial completion date? Do they have an inagural game set-up already?
Would love to get some tickets for a national team game.For a moment I thought Scott had eliminated my post!
Very well put crhome and am aware of the world’s financial markets incestual state, but the best line I have seen….
The entire world allowed its greed to exceed its need.
I am hanging this on my office wall in bold letters.
This was from another site posted this morning:
Higher immigration income requirements confirmed
A legislative committee drawing up a new immigration bill has established income requirements for rentistas at $2,500 a month and for pensionados at $1,000 a month.
The new amounts had been reported April 9, but the figures were not official.
The confirmed numbers now come from a summary of action Tuesday in the Comisión Permanente de Asuntos de Gobierno y Administración. The committee concluded the period Tuesday for making amendments to the bill.
The committee is expected to send the proposal back to the full Asamblea Legislativa today. Other amendments are possible there but not likely.
The pensionado income of $1,000 is well within the range of U.S. Social Security payments. However, there still is uncertainty if the amount will cover a spouse.
Under current practices, a rentista applicant has to show that he or she has a steady income of $1,000 per month. This income can come from rents, dividends or interest. Usually an applicant simply deposits five years worth of income into a bank account, and the bank certifies the amount to the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería.
With the $2,500 requirement, an applicant for rentista residency would have to deposit $150,000, although the procedure for doing so still is open and subject to
regulations drawn up by the immigration department.When the law originally came to the legislature, the monthly amount for pensionados was $2,000 and the monthly amount for rentistas was $5,000. That generated great concern among expats. Also causing concern was a section of the bill that said current rentistas and pensionados would be subject to the new amounts when their terms of residency expired. Whether that still is in the committee’s final version is unknown.
Olga Marta Corrales Sánchez, president of the committee, said that the bill was of vital importance to the country. President Óscar Arias Sánchez was the person who decided to redraft the immigration law that was approved in 2005. He termed that law draconian and noted that the Catholic Church and others working with immigrants were concerned by some of the penalties.
Among other changes, the new proposal would create an immigration tribunal that would have final say on matters like visas and other appeals. Now appeals appear to go straight to the Sala IV constitutional court for resolution.
The tribunal also is seen as a way to reduce corruption in the immigration department because the panel would be autonomous.
This is the second time that the committee went over the bill. Under legislative rules additional amendments will be minimal. The measure could be passed before the May 1 date when the legislature elects new officers.
July and August are very wet and considered winter in CR. On our 1st trip we went during the wet or green season because we felt if we liked it then, we would love it any time of year. Staying in rental houses makes it much easier with children. Pick three spots and stay a week each.
Making a living is not as easy as it sounds for the government is very protective of their work force. You can start a company and employ Ticos, but you cannot be an employee unless you are a citizen or on a foreign work visa.
Make an effort to learn Spanish, afterall, it is the 2nd most spoken language in the world.Most of the major players have rental outlets @ Oduber airport due to the increased air traffic and development.
What a societal dichotomy in the US – people escape their reality through the trials & tribulations of others placed in situautions they would never normally experience except for television.
Drop them off along the middle of the Parque Amistad along the Panama border and see if they can make it on foot to civilization with only the clothes on their back, a canteen of water and a machete.The Legal Guide to CR by Roger Petersen, if you can find a copy (only 4 used on Amazon), is hands down the most comprehensive book about CR I have read that provides non-tourist information. My copy is on loan to person #3 and is highlighted and tabbed. Erin Van Rheenen’s book on LMoon iving Abroad is also good, but I prefer The New Golden Door by Christopher Howard.
For Canadians, Scotiabank is a great choice because it is just like having your branch in CR. Makes things streamlined. The biggest issue for us is when you are outside of the central valley, most all the banks are either BN or BCR, especially in the smaller communities. ATM’s have made access to cash very easy anywhere in the world, but if you need several thousand $, you need a bank where you have an account. I asked the question earlier on another blog on this site regarding the limits of deposit insurance in CR akin to FDIC, FSLIC and NCUA in the US. Personally, all my banking in US is with a large non-profit credit union…no more “for profit” banks.
Just ask for someone the speaks english at your branch. Even my branch in Cobano (N of Montezuma) has english speaking management. The branch will arrange to provide an english speaker if requested. Are BCR & BN making loans again? Most people on this site will say you are better off with a private bank. Mortgage or construction loan interest rates in US are about 40% of what they are in CR.
One of four “blue zones” in the world with an unusually high concentration of centurians – Nicoya, CR, Loma Linda, California, Okinawa, Japan and can’t remeber the 4th at this moment, but I would guess Sardinia.
Edited on Apr 12, 2009 18:37
Edited on Apr 12, 2009 18:38
