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I forgot to add…
The new CAJA amount for rentista residency is $442 a month if under age 55 and $252 a month if over age 55.
Jessica
You have to make a $60,000 deposit in the bank or have an approved bank write a letter that indicates you have that amount in savings, to be dispersed at $2500 a month, then you must re-deposit another $60,000 after 2 years. You can apply for permanent residency after you have 3 years in rentista status. You cannot earn rentista status from income based on current employment.
I’ve never heard of a minor child receiving a student visa that allows their parents to come with them under any type of approved residency status. I’ve always assumed these visas were reserved for exchange students, college students coming from other countries, etc.
Any student visa would be a separate application from a rentista application & would probably do more harm than good to have both going simultaneously.
Jessica
We have two inactive corporations that hold assets. Both corporations were originally formed as inactive; one 8 years ago, the other 4 years ago. They have both remained inactive. We’ve only paid the inactive tax rate (last month it was just shy of $200 for each corporation).
Jessica
My husband & I are both 40 & we have 4 children. We applied for residency as rentistas in 2006 (when we were 32) & are now permanent residents. The only way we could accomplish any of it was by having an online income.
I’ve owned a medical transcription company (entirely US-based) for 11 years & telecommute. I telecommuted when I worked for another medical transcription company for a few years prior to starting my own business. It is not an easy business to get into now, but I have long-term relationships with my clients so I’m in a pretty solid situation.
I think one hangup with your plan if it involves telecommuting is that it may solve your money problem, but it doesn’t solve your residency problem. If you cannot pony up the cash for residency, then maybe you need to consider something that would stand a chance of getting a work permit (like teaching at one of the private schools in the Central Valley). That has always been my “backup plan” if my business ever failed (I was a teacher & have an MA in History). Another option would be to add to your family & have a baby in Costa Rica…
Jessica
You can use your locked or unlocked T-Mobile phone in CR with your US SIM card via WiFi calling as if you are on the T-Mobile network. This means you can continue calling your US contacts as if you are still in the US in terms of the effect on your plan.
If you unlock the phone & put a CR SIM card in, you are no longer on the T-Mobile network. The WiFi calling app is still there, but it will tell you “Invalid SIM” if you try to actually use the WiFi calling.
Hope this helps – I have both an unlocked T-Mobile phone with a Kolbi SIM in it as well as an under contract T-Mobile phone with a US SIM in it using WiFi calling (for my US-based business).
Jessica
I have neighbors who use VRBO to advertise their properties as vacation rentals. I think there are some safety features built into booking through VRBO. Some people will only have a nightly or weekly rental rate but you can contact them to negotiate longer term if they’re interested. I have some neighbors who prefer short term, others who will only rent long term. Just keep in mind that electricity costs are very high for anything with AC so long term rentals will almost always have you pay your utilities separately from the rent payment.
Good luck!
Jessica$175 is what American Airlines charges us to fly our dog as checked baggage. It is $125 for our cat to fly as a carry-on item. I’m wondering if they’re confusing the airline charge with an exit tax, though that would be paid at the check-in counter & not at the exit tax counter. We’ve never paid anything to leave CR with our animals besides the normal paperwork fees the vet handles for us, but we haven’t left CR with our animals in over a year so maybe something has changed????
Jessica
We brought a small flat screen through SJO last month. Customs pulled my husband aside & stamped his passport for the value. It is the first time that has been done in the last 7 years of bringing in things, so not a bad record!
Jessica
“Obviously very bad placement, very bad design and very bad implementation!”
I actually don’t think it is any of the above because it wasn’t always a problem. There is a small estuary that runs through our neighborhood. On the property behind us, the owners messed around with heavy equipment, ultimately toppling the digger INTO the estuary, & managed to cause once dry areas to now overflow during the rainy season. A call to MINAE stopped their nonsense but the result is that this particular private pool is often the color of chocolate milk after a really hard rain.
Jessica
We have two different pools in my neighborhood (at the beach in the Central Pacific). One is concrete but built above ground, the other is concrete but built below ground. The above ground one overflows during rainy season but is much more easily maintained than the inground one. The inground one is often chocolate colored during rainy season because of the mud that is able to flow into it when it is raining hard.
Jessica
I found the article in La Nacion that confirmed the corporate tax is due by 01/31/2013.
I think the January 15 deadline is for the luxury home tax & perhaps that is the source of confusion for AM Costa Rica??? I don’t recall AM Costa Rica publishing a correction, though, so I think there are potentially many expats who still think the corporate tax is due by the 15th.
Jessica
I just read the AM CR article & I also didn’t expect to have to pay this by 1/15. I think we will also just pay it by the due date so we don’t have to worry about it.
Jessica
We celebrate the US Mother’s Day as well as the CR Mother’s Day (heck, I deserve it!).
We tend to go back to the States from Thanksgiving through Xmas so our children can spend the holidays with the extended family. We have spent Thanksgiving/Xmas in CR & kept with our normal family tradition. We do not celebrate the commercial aspects of these holidays, so it is important that we instill some of these traditions in our kids (along with celebrating CR holidays).
Jessica
