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Dave’s right. We just made a mad dash to CR last week to get my husband fingerprinted before my immigration hearing on May 11. Without them, no application is complete and don’t count on anything being grandfathered in.
I bought property on my first trip to Costa Rica. My house is now finished and it was the best thing I’ve ever done. It might be the wrong thing for most people, but there are some of us who know intuitively when we’ve found the place we want to live.
I’m deliberating what to do with all my jewelry, too. Inherited some nice things from my mom, and have a lot of 24 carat gold rings and necklaces, but I sure as hell ain’t gonna wear them in CR, nor am I going to stash them in my house. These things become a real liability in a place like CR. The last thing you want is the perception that you are a rich gringo. You’ll be robbed faster than you can say “help”! My bank in CR doesn’t have safety deposit boxes, so I’ll probably find another bank that does and open an account. I hate to sell the stuff, but what good is it if I can’t wear it?
Probably. Dual citizenship doesn’t negate your responsibility to King George, but be sure to check with an international accountant on this but as long as you are a US citizen, even if you have CR citizenship, I don’t think you’re off the hook. Oh, if it were only that easy. . . .
Stomach cancer rates in Costa Rica are second after Japan which has the highest. Things implicated in these numbers are (not in any particular order): sugar, H.Pylori, smoking, alcohol, and. . . pesticide use. I think it only makes sense to check out what is above you and up the road from you. With the rain comes the run-off, and even if you are not using Zyklon-B, your neighbor might be and certainly the big agribiz up the road from you is using it. And then I think it is also prudent to see what used to be grown there — United Fruit was growing bananas in that area and bananas are one of the sprayed crops, next to coffee. How many years does it take for the land to NOT be contaminated by pesticide usage?
I’ll need a job too; that’s why I’m thinking of an enterprise for which I can charge admission! As for the mini-cows, we’ve had a lot of banter about it with other neighbors. My immeidate neighbor has a half acre lot, so between the two of us, we could theoretically have those two vacas! Then I could milk them and make miniature cheeze. My dog is 20 pounds, half Dachshund and half Scottish terrier. Woe be to the person who tries to walk off with a cow, or sheep, or even a chicken! But he’s 12 now, so he likes to sleep through the night, so maybe we could put YOUR dog on the night shift and let mine take care of the daytime shift. LOL
We, too, have applied for residency before our final move. In fact, we have to be in San Jose next Wednesday so my husband can be fingerprinted and sign his application for residency. I did this all on my last trip in March, so I now have my stamp on my application which means I did not have to leave Costa Rica; but I had to come home to finish packing and selling our house. I used the http://www.ResidenceinCostaRica.com service and I am very happy with how they handled the whole process.
The big monoculture farms use LOTS of pesticides because of the snakes and with the rain there is always run-off, and where does that go? On my first trip to Costa Rica, I went with a girlfriend who had done some research on the beach area, the estuaries, the rivers, and the plantations, and she concluded that there was lots of pesticides being used that could potentially filter into the water supply. Does anyone know where the water comes from down there? Is it a well? Is it far above and away from the plantations? Even the little farmer uses pesticides. My gardener walks around with a big cannister of some kind of Zyklon-B preparation, but he is forbidden to use it on my property or anywhere near my property because I want to be strictly organic. They can use pesticides that the US outlawed, so it’s something to consider.
I’ve always wondered about the pesticide use on the monoculture crops that are grown in Parrita. I’ve heard that they use lots of pesticides to kill the snakes. For me personally, I would never want to live where there was that kind of agriculture that may pollute the water supply, especially if you are down river from it. Has anyone ever investigated what kind of pesticides are used in that area?
But isn’t Tabacon’s hot springs actually in a river so at least the water would be flowing! LOL I thought I saw on Baldi’s website that they had a bar in the pool. Not sure that’s such a good idea!
So I should charge $35,000 for admission and if you don’t like my Franken Farm, I’ll give you your money back in 60 days?
You cannot just apply for residency while you are on vacation. It’s a long process and many forms to fill out plus you will need documents that have been both notarized and apostilled by the Secretary of State in which they were issued, then they have to be stamped by the Costa Rica Consulate in the States, translated into Spanish, and you will need to go to the Embassy in San Jose to get a letter stating your benefits that will qualify you for, say, pensionado status. The entire process will take 3 – 6 months and you will have to appear in Costa Rica to do some things such as being fingerprinted by Interpol, signing your residency application, then appearing before immigration — so count on at least 3 separate trips to CR to get the process done and once you’ve got it you will have to spend 4 months out of 12 in Costa Rica.
With the price of oil being what it is, I won’t be able to afford to fill up my gas tank AND feed full-size barnyard animals, so having a Franken-farm is the only way I can do it! I’ve already found a farm that sells miniature cows — they are 42″ high and weigh only 500 pounds and produce the same amount of milk as a full-sized bovine. They cost $1600 a piece and you can graze two to an acre. How much do you think I could charge as an entrance fee to see my freakish animals?
I’m Welsh, and yes, if I could get one, I’d love a miniature sheep. One of those black ones that graze on the hills and dales of West Glamorgan! If it’s small enough I could dress them all up in MY clothes — think Hanes would look good on a cow? What’s next — a miniature pig? You’ll come to visit me and I’ll have an entire pasture full of little tiny farm animals! Then they’ll take me away haha heehee hoho!
