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[quote=”grb1063″]
Zamora also said that he was in error when he told a reporter that rules would be changing for the so-called perpetual tourists. A.M. Costa Rica reported the incorrect information Feb. 19 and attributed it to Zamora.
[/quote]
As far as I’m concerned anything that anyone, including Zamora, says about the new law is merely personal interpretation. You won’t know tha legal status of any particular part of the law until, and if, it is decided in the courts.
If you do gain residency under any part of the law that is then challenged and deemed incorrect I doubt that they will come back and tell you they were incorrect.[quote=”rocknrob”]Thank-you for all the info.We will be planning a trip later this year. Went a couple of years ago for a vacation and loved it.As for the airport info here is some info I found. Whether it’s true or not. The new Palma Sur International Airport is scheduled for operation in 2010 (it will be
the largest in Central America). It will be about a forty?five minute drive south from Dominical,
all on a very smooth, paved road. The airport has been in the works for a couple years now, but
very recently, a significant amount of necessary funding was received and the project is moving
forward.[/quote]Better check the date on that report. Might have been written in….1950? [b][u]NOTHING[/u][/b] happens quickly in Costa Rica.
[quote=”Scott”]According to la Nacion today there is a c117,000 fine (about US$215) for anyone using “polarizado en el parabrisas delentero o tradero de los carros.”
So front and back tinted windows are NOT allowed but it did not say anything about side windows…
Scott[/quote]
The reason for not tinting windows front and back in the States has to do with law enforcement. For police officers it is necessary that the occupants of a vehicle are visible for their safety. I’m not sure if the thinking is the same in Costa Rica.
For drivers behind these vehicles there is also the issue of blocking the view of traffic ahead. Commercial trucks are a necessary evil but tinting windows front and back is unnecessary unless you are hiding something.
I always wonder what goes on inside such vehicles that necessitates such privacy
[quote=”waggoner41″]Sounds like time to be moving on.
I have more interest in doing something constructive.[/quote]
I think most of you know that the part about moving on is rhetorical but doing something constructive is on the minds of many of us.
I think many of us didn’t really have a chance to pay back society for a comfortable life but Costa Rica offers an opportunity in an environment that we do appreciate.[quote=”dmarcelop”]I think it’s about to catch on. I hear that C.R. is realizing the benefits of catering to the huge aging US baby boomers.[/quote]
Sounds like time to be moving on. I didn’t come to Costa Rica to exist American style in a gated and walled in codo complex and I don’t care for the typical Yuppie games.
I have more interest in doing something constructive.
[quote=”sueandchris”]I HOPE I can develop a good well of patience and just accept and adapt to the new cultural requirements.
THX![/quote]
I doubt that there is anyone here who has not made mistakes in their move and initial year or two here. I made more than my share.I got mixed up with a “broker” who was not quite crooked but severely bent. The initial attorneys came at his recommendation when I still trusted him. The attorneys were not interested in protecting my interests when they wrote the contract and gave me no advice. The seller tried for 3 months to get me to close on the property with a lien against it and was angry when I would not resulting in her actions.
The one person in the transaction who turned out to be the most help to us, believe it or not, was the agent who represented the seller.
You are preparing yourself much more than I did but I have no doubt that you will have problems with aspects of your move that you did not and could not have prepared for. They will not be as large as what we went through
The keys for us were getting good advice from this forum and our friendship with the Tico family. I am still surprised by Ticos who I don’t know greeting me by name. I have found the vast majority of Ticos to be friendly, helpful and caring. It is the few who look on Americans as an unlimited source of wealth that we are now capable of avoiding doing business with. The neighbors are a source of who is best at doing what locally and if there is anything to be negotiated Marcos or Hannia is always involved.
Have your attorney provide you with a copy of the current wage structure here. That will help you greatly.
[quote=”sueandchris”]Waggoner41: Could you give a little more details on the nightmares you experienced in your first year? Your experiences would be edifying for newcomers![/quote]
To start with I am, or was, a type “A” Leo. My problems stemmed from the fact that I expect everything to go well or be given a reason that it doesn’t. To date I have been given no idea why the following has occurred but I have learned that things must be done their way.Allen Dickinson just wrote a good article in El Residente regarding the issues that affected me.
Basically it is a new ball game in the way you think.
When Americans set out to accomplish something if we run into a problem we resolve it on the fly. What Dickinson refers to as being [b]results oriented[/b].
The Hispanic world tries to prevent anything from going wrong by trying to cover all the angles that could possibly present a problem. They are [b]process oriented[/b].
When you try to get anything done you have to have everything in the perfect order that they expect. This can include documents that you might think are irrelevant to whatever you are trying to accomplish.
[b]Item #1:[/b]
My wife and I presented our documents to Migracion and they were essentially identical. She obtained her residency and cedula last April.I am still on hold and the next step for me is waiting until April 29 before I can even inquire into the status of my file.
I have been rejected twice by the “Tecnicos” who do the review and the file has been sent to the office of the director of Migracion now a second time.
Each time the director’s office rejects the rejection and sends the file back down for another review and that review will be done by yet another “Tecnico”.
There seems to be either no written rules regarding what they are looking for or, when they run into something that looks to be an issue they stop the review and reject the file.
When you come to Costa Rica, bring your patience with you.
[b]Item #2:[/b]
In addition when you come to a new country you are not quite sure how the laws work.We bought a property here and our first attorney quit working on the purchase of our property and our residency without telling us. Each time I called I was given a different reason why there was no progress. It was three months before I finally realized they didn’t intend to complete their work.
Our second attorney informed us that there were major problems and a lawsuit had been pressed against the property as a result of actions by the seller. The [b]facts[/b] he gave us were blown entirely out of proportion and he claimed that we would find that he was our [b]savior[/b] in Costa Rica. We finally gave up on him when communication became sporadic and we found that he was spending most of his time at the beaches.
As a result of inquiries to this forum I was put in touch with a very good advisor and a very good attorney who settled the property issue within two weeks.
[b]Item #3:[/b]
When we finally closed on the property after a six month delay we could not get into the property before the closing to inspect the property and found afterward that the seller had taken everything that was not nailed down kitchen cabinets, breakfast bar, mirrors in the baths and even some of the electrical breakers in the home. They cut coaxial cable in removing TVs, broke the water supply line to the house and even took the porton which was concreted into the ground.In the end everything cost us over $30,000 more than we expected but we have our home mortgage free and are happy with it.
Maravilla essentially called me an idiot when I first posted on this forum inquiring about the people I was dealing with and she was right.
There are two things that I did do right.
[b]First[/b]
We took some very good advice of a member of this forum and ended up with a very good advisor and attorney.[b]Second[/b]
We had the services of a young Tica at the B&B where we were staying when we first arrived. My wife was very sick and the young lady was extremely solicitous in caring for her. Since she was working only part time I asked her to come to our home two or three times a week to help my wife keep up the home. When we got to know her and her family we found that they were living on the edge financially and ended up asking them to come live with us. Our home is large and we easily accommodated them. They live here rent free and we guarantee all educational expenses for their children. Otherwise the man of the family supports them. When we need anything they get it for us at Tico prices rather than the American prices that can be three times as much. They find the gardeners, construction workers, household items, trees for the property, everything. They have provided introductions to the neighbors and we have become a part of the Tico community. The neighbors have been friendly and helpful and we exchange ideas and labor.Now that I have learned to be patient with the system and we have friends who help and guide us we are extremely happy with our move.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]”mortgage”[/quote]
Now why didn’t I think of that?In saying the following I do not knock anyones method of acquiring what is necessary to live the life we live here in Costa Rica. Those of us who are here to enjoy the people and the country, most of us on these foruns, are far different from those who come to take advantage of a poor country and its people with pockets full of cash.
1 – With the financial situation in the world today and little knowledge of the banking or legal systema in Costa Rica.:?
2 – Stories of bank accounts coming up missing cash leaves little faith that any type of transaction handled by the banking system in Costa Rica would be safe.:(
3 – Having two “highly recommended” abogados prove to be corrupt or incompetent with little regard for their clients.
I would have preferred that my old and staid financial institution in the States handle a financial transaction for me but, of course, we all know that they will not for the reasons above.
I do now have an abogado whom I consider to be among the best that Costa Rica has to offer and I would expect that anyone considering buying my property will do as I did.
Come to me with the cash in hand. If you have to arrange a mortgage do so. There will be no papers signed nor agreement made without the cash, in dollars, on the table. No chacks or notes and no good intentions or promises.
Being made wary in your elder years has both good and bad attached to it. I would rather have total faith in my fellow man as I was raised to do but I have seen too many folks with pockets full of screws ready to stick you with them. It is a crappy outlook but necessitated by the few who have little moral merit.
[quote=”davek”] I am very jealous of those of you that are living your dream in the most beautiful place on earth.[/quote]
The dream can become a nightmare as it did for me for the first year.
What I didn’t count on is the difference in the way the Hispanic mind thinks.
Good article in El Residente explains the difference. Gringos focus on results and anything that goes wrong is dealt with on the fly. Here the focus is on the process in an attempt to prevent anything going wrong. This difference drove me nuts until I learned to kick back, do what they ask and relax.
Now, even though I face the same type of issues, it is Pura Vida.[quote=”spraytherm”]Thought we’d found a good honest Tico Architect/Builder
Well, alas, it was not to be so. (perhaps those subject words are oxymoronic in CR)[/quote]
Oxymoronic as honest abogado.Sounds like the typical Tico taking advantage of the Gringo Rico.
If it weren’t for Tico friends I’d be minus Scotts proverbial camisa. With a lot of Ticos you try to deal with, the minute you open your mouth you’re in trouble.
[quote=”CALADANA”]BTW gallo pinto has become a staple, our kids LOVE it.
[/quote]
CALADANA, Please pass the gallo pinto.[quote=”but999″]Does anyone know how long it should take to aquire a resident card once all the documents have been submitted.[/quote]
#1 – Are you sure that your attorney has submittrd the documents? Our first abogado dropped us like a rock and didn’t bother to tell us of the fact. If I hadn’t been doing follow-up 3 months later I wouldn’t have found out that the documents he was supposed to submit to Migracion never were.
#2 – I have talked to others who have been trying to get their residency for up to 6 years without success.
#3 – Being married to a Tica does not pull any weight apparently. A friend of ours, a Canadian married to a Tica for 14 years, has made several attempts and has had no success for the past 11 years and has given up trying.
#4 – Migracion now has an Office de Controloria, basically an ombudsmans office, in their facility. Go there and they will look into your file for you and let you know where you stand.[quote=”Scott”]You might ask our Recommended Realtor in Heredia.
Scott[/quote]
Do you have one of these in the Ciudad Colon area?[quote=”Jeanne”]What is holding me back is the fact that I do not speak the language…. but I am not willing to give up the ease of living in the States. I am uneasy when in a crowd of people and not understanding the language around me….In reading this forum, many bring the same wants from the States wishing to change those around them. I love the Ticos and would not want to change them. The ones I have met have been wonderful and thankfully spoke English.[/quote]
We came to visit Costa Rica in September 2006 and were so impressed with the people and the country we ended up signing a purchase contract for our home. We spoke no Spanish. We found that no matter where we went there was someone that would offer to help translate.
We returned when I retired in December 2007 to live permanently. We still spoke no Spanish but encountered the same situation.
I am now able to converse and be understood although my Spanish is “muy pobre” and I can kid the locals into admitting they have at least enough English that we can communicate.
There is one large difference between my wife and I and most Gringos – We have a sense of adventure.[quote=”tomstew1″]the only thing that turns me off is all of the theft issues. While my home is being remodeled I am actually PAYING a local family to live there; otherwise I wouldn’t have anything left.
TS[/quote]
I keep hearing about this theft issue but I haven’t seen it.I have stated in several responses that we live without bars and gates and experienced theft of some very cheap items when we first moved in but nothing since.
Our situation is somewhat different from most.
1 – We have a Tico family of nine living with us. The kids attand the local school and the mother is involved in their education. The locals have become familiar with who we are and, it seems, are protective of us.
2 – Shortly after moving in we started helping with the problem of dogs having to fend for themselves. We have four here currently and they are a great alert system when strangers are around. We try to find good homes for them but we will probably always have at least two around and Ticos are scared as hell of dogs.
