We Now Have Permanent Residency in Costa Rica

Just over a year ago, we finally applied for permanent residency status. We could have done it after living here for three years with legal residency - either pensionado, rentista or investor. We had pensionado status. We were just lazy in getting it started.

As is our custom, we always use a lawyer for anything relating to our residency and we have always used Romulo Pacheco at the Association of Residents of Costa Rica (ARCR). It was very easy - we initially met with Romulo, signed some documents, paid all the necessary fees then went home and let his staff deal with everything. Just over a year later, we were contacted by ARCR -  both of us had been approved. An appointment was set up to meet with one of the legal staff and he took us to the main post office in San José. This is where the last of the processing was completed. A small fee paid for the actual cedulas (ID cards), stamping of documents, photos taken and so on and we were done!

On April 27 of this year, we picked up our new cards.

Why have permanent residency? Here are some reasons:

•  you only have to be in Costa Rica one day a year to maintain this residency
•  you can now work in Costa Rica
•  you can own a company and receive income from it 
•  renewing your status is easy compared to renewing temporary status (not as much paperwork involved and not as expensive)

But I think the best reason is that it demonstrates a commitment to this country that so graciously permits us to live here.

Our Third Day

Another amazing day, starting of course with the delicious buffet breakfast at our hotel. We were up early because we had an appointment with our lawyer, Rómulo Pacheco Sibaja. He is handling our pensionado application and we were so impressed with the service he offers.


Took a cab to his office and were met by one of his assistants who drove us to Interpol to be fingerprinted. One thing that has blown me away about San Jose is the level of entreprenerial spirit that exists here. We needed to have passport sized photos taken and this was done by a fellow with a camera outside a church. We stood against the church wall, he took our photos, then we went around the corner of the church where he settled down on his large paint bucket and printed our photos off his really small printer that was also sitting on a paint bucket. I think our cost was two bucks U.S. He even trimmed the edges and put them in plastic holders.


Then we lined up to get through the Interpol gates - lots of police - Lance got the "magic wand" experience but I got two winks from one of the guards. We eventually entered and stood in another line....sat actually, because they did provide chairs outside. Everyone is so polite. Our personal assistant helped us all the way - even tho he did not speak much English and our Spanish is non-existent - a lot can be understood with hand waving and pointing.


Had the fingerprinting done and entering of information into a computer and that was it. I'm not sure if we were actually at an Interpol compound - it was definitely a large police station - and maybe the information gathered plus the fingerprints is sent to Interpol.


All that is left for us to do is go to the Canadian Embassy on Monday, get one last piece of paper and register there, pay some government fees, take the paper back to Romulo and that is that. Now we wait for our official pensionado status, could take up to a year, but we do not have to leave the country in 90 days like the tourists.


Last night we ate at a soda (a neighborhood restaurant) - this one was the Soda Isabel just a block or so from our hotel. They are everywhere, ma and pop operations, could be a tiny hole in the wall or a bigger place. These are the places to go for inexpensive home cooking. The portions are enormous. We had plates of fried chicken, rice and beans, vegetables, coke and a beer each and we couldn't finish half of what we were given. Total cost: 11,660 colones, or about $23 Cdn. 


It was my turn to go into a bank yesterday and change U.S. dollars into colones using my limited Spanish. I managed to say "dinero a colones, por favor" but forgot "quiero cambiar" (I'd like to change). Oh well, the effort is always appreciated and it's the only way to learn.


We're taking a lot of cabs around the city - so inexpensive. You have to keep a sharp eye out when walking on the sidewalks because of the deep gutters, broken and uneven pavement, unexpected holes ... real easy to trip and break something.

Police Reports

Yippee! Two weeks ago we went and got our RCMP police reports - a requirement for pensionado status. It's painless and fast - fingerprinting, photo, pay the fee and the following week the reports arrive. That's assuming you haven't been naughty in your past and it has now caught up with you.

In the Lower Mainland of B.C., we use Commissionaires Canada and their office is in Surrey.

As far as Immigration in Costa Rica is concerned, these police reports have a life span of six months and no more so this is the document that you leave until the last. I then scanned our police reports, birth certificates and marriage certificate and e-mailed them to Antonio Arreaga-Valdes, the Consulado General de Costa Rica in North Vancouver. He is looking them over and if all seems okay, he'll prepare a letter that we need and we'll then bring the original documents to him for his stamp of approval.

Then I'll be heaving a big sigh of relief - because then I can make our airline reservations and we'll be on our way. The original approved documents come with us and we will give them to our Costa Rican lawyer when we arrive there.

So I'm hoping to hear soon that we can go and meet with the very helpful and charming Consulado General de Costa Rica.

One of the most sensible things we did during this process was to get ourselves a Costa Rican lawyer. We are using Romulo Pacheco. Originally I thought I could do all the process myself but I came to realize I could not - so don't waste your time trying to do this. 

Canadian Pensionados - According To Me

Here is how you get to Costa Rica as a pensionado, which is the way we are doing it. Other types of residency are rentista (earning residents), representante (company visa) and inversionista (investor resident).

Pensionado residency requires proof of US$1000 per month from a permanent pension source or retirement fund. Combined pensions from one individual qualifies but you cannot combine pensions from two people in order to meet the US$1000 a month.  This new income amount became effective in March of this year. You must remain in Costa Rica for at least 122 days per year. A pensionado can claim their spouse and children under 18 as dependents. You cannot work as an employee but you can own a company and receive income. You must exchange $1000 per month within a Costa Rican bank. This residency is renewable every year and you must enrol in the local government medical system. Also, a US$300 guarantee deposit per person is required for all types of residency. After three years of pensionado status, you may then apply for permanent residency if that is what you want.

So that part is pretty straightforward - you either meet the requirements or you don't. What confounded me initially was figuring what documents were required, the time line, and what to do with them. You want to work backward - when do you want to be entering Costa Rica?

You need the following documents:

1. Birth certificate - long form - required for applicant, spouse and all dependent children.

2. Marriage certificate (if spouse wishes residency). Proof of divorce is not needed.

3. Income certificate - Proof of pension of at least US$1000/month stating that it is for life and that it will be paid in Costa Rica.

4. Police certificate of conduct/record from your last place of residence. Required for applicant, spouse and any children age 18 to 25.  This document has a lifespan of only 6 months for the purposes of the pensionado application. Ours are going to expire before we get to Costa Rica so we are going to have to get new ones again. I was a bit too eager with this process in the beginning! You want to leave this document for the last.

The birth and marriage certificates cannot be the ones issued when you were born/married - more recent versions are required. You get them from the province in which you were born/married. The cost is reasonable and the service is fast. I did it all on line.

So I had all these documents in hand earlier this summer and went to see the Costa Rican Consulate in North Vancouver because I had it in mind we could do our application through him. Well, you can but I found out you will still need a lawyer in Costa Rica to deal with Immigration there so you may as well just take all your paperwork with you to Costa Rica, give it to your lawyer and he will look after everything....which is what we are doing now. Your documents will still need to be "consularized" by the Costa Rican Consul in the country where the documents were issued. So we will do that before leaving Canada. We will meet with our lawyer shortly after arrival in CR and he will take us by the hands and lead us through the process (including getting drivers' licences). So much easier than trying to do it all myself...plus I don't speak the language! (yet).

I hope I haven't muddied the waters too much. When we started this process, there didn't seem to be any cut and dried instructions for Canadians written anywhere - it's been trial and error.

We were confused ....

... but now I think we are not, maybe, I hope. Regarding our pensionado documentation, I originally thought we would have all our paperwork done by the Costa Rican Consulate in North Vancouver. But, part of that paperwork required that we have a lawyer in Costa Rica to advise us. So we now have our CR lawyer and he has looked over all our documents and pronounced them to be okay and advises us that all we have to do now is have them certified by the Consulate in N. Vcr. and then send the certified documents to him and he will deal with Immigration in CR. When we arrive there sometime in May, our lawyer will take us around and about to be fingerprinted, get driver's licenses, etc.

As marido pointed out twice today, WE ONLY HAVE SIX MONTHS!!!!!!  Yes, that is so.  Well, this last week I've found a lovely woman to take all my orchids - I cannot bring them with us because of agricultural restrictions - so that is a step forward. Next step: putting our furniture on CraigsList.

July 31, 2010

We have almost all the required paperwork in hand to start the process of moving to Costa Rica as pensionados. Just waiting for one letter from my pension people and then we can go to the Costa Rican Consulate in N. Vancouver, dump everything in his lap and hope it all works out.

I'd like to be doing that by late next week. We shall see if the "theory of manana" applies.