Versatile wrote:
Big difference in residency and citizenship. You can renounce and it won't hurt your citizenship in the USA. I think you must register but it is free and worth the time.
http://www.arcr.net/Read this.
http://forums.arcr.net/index.php?/forum ... nt-policy/Excellent info from those that have been there and done that.
I am a bit confused ! What is "free" and "you must register" for what????
If you are referring to "residency" in Costa Rica there is nothing free about it. If you are saying you must obtain residency, that is technically not correct thou Costa Rican migracion officials seem hell been to force all "perpetual" tourists to obtain residency or leave even though the law still does not say one cannot leave every 90 days and return. They are now (at the land crossings) refusing to give 90 days to people who are obviously (based on the stamps in ones passport) perpetual tourists. and they are warning these people that next time they try to enter they may be reviewed (with the threat of not being allowed to re-enter).
As for free-not at all free to obtain residency. It is a rather long drawn out process and at a very minimum cost several hundred dollars. There are several types, but the easiest, least complicated (besides marrying a Tico) is pensionado. You must fill an application with several documents (birth certificate, proof of $1000 + monthly income that is permanent (such as SS), police record from the FBI, etc. (all papers from the USA must be certified). Also you must be fingerprinted here (they check you out thru interpol), you must have a physical and join the caja, you must open an account with BCR and have your check directly deposited here. The cost of the application fee is $250, obtaining all the papers cost (fees and other expenses), and attorney fees if you use an attorney. The process takes several months to over a year depending on a lot of factors!!!
And by the way, ARCR is in my opinion one of the two worst Gringo ripoff operations in Costa Rica. I know there are some who will swear by them. Most of those just accepted everything they were told, paid the "double the price" cost and after over a year finally got their residency. In most cases they have no knowledge of what their other options were nor that they had to do almost as much of the leg work as a person doing it even without an attorney. Plus they had to pay for ARCR membership (one of the reasons it takes over a year is so they can ge the second year's membership out of everyone. Just as the second suggested link (an ARCR discussion form dealing with questions about the process) is worthless unless you are a paid member of ARCR (YOU cannot access and read any of the info)
After living here for 10 years I have just gone thru the process of obtaining residency. I did use an attorney (total cost of everything was less than half the ARCR price. Half the time of what it has taken for everyone I have ever talked to who used ARCR. And I had to do no more of the "legwork" than they had to do with ARCR. The main thing my attorney did do which made it worth his fee to me was he took all the papers to migracion in Uruca and he stood in line (sometimes for hours), and he made sure that everything was correct before taking it there. Time: about 6 months!!!
Just my opinion based on my experience in obtaining residency and that of several friends.
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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!