I Might Move To Costa Rica - Questions

Never ever been to Mexico - yet, - but never noticed garbage much in CR. The place is at least 25% national parks and the majority of the rest of the country is highly eco-orientated, so garbage would not go down well

Mmmm... San Jose will have some crap around, but noticed they clean up the street markets nightly etc. and the streets are cleaned regularly where we are. But... ya gotta call the mayor to repair the roads sometimes

post more about CR pls ;)

I really appreciate you taking the time out to write that info. CR is looking like a real possibility now. I've been researching quite a lot and these insider posts are a massive help. I really like your method of dealing with immigration too. I'd be very comfortable doing it that way. Malta is much the same. You can hand in your papers and it'll be 3 years before they're looked at, if not lost in the meantime. You've also clarified taxation for me too - which is, obviously, a major incentive.

This is turning into a great post for anyone else wanting to move to CR.

If indeed we go ahead with it (distinct possibility in the next 6 months) I'll document whatever I think might be helpful.

Hi Rui! How you doing? Getting the wanderlust?

Fire a message thru when you have a moment - can fill you in on this stuff.

Completly mate

Not on the scale its being discussed here though (moving "for ever") and well I'm also a poor and modest guy so wouldn't go for the "million-dollar condos" and lifestyle either

No problemo Kristian.

Yup - can imagine what the Immigration Department is like in Malta, tho a few years since I was there last. Oops, the cleaner knocked over the filing cabinet and spilt bleach over all the docs - so, we throw all the docs into the trash

With UK nationality, you are in a good position to maximize the benefits re taxation/offshore on this side of the Atlantic - and it is really very simple in comparison to jurisdictions in the EU and Med areas. The legalities are clean-cut and can be totally transparent (ie legal and nothing to hide).

Another advantage which I kinda like after having spent years form-filling, is that there "can" be no forms to fill and no filings of annual accounts/data - saves so much time.

Can only give as a clue, but think on three areas/jurisdictions when doing biz here....

First is your "playground". This is the country where you elect to live. This should have no or minimum tax levels to kill personal taxation. Panama, Costa Rica and a number of other countries in that region have a regional based taxation - ie. in that they do not have applicable taxes on funds earned outside these countries.

Second is the jurisdiction where your elect to conduct biz - ie the corp jurisdiction. There should be no taxation within this area and a provision must exist for total flexibility in corp management and with no, or minimum, filings. By it's nature, this is usually an offshore area.

The third jurisdiction is where your corp has banking facilities (may be more than one). This should be a stable jurisdiction and have banking laws providing confidentiality blah.

All of these options are available from a number of countries with the Caribbean and Latin American region. In addition, if you already have a structure set up in eg Malta, Gib or Cyprus, - only my , but would be inclined to keep that and possibly have it owned by a parent offshore on this side of the Atlantic. (All "tools" have their benefits and the parent company can legitimately wipe any taxation which may arise in it's child company.)

On CR (and applies to several Latin American areas) - one thing to avoid is anything to do with the government or justice system. Governments are usually bogged down in red tape/inefficiency and it's an obstacle course to get things done. The justice systems are normally very good, but very pedantic and evidence needs to be totally clear and have no leeway for dispute. Example, an issue which may be resolved in 90 days or less could take four years or more - so it's worth working very closely with lawyers if you are considering investment in CR. (Buying a home etc, is no biggie, but anything more than that needs sustained legal attention.) The flip side is that this can be very profitable and the country itself offers much more than the downside elements.

Bumped and Bookmarked.

Visited Mexico but I don't think I'd want to live there because of the aforementioned issue. Costa Rica is probably where I will drop by next time on vacation in South/Central America.

Costa Rica would be great except it's populated by Costa Ricans and they're useless.

If you're considering costa rica, you should definitely check out Panama too. Hit me for info. I looked at both hard before I chose Panama a couple years ago and there's more and more of us here now. This country has it's ups and downs, very similar stuff to CR...but a lot more ups than CR has too and not as many of the hard downs.

the mexican Riviera Maya is way better than CR, IMHO.

What do you do about banking? Cash checks at a CR bank or have someone deposit for you back in Van?

I have never been to Panama, but is it true they will issue anyone a Panamanian passport for investing X amount of dollars there? I read somewhere it was 250k, but all of that just may be bogus info.

bump for a good thread

costa rica rocks!

I've been drowning in work so neglected my responses in this thread. Panama too is a possible and thank you for the offer for assistance! It seems that entering panama if you have a company / govt pension is easy (though I don't have either.

From expat focus :

Residency in Panama is very easy to obtain when compared to most other countries. There is even special legislation for 'pensioners', who can qualify for residency with a guaranteed pension income of $500 per month ($600 for a couple). You don't necessarily have to be an elderly person either, since anyone over 18 can qualify. However, it must be a pension from a recognized source: for example a government agency (e.g. Social Security, disability, armed forces, etc.) or if it is a company pension, it must be a defined-benefit pension.

Added March 2007 by Brian:
Regarding pensionista visa in Panama, I believe the law has changed that you must now be of pensionable age, not just 18+.
See http://www.lawyers-abogados.net/, specifically: http://www.lawyers-abogados.net/en/S...isa-change.htm

If you don't have a fixed pension, but you do have capital, you might consider investing in real estate. If you invest $200,000 or more in any kind of real estate, you can automatically receive an investor residency that allows you to live in Panama legally. There are other possible programs, such as "reforestation" and "small business investor", depending on your personal objectives once you are living in Panama.

As of right now I'm open to suggestions - which is the wonderful thing about working online. I've heard more about CR so right now that's my top choice but hell I have time to investigate further.

Thanks for all the useful posts and offers of help.

so how does health care work in cr?

Yeah Panama seems to have tightened their immigration a bit this year while CR seems to be a bit more lax from what I have read.

I have CR accounts, they really don't like dealing with US checks though, but I try to avoid checks as much as possible. I get half my income wire and half epassporte, and checks I deposit in a US account whenever I'm there (every 2 months really).

I cut ties with all Canadian banks a year before I moved

The imigrations laws have been enforced here in Panama due to Colombians entering whenever they want and ruining our country. Not to talk shit about them, I know not all Colombians are drug dealers or scammers or so, but most of them are.
Panama is a great option Kristian, Give it a try!!

I think I miss the 1 good thing of Colombians entering Panama..... the prostitutes! LOL gorgeous girls!!!!

Just let me get my passport!

As a Canadian ex-pat who has lived in Vancouver, let me tell you that it is far from the nicest, cleanest city in the world. In fact there are parts of the downtown core that I would consider to be among the most dangerous and dirtiest areas in the world. Granted you can avoid these areas quite easily, Vancouver unfortunately is the hub of vagrant activity in Canada. Due to the milder (and I use this term loosely as it is cold and rainy for most of the year) climate, Vancouver attracts the homeless from across Canada, particularly drug addicts due to lax enforcement. Of course there are beautiful parts of Vancouver and British Columbia in general but it is not even close to the 'nicest, cleanest city in the world'.

As far as Costa Rica goes, I happen to be a permanent resident (who has the same legal rights as a citizen, minus voting) and while it is true that you can most likely get by without official status, I have been reading about recent enforcement actions against ex-pats who have been running active business on a tourist visa. Not that it happens everyday, but if somebody does not like you and makes a complaint it is not entirely impossible that you will become the subject of an investigation. It is not a place you would want to spend time in an immigration lockup. Anywhere you go in the world it is possible to live as a 'webmaster' without legal status, I suppose that Costa Rica is no different.

Healthcare in CR is very good and has been on par with the US for a fair number of years now. The difference is the cost - a quick example...

The cost for a family of four seems to be around $250/year - this includes *all* healthcare - dentistry blah. There are also private clinics and it's the same docs in both - they may devote half a day to each.

There is also a growing market for "surgical vacations" where people from other countries (and a fair number from the US) come here to have ops - some of these are major, like bypass heart surgery, some trivia like tit lifts etc. The difference in cost varies, but generally around 25% - 33% of the cost of the same op in the US.

Only been near a hospital once here - and care/service was excellent.

Dude, cablemodem sucks! Don't use that crap!

If anyone needs some info about Costa Rica HitmeUp! A nice place to live, work.. and have fun!

Lots of good infos....

You claim to be in Costa Rica, but you don't realize that DSL is not available for up to six months in areas, and not available at all in others?

thank you! i did not realize that it works that well there, i always figured if i moved to cr one day like i want, i would have to fly back to the states for any kind of serious illness/surgery

Na.. got a good few US expat friends here and some of them had a need for healthcare here and all of these in-patients so far have rated the healthcare system highly.

One recent problem was an elderly lady who had a heart attack. This is a very shrewed and "aware" lady (she does paralegal type work for us in the Napoleonic law legal system here) and she was stunned at the level of sustained healthcare she received and reckoned she could not have got better healthcare anywhere.

But.. things always can go wrong, tho that's the same anywhere

Hmm, pretty useful thread. Thanks guys!

I think this thread is appropriate to let you know the Costa Rica Bash registration page is open now! Come and register, it's free right now!

If you are trying to register from Costa Rica you won't be able to. Use a proxy or hit me up.

Oh and Kristian, my pleasure on the info and thanks for those who added more detail. I seem to have lost this thread but saw it again today

Interesting information. I have been going through the same process of trying to decide on a place to live.

To the OP, since you have an EU passport, have you considered Cyprus at all?

Right now, I am looking at some of the Caribbean Islands like St Martin or even the Mexican Riviera around Playa Del Carmen.

healthcare here is awesome. especially at CIMA hospital ... part of the Baylor hospital in the states. very high standards, and it's all pretty cheap. last time i was in there was for a mountain bike accident - torn abdominal wall, nothing huge. there was no wait time for me, i got in and out in about 30 minutes total. so, emergency room visit, bloodwork, xray, and all medicine, totalled out at 50,000 colones, which is bout 96-97 bucks

No - by far not as bad - though of course not as clean as most of Europe...

Two things which annoy me about Costa Rica:

1. the terrible roads, particularly the constant change between smooth (almost new) surface and deep pothole craters...
Joke:
In Europe or the US you get pulled over for zig-zagging along the road, because most likely you're a drunk driver. In Costa Rica only the drunks drive in straight lines. (All others zig-zag to avoid the worst potholes.)

2. the very long rain season, which can last up to 7-8 months per year, so you'll get only 4-5 months worth of any unspoilt outdoor-activities...

I'm currently in CR, love the people in general, despite their lazyness (compared with lets-say Mexico), but to move here permanently: NO!

To me the prices are too high, and I'm not only talking real estate, also daily shopping at a supermarket, vehicles, utilities like power & water, etc.
O.k. - prices are not high compared with the US or Europe (other than $s for cars), but if you look at the infrastructure (or lack of it) and what you have to pay for a decent plot of land. And I'm not talking about the inflated prices some expat-owned developers or agencies are asking, I'm talking about the "local" market... [expats often ask around $40-100 p.squaremeter of land, the local rate might be $3-15/sqm]
Then you buy in some out-of-the-way tranquil setting and ruin on those terrible roads your expensive car every 2 years just to reach the next decently stocked supermarket - and 5 years down the track (or only 3 yrs) a big corporation moves in and develops the block next to you. O.k. - you can then sell with a good profit, but you'll have to move again...

Pura Vida!