Kristian, here's my rundown after being here 4 years now.

Immigration

They really don't give white foreigners problems or care much in general unless you are causing trouble. They mostly have their immagration laws against the Nicas and Colombians who make up a large chunk of their 4 million population illegally and spread drugs, violence and crime. This is subject to change at any time though, but if you buy say a $200K house you can apply for residency (or invest $50K-100K but they have some rules on portions of the investment being for certain ecological reserves or stuff)

Culture

I'm definitely no fan of rice and beans and raggaeton, but that's what you will find here. Of course there are plenty enough bars, restaurants, hangouts that cater to foreigners (usually with increased prices though) so you never have to experience the local culture if you're not a fan.

People

This is my biggest problem with the country. The people are extremely lazy and are horrible in areas such as public service (bars, restaurants, taxis) sometimes to the point of retardation - even if you speak to them in fluent Spanish. They are also money-hungry for the most part, jumping to any job that will give them an extra buck or constantly trying to rip off tourists.

With all the recent TLC propoganda there has been a rise in hostility that I have noticed from Ticos against gringos; even though the majority don't even know what they are protesting.

In general though if you live on the beach, people are MUCH friendlier than in the city.

Real Estate

Still a booming business and you can invest cheaply here and still see returns of 100-300% within a year or two. I'd vote for buying land in the Liberia area where they are building the next international airport.

Amenities

Internet can be found almost everywhere but it does go down often, though usually for very short periods of time. Power outages are frequent too, especially when it rains. I have 4meg/sec and pay $100/mth but that includes their digital television too (which I really should downgrade since I have American satellite). Cellphones are available on TDMA or GSM networks but lines are sold out and released in small batches every 6 months or so; your best bet is buying an existing line from someone. Water + electricity + telephone are all dirt cheap though, which is nice.

If the TLC passes and foreign companies come here you might see a rise in quality of service, hopefully with not much cost rise, as right now those companies are all government owned monopolies.

Nature

This to me is the best part of the country. You have mountains, beaches, two oceans and a slew of outdoor activities to participate in. In this aspect the country is awesome.

Language

Since tourism is pretty much the big industry here, you'll find most everyone knows some English or broken english. Spanish is fairly easy to pickup too, so language really isn't an issue.

That's some general info from my experience living here the past 4 years, hope it helps. I definitely agree you should come here for 2-3 months to see for yourself. Finally, if you can make the dates work, you really should come to our Costa Rica Bash :)

Dude, you have to be one of the nicest guys I know in the industry. Thanks for taking the time out to make such an awesome post. I'm very keen on the idea of investing in land and property so I'll have a look at the area you've mentioned.

I would write more in response but it's gone 4am and I'm a little punchy. lol I really appreciate it though and all being well would LOVE to come to that bash.

Cheers :)

When the hell are we going rafting?!?!?!

honestly this is something I'm seriously considering...I just have to get the 15 year old through high school and onto college..and then bam...I'm doing it.

I'll be your neighbor

Would totally agree with Varius on this Kristian - a good summary :thumbsup

Only items prob worth expanding on are:

Avoid San Jose - it's a dump, but that probably applies to most cities. It's much better being 15 mins or so from the city or in the "real Costa Rica".

The people are very friendly and hospitable, but like most communities there are problem elements worth avoiding. Most people know who to avoid - they can be either nationals or immigrants - you can smell trouble at 100 yards. Apart from St. Maartin in the Caribbean, we have found the people to be among the most friendly and helpful yet encountered. LE is the same - a totally different attitude to cops in the UK or US - they are more friends than anything and no "attitude".

Immigration is a.... joke. The Immigration Department is up shit creek and clueless. You can elect to apply for residency and that's no big deal, but don't hold your breath waiting for your application to be processed - that can take years assuming they can find your paperwork. But... you can apply and leave the papers with them and this avoids the net to exit the country for 72 hours every three months - or, you can elect just to take a trip to Panama or somewhere local for 72 hours (min) every 90 days.

Real estate is a boom area and has been for around six years plus. We were expecting a dip in the real estate due to ripples in the US home market, but that has not happened and now appears unlikely to happen. People from other countries have taken up the possible slack and more "immigrants" are arriving from Canada and the EU. Real estate here can be priced in colonnes or dollars and there is an obviously a substantial advantage in currency exchange when people from the EU, UK and Canada buy here.

The pollution element is mainly around San Jose - the rest of the country is fine - where around 25% is apportioned to protected areas (national parks etc).

On taxation - there is no taxation on revenue generated elsewhere - eg net earnings, tho Costa Rica is not what would normally be known as an offshore area. There are taxes applicable on businesses resident within CR and catering to the local market (tho these are relatively low). Basically you can earn whatever from net activity and no forms, filings or taxation. A further extension of that if a real offshore is needed, (often used by nationals), is to have a corp in eg Panama and direct all revenue there.

I still remember when WEGCory and Brad Shaw told me Costa Rica was a 3rd world country like Ethiopia when I was looking at property there ;)

For what it's worth, someone in the biz looked pretty heavily in CR and ended up in Panama. Not that CR isn't great too - just a comment :)

It's definitely a third world country where everyone is starving and there are constant droughts Peaches, no healthcare and no education system :winkwink:

Seriously, both countries are very similar, but Panama probably has an edge from a business angle. Both Costa Rica and Panama have some of the best real estate prospects on the planet at this time - far, far above the general investment appreciation values of industrialized countries.

Tho it started before that time, we have seen capital investment appreciate 12-14 times over the last five years and 50% per annum is not uncommon. Not sure what basis Cory or Brad were talking about, but, to put it another way - dumping a million into eg CR six years ago would, - can say for certain that asset is worth around $15 million now.

It's hard to forecast the future, but there is no indication that this will change substantially over the next few years. It is now harder to locate potential investment areas at prices we are used to, but they do still exist.

I have a girlfriend from high school (in NY) who has lived in Costa for about 10 years now. Last time I spoke with her she had set up a business to help people interested in moving there navigate local rules, traditions and just make the transition easy all round.

If you are serious, feel free to hit me up on ICQ and I'll give you her email. Great person who would be happy to answer any of your questions :)

Have a great weekend,
Amy

Is CR as dirty as Mexico? Like leaving garbage and shit all over the place and not caring about it?

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 :winkwink:

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 :1orglaugh

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 :winkwink:

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 :1orglaugh

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 :winkwink:

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 :2 cents: 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 :2 cents:, 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 :winkwink:

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!!:winkwink:

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

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

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 :)