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There is an interesting article in [url=http://www.nacion.com/2013-05-03/ElPais/La-mitad-de-los-estadounidenses-que-viven-en-Costa-Rica-tienen-29-anos-o-menos.aspx#]La Nacion today[/url] about the number of Americans living in Costa Rica.
“[u]If[/u][i][/i]” it’s correct and accurate, according to 2012 National Report on Immigration and Integration, Costa Rica is home to 16,000 U.S. citizens who live in Costa Rica for more than 6 months in the year.
Half of the Americans living in Costa Rica are 29 years old or younger and most work in teaching and prefer to live in San Jose and Perez Zeledon.
U.S. citizens are the third largest immigrant group in Costa Rica in terms of population, after Nicaraguans and Colombians.
41% of these households are foreigners are married couples with children, 42% of those over 12 years old are working and 19% are retired.
Of those who work, most are in teaching, administrative activities and support services, and in business. Nearly half of those employed are working in private companies, and a quarter of them are self-employed.
The preferred living locations are San Jose, Perez Zeledon, Escazú, Alajuela, Santa Ana and Santa Cruz.
The U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica preferred not to comment on the statistics because they had no knowledge of them (??)
But do you think this is accurate?
I’ll guess it’s close. You can tell from their desired locations. They wanna live in Miami but can’t afford it.
I’d think the numbers are a tad low! Just based on the detailed info on the demographics you know that all the folks living in CR that are flying under the radar (ie Perpetual tourist, various outlaws, and others) were not included in the count. I’d bet the real number is at least 50% higher.
The nature of the breakdown seem very detailed, hence they’re based on folks that are fully documented in CR. As we know there are many that are not.
[quote=”Scott”]There is an interesting article in [url=http://www.nacion.com/2013-05-03/ElPais/La-mitad-de-los-estadounidenses-que-viven-en-Costa-Rica-tienen-29-anos-o-menos.aspx#]La Nacion today[/url] about the number of Americans living in Costa Rica.
“[u]If[/u][i][/i]” it’s correct and accurate, according to 2012 National Report on Immigration and Integration, Costa Rica is home to 16,000 U.S. citizens who live in Costa Rica for more than 6 months in the year.
Half of the Americans living in Costa Rica are 29 years old or younger and most work in teaching and prefer to live in San Jose and Perez Zeledon.
U.S. citizens are the third largest immigrant group in Costa Rica in terms of population, after Nicaraguans and Colombians.
41% of these households are foreigners are married couples with children, 42% of those over 12 years old are working and 19% are retired.
Of those who work, most are in teaching, administrative activities and support services, and in business. Nearly half of those employed are working in private companies, and a quarter of them are self-employed.
The preferred living locations are San Jose, Perez Zeledon, Escazú, Alajuela, Santa Ana and Santa Cruz.
The U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica preferred not to comment on the statistics because they had no knowledge of them (??)
But do you think this is accurate?
[/quote]The U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica is just part of another typical government bureaucracy.
No I don’t think it’s accurate at all.
I think they mostly got respondents from the San Jose area and there are TONS of people out there not represented, especially the “perpetual tourists”.
I believe that the retired people are a much higher group than given in the report.
Of course I can’t back any of this up with facts but my opinion is that the survey is skewed towards people who live and work in the San Jose area.
I agree that the results posted doesn’t correlate with what we see, and that there are many more retirees than stated.
According to their preferred places to live, I’m surprised that the Americans who choose to ‘live in the many beach towns’ is not listed or broken down to list communities? Or was it too hard to interview them?We visited the embassy one time in 2008. They wouldn’t have the slightest idea whether we are still here or not.
No one is interested enough to look for us much less interview us.
I smell a skunk.
Maybe it’s to someone’s advantage to keep the # of retirees as a lower figure?OR, maybe those who were in charge were just too lazy or uninterested to do the job thoroughly and accurately.
[quote=”sweikert925″]
Why would they publish incorrect figures? What purpose would that serve?[/quote]Yes, that is the question I am proposing.
Maybe it’s because I live in the USA where nothing the government says or does can be trusted any more imho.[quote=”sweikert925″]The full report on which the La Nacion article was based can be found here:
http://www.migracion.go.cr/Informe%202012%20version%20digital.pdf%5B/quote%5D
Thanks for the link to the full report.While we offer no proof I find it very interesting that quite a few Americans living or who have lived in Costa Rica seem to agree that these results are wrong. (I am basing that on this and one other thread I have read on this subject; not exactly a significant sample. But I am betting that if you polled all Americans living in Costa Rica the vast majority would say the results don’t seem right.)
[quote=”sweikert925″]The statistics published in La Nacion appear to come from the Costa Rican department of immigration and the accompanying graphic has precise figures for each region so presumably these come straight from their own records. Why would they publish incorrect figures? What purpose would that serve?
As for the US embassy, they were in no way involved in gathering them so not sure why their “no comment” is significant. As I understand it the US embassy only knows about Us citizens that have dealings with it, which is not strictly required.
Then full report on which the La Nacion article was based can be found here:
http://www.migracion.go.cr/Informe%202012%20version%20digital.pdf%5B/quote%5D
They published the information they had without acknowledging the fact that the numbers presented were ONLY from folks that are fully documented and have been processed through the CR immigration office and completely ignoring people living full time in CR that have not been. Hence the information presented is not correct or complete.
The numbers are very low and do not include folks that we all know live in CR but who can’t or chose not to process a residency application. I’m sure a quick poll of members here will show you that we each know at least 3 or 4 people each that fall into that category. I know at least 5! More that have come and gone over the years.
sweikert925
hmmm… I don’t think imexploring is trying to insist on anything he is making an observation based on his experience.
I have had a brick and mortar business in costa rica for 8 years in the san jose area.
I can tell you in my experience I have known a few hundred over the years that are off the radar because of various reasons. this is very common occurrence.
have you ever visited costa rica yet???
EDIT: I forgot to mention that this under the radar is not only with Americans but all other Foreign nationals as well
I also found interesting where the types of people doing this.. they were not poor people but rather semi affluent.
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”imxploring”]
They published the information they had without acknowledging the fact that the numbers presented were ONLY from folks that are fully documented and have been processed through the CR immigration office and completely ignoring people living full time in CR that have not been. Hence the information presented is not correct or complete.
[/quote]
Seems to me that if the immigration authorities don’t know about people living in CR – because they have not fulfilled the legal requirement to submit residency paperwork – they can hardly be blamed for not including them in their official figures.[quote=”imxploring”]
The numbers are very low and do not include folks that we all know live in CR but who can’t or chose not to process a residency application. I’m sure a quick poll of members here will show you that we each know at least 3 or 4 people each that fall into that category. I know at least 5! More that have come and gone over the years.[/quote]In other words you know 5 people living in CR illegally, who have not made themselves known to the authorities. Why do you insist that the immigration report should include them when the CR immigration bureau has no way to count them?[/quote]
[b]sweikert925[/b] Registering at the US Embassy is only a requirement of approx 2 years ago. So, when one applied before then, it was optional. Canadians are also ‘requested’ to register’ at their Embassy
[quote=”costaricafinca”][b]sweikert925[/b] Registering at the US Embassy is only a requirement of approx 2 years ago. So, when one applied before then, it was optional. Canadians are also ‘requested’ to register’ at their Embassy[/quote]
As for as the US is concerned, registering is still optional. This is from the US Department of State web site….
[i][/i][b][u]Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)[/u]
The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) is a free service provided by the U.S. Government to U.S. citizens who are traveling to, or living in, a foreign country.
STEP allows you to enter information about your upcoming trip abroad so that the Department of State can better assist you in an emergency.STEP also allows Americans residing abroad to get routine information from the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.[/b]
[quote=”Doug Ward”]
I’ll guess it’s close. You can tell from their desired locations. They wanna live in Miami but can’t afford it.[/quote]Mostly, only people who are ignorant of what a tropical climate is really like want to live in Miami…or the coastal areas of CR. I live in Miami and am anxious to move to Alajuela to escape the Miami heat.
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