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Sorry. I meant 30 dollars not 30000 dollars, big difference:its a savings account/CD account for purposes of immigration.
You CAN get a personal bank account without a cedula. I just did it with Banco Nacional back in June. You need a copy of your passport, two letters of recommendation (which came from my attorney and his partner) and a utility bill (ICE, cable, etc). That’s it. You need to open this account with a minimum of $30.000 USD.
As for the cell phone, I bought mine in Florida (Samsung model) and had it connected with ICE. It’s much cheaper to buy your phone NOT in Costa Rica. One thing that’s important, make sure you have a receipt for the phone that you are having connected. They would not connect my phone the first trip that was made to ICE on my behalf because my cousin did not have a receipt. Apparently cell phone theft is a problem there… Basic service is around $10.00 plus tax (plus additional minutes used). Your phone has to be GSM compatible and your current provider can tell you whether your phone is or not. Hope this helps! Buena suerte.
Maravilla, how were you able to apply for residency without proving your income (whether it’s 60k for rentista or $600 usd per month for pensionado). I applied for residency back in June and we had to have all documents, including proof of 60k before we sent in our application with our attorney or it would have been considered incomplete). I doubt, though I’m not an expert, that having a ‘receipt’ marked saying you exchanged so much money at the bank will suffice. I am going out on a limb thinking that perhaps the reason that the Costa Rican government wants to see our income over time is to make sure we won’t spend it all at once? We had set up a special CD account at Banco Nacional and $1,000 USD plus interest gets changed into colones every month and deposited into a seperate B.N account. As for cell phones, my cousin set up mine for me in her name temporarily and will transfer it to me once I have my residency in October. You CAN get a cell phone if you have a corporation in C.R (which we do). That may be the easier thing to do. Good luck!
Edited on Aug 31, 2006 19:55
Thanks for the info. I did notice that about Sanborn. I’ll just have to call and see what they can do for me. Is there a particular person you dealt with at INS?
If anyone is ever building in Guanacaste, Randall Brenes, is an excellant architect and builder. He is currently putting an addition on and remodeling a ‘tico’ style home that was built a year ago. We have been doing this all long distance (except for when we met at the property a few times) and my cousin is over seeing it for my husband and I. He is an honest, reliable, professional. He sends us weekly updates and photos. He and my cousin both worked on the multi million Four Seasons Papagayo project and Randall was happy to show us several of his new construction projects and amazing remodeling projects. His email is: rabrenes@gmail.com. He also does work in the San Jose area as well. If anyone wants info, feel free to email me for photos of the project he’s doing for me at mediatica26@yahoo.com.
I already know an agent and my mother is from Costa Rica, so I am fluent in Spanish… so I don’t have a need for an English speaking agent. The issue is this: I am shipping a 2006 Nissan Xterra 4×4 in October so it would be considered a new car if I paid import duties then. If I wait, the import duties would be depreciated for a year and would total $11,500 (new duties are estimated to be around $15,500- $16,000 range). Pretty steep I know. Looking back, I would have sold my car and bought one there, but I’ve already committed to doing this, so there you have it. Only problem with bringing in your car like this is that you cannot get insurance through INS. I will drive my car with my Florida tags around for up to 6 months and pay duties in April of next year…I don’t know if anyone knows if it’s even possible to get U.S Insurance companies to ensure if you drive to another country (in this case, Costa Rica). I remember in college when we drove our car to Mexico, we had to purchase Mexican insurance or go without it. I have a feeling this is what we may have to do once we arrive… Any insight would be helpful.
Edited on Aug 14, 2006 08:15
I’ve used tricolor 5 times in the last two years and they have been great. Ask for Christian. He always makes sure everything is reserved and as confirmed! They also pick you up at the airport! Good luck.
You do not have to have your residency to open an account at Banco Nacional. I can’t speak for the rest of the public/private banks. I showed my aunts utility bill (since my house didn’t have the electric or water hooked up yet). They accepted that. So, you could use a copy of your landlord’s bill, friends bill, etc. They were flexible with me on that. I also am not a resident until October and had no problem opening an account as a tourist. You need two letters of recommendation (which came from my attorney and his assistant), a letter of recommendation from my bank in the states, a copy of my passport, $30.00 USD to open the account, and my aunts utility bill. All in all, not too bad!
You can only open up a bank account in person. I checked on that before I opened up an account last month. I actually found it to be easier than everyone portrayed. I opened up an account with Banco Nacional, the banker was helpful, and the process took about an hour. Buena suerte! 🙂
Hi Beverley:
While I’ve not driven down, I do know people who have. I’m originally from Buffalo, NY and my father had clients who would buy trucks from him and drive them down. They told us it takes about 2 weeks driving at least 8-10 hour days. I’m not saying not to drive, I just know I wouldn’t want to. It may be cheaper for you to drive your things in. If you have the time, go for it, I just think the Florida idea might be better. I am shipping my items from Tampa, FL and it’s not going to cost all that much, plus you’ll save the mileage on your van…I agree with David. Remember the pay is not what you are used to in the states and to get a job legally you have to have permanant residency (unless you have a corporation and you can get paid from that). Just a thought. These are all things I’ve thought about before making the decision to move this year. Also, where you want to live depends on what you are looking for? Good luck to you!
