Jun 2, 2010 | Bureaucracy, Immigration, Legal Arrangements, Teenagers, Travel Tips
You will be, too, when you read this, especially if you’ve ever had first-hand experience with migración. If you are moving to Costa Rica, a visit to migración will be required sooner or later. By the way, be sure to take your own papel higenico [pa-PELL...
Aug 29, 2009 | Culture Shock, Death & Taxes, Driving, Expat, Legal Arrangements, Living-In, Teenagers
22 jan 2007This is how scary the roads are here: on Xavier's and my first date in Costa Rica, as he was white-knuckling the steering wheel and I white-knuckling my thighs, ä thought occurred to both of us simultaneously. What would the boys do if we didn't...
Nov 12, 2008 | Immigration, Legal Arrangements, Living-In
The Arias administration doesn’t seem to like gringos anymore. If it ever did, which is seeming less and less likely.Last week, it published a new proposed immigration bill which, if passed, will effectively eliminate the gringo middle class here.Pensionados,...
May 26, 2008 | Legal Arrangements, Living-In, Real Estate, Squatters
Garland Baker has a wealth of knowledge, that's for sure. Like on the topic of squatters. In 2004, he wrote this article explaining how…Possession is more important than ownership By Garland M. Baker Special to A.M. Costa Rica Owning property in Costa Rica...
May 8, 2008 | Citizenship, Legal Arrangements
We have one and a half years to learn the National Hymn of Costa Rica. If I listen to this everyday, I’m sure I can master it. I will also know how to spell National Hymn of Costa Rica in several languages:Lyrics so you can sing along:Noble patria, tu hermosa...
May 7, 2008 | Bureaucracy, Citizenship, Legal Arrangements, Living-In
Translation: Lines, Signatures and Dates. Or Things a Costa Rican Bureaucracy Can’t Do Without. I left out estampilla [s-tom-PEE-jah, stamp] because it doesn’t start with an f. But this is actually the critical item. If at least one (and usually all) of...
Apr 29, 2008 | Crime, Culture Shock, Legal Arrangements, Living-In, Squatters
A woman wrote to me recently about buying a house in Key West. Once she found out I live in Costa Rica, she wrote this:I have a question since you are living in Costa Rica. This is where my husband originally wanted to get a home. We had even started to look when we...
Dec 11, 2007 | Adoption, Bureaucracy, Expat, Legal Arrangements, Living-In, MORGAN, Residency & Visas, Serendipity
In the adoption world, Gotcha Day is the day we gotcha, the day we brought our new baby home. I get all teary remembering our two Gotcha Days. Yesterday, December 10th was Mo’s 16th Gotcha Day. To celebrate, Jen made cookies and brought them over. Hey, Jen, we...
