MY wife and I are planning on moving to Costa Rica in the next 10-12 years. My wife is from Costa Rica and I am from New York where we are currently living. I have a few questions. 1 - I was just looking for some good advice to what needs to be done before moving. Like should I apply for Costa Rican citizenship now? I know we shouldn't buy a house yet because we won't live there for a while but what about buying land(we are still deciding where)? Basically any advice.2 - I am very middle class and don't plan on being rich anytime soon, so I've always wondered when we move and live in Costa Rica won't it be hard to find money to travel back to the U.S.?We will have a savings but the $1200 to fly back and forth or so it will cost us every year will be felt a lot more on a Costa Rican salary.Thankx

Hi. If you were born in the states and have a valid USA passport then you can travel here under a tourist visa just like anyone else. Just because you married a Tica does not mean that you can easily become a Costa Rican. When a foreigner marries a tica in CR, under normal circumstances you would need to live here under the same roof with her for three years before you would qualify to become a nationalized Tico. During this three year period you would need to establish some form of legal residency just like any other gringo, with income verifications or obtain a work permit. If you have a pension from a verifiable source in the USA you will need to submit documents that verify the source and have been notorized by the CR embassy closet to your hometown to present to immigration here. If your wife's family is politically connected then you can ignore all the immigration regulations because they will be able to pull some strings here and get you establsihed. If not, you will need to apply under the various programs that are available here for foreigners. If you married your wife in the USA, then you will have to obtain all the marriage certificates and get them notorized by the CR embassy nearest to your hometown and then present them to CR immigration here and see what residency programs are available at the time you move here. Keep in mind that the notary stamps on the verifyed documents from the CR embassy expire within a 60 to 90 day period and it costs about $50 for each document. So you need to obtain the notorized documents and present them here within that time frame or you will need to travel back to your hometown and repeat the task and pay again. To be certain you can consult with a CR immigration lawyer, but down here the ticos live for the moment. Your planning 10 years in advance will be met with sceptisism by the local lawyers. The airfare issue depends on what time of the year you travel. Good luck!

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Experienced Builder with CR residency since 94

wow! Thanks for the info