Expats on the move: Establishing residency in Costa Rica

Expats on the move: Establishing residency in Costa Rica

While health care debates, social security reform and higher taxes take center stage in Washington, D.C., more and more Americans seem to be seeking residency elsewhere in the world and the number one destination appears to be Costa Rica.

While health care debates, social security reform and higher taxes take center stage in Washington, D.C., more and more Americans seem to be seeking residency elsewhere in the world and the number one destination appears to be Costa Rica.
“We’ve seen a lot of passive inquiries about moving to Costa Rica and establishing residency there since starting our project,” commented Hacienda Matapalo Executive Vice President Brian Albury, whose company is building a 665-acre master planned gated community on the country’s South Pacific Coast. “But lately we’ve seen a dramatic upswing in serious interest – more so than any other time during this phase of our development.”
According to Christopher Howard, an authoritarian on Costa Rica and author of the recently released book "The New Golden Door To Retirement and Living in Costa Rica," there are more Americans living in Costa Rica per capita than any other country in the world. In an article on the Web site Costa Rica Outdoors, Howard wrote that Americans tend to feel more at home in Costa Rica than other Latin American country citing several reasons including health care, business opportunities, high yielding investments, tax breaks, real estate costs and security concerns.
There is much to know about establishing residency in Costa Rica. “For example, just like in the U.S. where there are several types of residency statuses, the same holds true for Costa Rica and whether we’re talking about a pensionado (retiree), rentista (legal resident), inversionista (investor), vinculo (relation to citizen) or any other classification, each has its own set of criteria.”

For this reason we recommend a good attorney to guide you through the process. We have used and recommended the same attorney for real estate and residency in Costa Rica for over 10 years, Gonzalo Viqyez {everyone knows him as Junior} and in all my years of doing business here I have not found anyone close to his efficiency, knowledge and attention to detail. You can reach him by phone at 506 8816 1681 or e mail at costaricanlegaladvice@gmail.com

Moran Real Estate Over 50 years of Tropical Real Estate Excellence

Costa Rica Ranks Third As Cleanest Countries in The World

According to researchers at Yale and Columbia University, among 163 countries that were included in their 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Costa Rica ranks third in cleanliness, preceded only by Iceland in the first place and Switzerland in second. 

The countries were ranked based on 25 indicators, including water and air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and the impact of the environment on its people’s health.

The index is influenced by metrics that track how the governments are doing in relation to environmental policy goals like access to good sanitation and water, habitat protection, and industrial emissions.

A country may achieve a top EPI position in two ways:

1. It could be gifted with a rich legacy of clean water and diverse biology that hasn’t been violated by uncontrolled industrialism.

2. It could have industrialized and polluted its environment but got rich enough to begin the clean up.

Costa Rica got to the third place the first way, while the countries that made the top of the list achieved it the second way. 

The perfect score is 100. Costa Rica scored 86.4, with a GDP per capita of $9,600 and a population of 4.5 million. 

According to the index,“That such a relatively poor and developing country ranks third in the EPI is testament to the natural endowments of Costa Rica, with dense forests, plentiful water and abundant wildlife. With smart development, Costa Rica can avoid the standard path that growing nations take of polluting their environment, only to clean it up again once they become wealthy. Costa Rica touts its EPI ranking in ads for its tourism sector.” 

In the past, Costa Rica was recognized as the best country regarding rainforest conservation efforts, and is one of the originators of REDD, Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation project. In this sense, it is not a surprise that this small country was able to achieve such a meaningful position worldwide.

Moran Real Estate Over 50 Years of Tropical Real Estate Excellence

I told my wife that a husband is like a fine wine, it gets better with age, The next day she locked me in the cellar

I told my wife that a husband is like a fine wine; he gets better with age. The next day, she locked me in the cellarI told my wife that a husband is like a fine          ets better with age. The next day, she locked me in the cell