Blessed is the Costa Rican mother who knows that her son at birth will never be a soldier. This is a phrase that fills Costa Ricans with great pride and that differentiates them from so many nations on the planet, not having an army and being a peace-loving country. This famous phrase was said by Mr. Ryoichi Sasakawa on one of his visits to Costa Rica. Mr. Sasakawa was a well-known Japanese politician and philanthropist born on May 4, 1899 in Osaka, Japan. On one of his trips to Costa Rica, Mr. Sasakawa went to visit the campus of the United Nations University for Peace,
Wow! I'm a Costa Rican married to an American, living in San Antonio Texas right now. We are moving to Costa Rica in August, September (2022) the latest! I'm glad to hear your story.
Interesting I was born and raised in Costa Rica and now live in San Antonio Texas...seems like we switched places. Hope you are liking Costa Rica and they are being nice to you. Best of luck.
We did switch places, that's too funny! We love C.R. and everyone has been so nice. San Antonio is one of my favorite cities in the Sates and a wonderful place to call home. I hope you are enjoying it 😃
I will be moving there soon, I live in Florida I prefer the cost, the Caribbean cost .San Jose to congested for me. I like to be around nature, Good thing with Costa Rica is that you can have both worlds and enjoy your to the fullest.
Congratulations! Those suspension bridges are no joke! My dream is to retire to CR. I've visited many times. Looking forward to the future. Thanks for sharing.
I think Jas will agree with you that those bridges are definitely no joke! I hope you’re able to realize your dream of retiring in CR soon. Let us know if you need any recommendations for a relocation consultant, residency lawyer, international mover or expat Facebook groups. It would be our pleasure to help point you in the right direction 😊
Best wishes! I have been a permanent resident of Costa Rica for 14 years, and lived in a quiet beachtown in Guanacaste. I'm still surrounded by dirt roads and potholes. As much as I like Costa Rica, I decided to sell my house and move to Panama. Inflation is lower, cost of Costa Rican products is lower, cost of living is lower or equsl, infrastructure is better, senior discounts are fantastic, and fantastic duty free imports of cars, boats, planes, household items etc.
Thanks you so much. We have heard a lot of good things about Panama and know a few people who have moved there but have only been to David. We definitely need to get back down there and see some other cities.
I'm too from San Antonio TX looking to move back to Costa Rica. (I'm Tico living in the US since a kid). This is great information for my wife and I. We'll be out there next month exploring possible areas to relocate to and this is valuable insight. Thanks.
Hi Jasmine and Cris, congratulations on your new baby! So exciting!!! I have been listening to your video and has been great to hear about your experience living in Costa Rica. My husband is from Costa Rica and his family lives there. We are currently living in South Florida and are considering moving for good to Costa Rica at the beginning of 2023. I wanted to ask you some questions if it's okay? How was it for you guys to find a job there? Can you find good-paying jobs? The school system? How was the change of lifestyle from the lifestyle here in the U.S? I would love to talk to you guys in person. Maybe a zoom call? This is a huge life-changing decision to make. We have been living here all of our lives pretty much. I am from Colombia but moved to the estates in 1994 and my Husband has been living here since 2001. We have 2 girls and a Dog. It would be of so much help to talk to you guys, to get a clearer and more realistic opinion from someone that has lived here and now is living there. Looking forward to hearing from you guys soon!!! God bless!
Thanks so much Carolina! Yes, there is so much to consider when moving to a different country. We would be happy to connect with you to help answer your questions. The best way to reach us would be to message us on our IG of Facebook, we can schedule from there. Looking forward to hearing from you. -Chris
I need to take make my first visit...My X-mas to me....I was told an Airbnb would be the way to go at first. Congrats on the baby When I saw your video for the first time you were 7 months.... Well it looks like I will start making plans ,,,,Thank you for you insight
I agree that an Airbnb is a good idea. Try to book one with a lot of good reviews, it hard to tell what your getting into just from photos. If you are heading to the cost and not used to high heat, humidity and bugs, get an air Bnd with AC. You can always shut it off and open windows if you think you don’t need it. Also their are some great Moving to CR Facebook group, you could join to get Specific questions answered and moral support Best of luck, let us know how it goes. 😃
I just checked out the airbnb's....I would like to keep in touch....if you don't mind...Im making reservations for the 2nd week in January staying for 2 weeks
Thank you. We are getting closer and closer to our due date and we are so excited. We will definitely get a video out about moving to Costa Rica with fur babies 🐈
Hey Toni! You have asked a lot of great questions, thanks Asking them as I’m sure many of the viewers are wondering the same things. In our experience cost of living is a little bit more affordable in the city than it was on the coast. There are more houses for rent in the city and a lower demand for housing so the rent Is cheaper. The temperature in Escazu is much cooler and has less humidity then what we experienced on the Coast. We do not need an air conditioning in our new house to regulate our climate, therefore we save money on our electric bill. We once had a $300 electric bill from running out AC 24-7 at our Casita in Uvita, The casita it was a third of the size of our house now. We also save money on fuel. The closest city to Uvita was over an hour away. So anytime We needed a specialty item that was not available in town, we need you to take at least a three hour round-trip into the city. Escazu has all the creature comforts available within a 5 to 20 minutes drive. Best of luck on your upcoming adventure and let us know if you want us to point you in the direction of a great relocation consultant, Moving company or Residency attorney.
Just found your channel. Judging by the time you must have already had your baby and I hope all is well with mother and child. My family are also residents here in Costa Rica and live in Guanacaste. BTW Now that you are the proud parents of a Costa Rican dual citizen you’ll have to brush up in your Spanish. David in Panama is pronounced Dah-veed rather than David. 😂
Santa Anna is nice! It has a lot of amenities like good Shopping, grocery stores, restaurants and nice places to live. The roads are pretty nice too. It’s pretty similar to Escazu and relatively close. The major difference is that Santa Anna is at a lower elevation then Escazu Area, and is typically warmer.
Hey Carl, I'm glad you liked our video. Congratulations on your upcoming move. I need to do one about buying a car in Costa Rica; we get a lot of questions about the process. There was a sizeable learning curve when buying our Vehicle in CR, but overall it was pretty smooth. However, in hind site, there are a few things I will do differently next time. First, I'll go to a dealer. We knew the exact make, model, and year we wanted, so we sourced our vehicle. We worked with an expat-owned business out of Uvita, and when he found our vehicle, he "personally" did the inspection, sent us pictures, and then we wired him the cash. We paid in total for a vehicle we never saw in person. In short, even though the vehicle is mechanically sound, It would not have passed my inspection. I was able to stay on him until he fixed the most severe issues with the car. You will need a lawyer to transfer the vehicle to your name. Not a big deal, but it will cost about $1,000. (This was included in our total). Tip: Have a mechanic inspect your vehicle before you buy it. I know a little about vehicles but now realize I didn't know enough about CR cars. Unfortunately, car Facts does not exist in CR. But a good mechanic can paint a picture of your car's history. They should be able to tell you what country your car came from, if it has ever been flooded, been in an accident, if the VINs match, if any parts are worn out, if the odometer has been spun back, and if it's a coast car. You will need to secure insurance. INS is a state-owned insurance company, and it's the only one that exists here. So rates are pretty similar to The States. I was surprised by how expensive cars are here. For example, we paid $26K for a 2017 Toyota Rav4 with about 50k miles. This is a pretty fair price in CR. Toyotas are highly recommended in CR. Of course, you will pay a little bit more for a Toyota, but these vehicles hold up better on the rugged roads of Costa Rica. Also, parts are readily available, and mechanics know how to work on them.
Of course. So this is my understanding of our temporary application situation. We started gathering certified copies of the required U.S. documents and requesting apostles for those documents in February of 2020 while we lived in the states. During this time, the government agencies that we were working with to obtain these documents were backlogged because of the covid-19 pandemic. As a result, requests that generally took a few days were now taking weeks or months. Because of this backlog, CR immigration granted an extension of the expiration date of apostles from 3-months validity to 6-month validity. At the same time, CR immigration also implemented a completely new/separate process to file for temporary residency via online submission. Our application was filed online in hopes of expediting the application process. However, a couple of months later, we found out that the apostle's extenuations were invalid for the online application process. We had already moved to CR by this time, and all of our official documents had already been submitted with expired apostles. We had to start the entire process over for requesting certified copies and apostles while living outside the U.S., which is significantly more complex and expensive logistically.
We can definitely put out a video on purchasing a car in Costa Rica. More specifically, on how we bought our car. We used a third-party broker and bought our car site unseen. Seems like an obvious no-no, but I thought I had done my due diligence. Even though our experience wasn't horrible, we kind of lucked out. I do not recommend doing what we did. Jas and I just had our baby here in CR, so it may be a while before we get to this video but keep checking back. We should have it up in a few months.
Hey Jenny! Thank you so much! We absolutely love our doctors and our hospital. It was a tough choice between CIMA and Clinica Biblical, both top notch hospitals.
Hey Amir! Thats a great question. You would probably get different answers depending on who you ask. We found that just like in the U.S. living in C.R. can be very affordable but that ultimately depends on the comforts you are willing to go without. Cost of labor, health care, veterinarian, local fruits, and vegetables are very affordable compared to the states but vehicles, electricity, consumer products, and food from the groceries store are much more expensive. Thanks for watching!
La Fortuna is about 50 miles away and day 3 1/2 to 4 Hour drive. We have visited a few times and the drive is very pleasant but I recommend only driving during the day,
🇨🇷😍🇨🇷 Congratulations, hope you can have the baby in Costa Rica. you could qualify for permanent residency as a parent of a Costa Rican. And the Baby will can have dual Citizenship . During the year 2020, almost 58 thousand births were registered in Costa Rica, which represents the lowest figure in the last 20 years Congratulations Again we need more Tico Babies. 🥰
actually if Costa Rica (or any country) wants a sustainable future, they must stabilize their population. Lower birth rates are necessary for that, plus smaller families improve the standard of living, especially for women.
@@matthewmoran1844Financial support, ongoing economic and social development, and decreasing fertility rates continue to shift the country’s demographic profile along the age spectrum, and to expand the share of older adults in Costa Rica’s total population. Presently considered an aging society, Costa Rica will become a super-aged society in the year 2045 when 21 percent of the population will have reached the age of 65 or older.
Thank you! Touring schools was for my brother-in-law, and I was just along for the ride. I was impressed by what I saw, and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed school as a kid. Thanks for watching!
@@BloggingMoneyLife school should always been on mind tbh. As soon as the child is born you will be thinking about it. I cringe at sending them to a US school. Costa Rica is on the shortlist for my next one too so want to hear your experience at the hospital you choose? First one was born in Mexico and it was a fantastic experience. I’m sure CR will be good as well.
Hey Ryan, I have a feeling that Jas and I will be really happy with the school system here when that time come. It will be a few months but we can definitely do a video about our experience here during Jas pregnancy and the birth. So far we have been super impressed with the healthcare that we have received here across the board compared to what we are used to in the States. In general healthcare in the private sector is much more affordable here than in the States. General healthcare seems to be the same that we received in the States but with a more personable and better doctor patient relationship.
@@BloggingMoneyLife Yea absolutely. I think you guys are making the right move. I tell some people this stuff and they think I'm crazy or living in some fantasy world. I usually go to the doctor and dentist in mexico. I pay $15 for teeth cleaning, and what cost $160 (with insurance and after like a $900 deduction or whatever) cost me $50 and got results in hours in comparison to days/weeks in the US. delivery costs in 5 star hospital is a small fraction of what it would cost in the USA. I looked at CIMA and they were a tad higher than Mexico but either way can't go wrong.
@@RC94332 I've always known healthcare in the States was crazy expensive but it doesn't really set in until are you experienced it in a different country.
We’ve have not looked into pet insurance So I’m not sure if it exists. But the veterinarian appointments are very affordable. We’ve never paid more than $30 for a basic examination, with treatment and medication.
Finding a job in Costa Rica as a foreigner will probably be pretty difficult. The first step is to secure permanent residency and depending on which route you take to residency it could take up to 3 1/2 years. Also the pay scale for similar jobs is significantly less in Costa Rica Compared to the United States. Most people work remotely at a company in the United States or Start a business in Costa Rica but do you know physically work in it.
Ayee! I’m from San Antonio. And I’m planning to move to Costa Rica. I’m just trying to get enough knowledge/ understanding of how to speak Spanish. And also research how to get a job as an expat.
Nice! San Antonio is one of our favorite cities. We've heard of a small handful of people who have moved here from there. Being able to speak Spanish would be nice, but don't let not knowing the language hold you back from moving to CR. I recommend learning at least a few essential phrases, but many people speak English here. You also will be able to pick up on it faster after you have lived here for a while; at least, that's our experience. Getting a job might be a little more complicated. You will need to at least have permanent residency (which usually takes about 3 years) before you can work for a Costa Rican company. You could start a business, but you won't be able to legally work in it. The best bet is to find remote work outside the country that allows you to work from CR. There's now a special Digital Nomade visa that you can apply for that is valid for up to two years before renewal. This visa will eliminate the need for 90 border runs to renew your passport stamp and allow you to legally drive throughout its validity. Good luck with your research. Let us know if you have any specific questions, -Chris
I think it’s like anywhere else, it depends where you are and what you’re doing. We’ve lived in Costa Rica for two years without incident. We take the same precautions we took in the states.
