104 Digital Nomad and Costa Rica Residency

[Richard Bexon]

Good morning, Christina. How are you doing?

[Cristina Guerrini]

I'm good. How are you?

[Richard Bexon]

Very, very good. Thank you. Well, Christina, I wanted to congratulate you.

You've been the guest that's been on the most podcasts, which is, you know, which is great. You know, people might say, hey, why do you keep having Christine on the podcast? But I think it's the information on residency, you know, and the visa applications continuously changes.

So we'd love to get an update of where we're at, because I know things constantly change.

[Cristina Guerrini]

Thank you. So I'm honored to be your top guest. It's always a pleasure.

[Richard Bexon]

Well, I mean, I wanted to get an idea because I love, again, trends and also data. I mean, based on applications you guys are handling over there at Cribu, I mean, is the number of people applying for residency increasing monthly or are you guys starting to see a slowdown?

[Cristina Guerrini]

We have seen a slowdown in the number of appointments that we are scheduling for clients, because in the last year, there were many people reaching out to us just to schedule an appointment, to win, to buy some time, you know, to collect the paperwork and then decide what to do. And right now we have people who are like, no, I want to start the process now, even maybe through Tramitaya, the digital platform of immigration. And this number is increasing and we are focusing on that.

So I think we have a lower number of people who are just, you know, seeing what to do and a higher number of people who are really moving forward with the residency or visa or other categories, applications.

[Richard Bexon]

Well, I mean, I suppose that's a good sign, meaning that, again, the data would suggest or the trend is that more people are actually physically applying for residency now than before, you know, which is great. Maybe they've been closing because, you know, they've been closing on, you know, invested on their investment. But it's nice to see that, like, physically people are applying more now for residency.

[Cristina Guerrini]

Absolutely. I think you make a good point, which is that, you know, people finally after Covid came here and look for properties. And now that they found a property, they can apply as investors.

And that is what they're doing. So I will say that investor is the category that we are requesting the most for our clients. So, yeah.

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah, I was about to ask you what's the most popular residency application. So it sounds like it's the investor. And let me ask about that, because, again, you know, that the regulation or should I say the law was passed to drop it from 200 down to 150.

So, I mean, people are applying at the $150,000 mark. I'm correct in saying that, right?

[Cristina Guerrini]

Yes, you're correct.

[Richard Bexon]

OK, but the actual regulation for the import of two vehicles plus a container, we're still waiting on how that's going to work with basically, you know, the tax authority and also the what do you call that? Aduanas. Sometimes I forget.

[Cristina Guerrini]

Aduanas.

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah, yeah. What do you call that in England? You know, the guys that deal with the import stuff in English.

[Cristina Guerrini]

Like the.

[Richard Bexon]

Anyway, anyway, yeah, they're working it out sometimes. Yeah. But you spend so much time speaking Spanish, the Spanish word sometimes is better than the English word and you completely forget the English word, sorry.

[Cristina Guerrini]

Well, I'm Italian, so sometimes I speak English or Spanish better than Italian. I just came back from Italy and my sister sometimes like, what are you saying? Sorry.

[Richard Bexon]

Wow. Customs is the word. So customs and the tax authority here are still trying.

They still have to be told that they have a certain amount of time, if I'm correct, to sort this out, right?

[Cristina Guerrini]

Yeah, correct. So we are still waiting on that. But the threshold is can already be considered $150,000 and not $200,000, because that part of the law didn't require any additional regulation to be implemented.

So it's already effective.

[Richard Bexon]

So, I mean, if somebody applied for that and then later they came out with the regulation for the import, like this is how you go about importing a vehicle and a container when you apply, they could basically reuse that. They could say, hey, I invested $150,000 a while back, got my residency, now I want to apply to bring in the two vehicles in the container. Is that correct?

Could they do that?

[Cristina Guerrini]

Yes, it's correct. So even the law gives like a window of time to request the benefits. And yeah, we consider that that should be a possibility.

Even the law also states that once you're granted the condition as investor, then immigration is supposed to inform customs and tax authorities about the new conditions so that the regulation can be implemented. And for your reference, the investor residencies that we have requested since the law passed have not been approved yet because unfortunately, investors can only use the traditional in-person platform. They cannot apply online.

So the process is slower. So we haven't had cases of clients who are already granted the condition but cannot import vehicles. Of course, we hope this will be resolved fast, but we cannot make any promises, as you know.

[Richard Bexon]

So just explain maybe to the listeners, I mean, there is a digital platform now they can use, is that correct?

[Cristina Guerrini]

Yes, correct. There is a digital platform called TramiteYa and there is the standard platform, which now works upon appointment. So you have to request an appointment and the day of the appointment is when you submit all the paperwork.

For the digital platform, you have to first create a profile under your name, which is called the Filiacion process. And then once that is approved, you can upload the other requirements depending on the category that you choose. But the digital platform is not available yet for investors.

It is available, though, for another category. And this is the big news that I'm sure you're going to ask me to talk about soon.

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah, I mean, let's jump straight into it. I mean, I think what you're mentioning there is the Digital Nomad visa, right?

[Cristina Guerrini]

Exactly, exactly. So Digital Nomad have been waiting to see the law implemented for such a long time. And I'm happy to say that finally it's time you can apply.

And the digital platform has already been updated, allowing Digital Nomads to apply online. But they could also opt to move with the in-person process. I won't say why they will do that.

I will, if the person can, I will always recommend the digital platform. It's easier and faster. But the government decided to give them the true option and both options have been implemented.

[Richard Bexon]

OK, can you run us through the process of applying for a Digital Nomad visa, if that's possible, just so that any of the listeners, you know, listening here can just clearly understand how they go about doing it?

[Cristina Guerrini]

Yes, absolutely. So first of all, the important thing is to start collecting the requirements. The requirements are pretty easy.

I was very surprised because they are no longer requiring criminal background checks for Digital Nomads. They don't need to provide anything regarding that. Immigration will simply use their database to collect information on the person, of course.

And so requirements are pretty easy. They just need to pay the deposit fee and we will take care of that for our clients. We will need bank statements showing the income of $3,000 for individual Digital Nomad or $4,000 per month for family groups.

And so this must be approved for 12 months. So I will say 12 bank statements. And then this must be accompanied by a sworn declaration from the entity abroad, which is kind of complicated.

And maybe we can have this discussion another day or a CPA, so a Certification for Orchestrated Public Accountant, which is probably what we're going to do. Well, not probably, which is what we are doing with our clients. So basically, we have a public accountant stating that the person, in fact, has the income that meet the requirements of the law to apply as a Digital Nomad.

And then the Digital Nomad doesn't need to apply to provide birth certificates, which is a great thing. The birth certificate is only required for children. So if I'm a Digital Nomad and I want to apply for my kids, then to prove the bond, of course, they need the birth certificate.

My wife, let's say I want to apply for my wife or my husband. And in this case, I will need the marriage certificate, but I will not need the birth certificate as well. There is a peculiarity because the law is not talking about the apostyle or legalization of documents issued abroad.

So it may be that they are not expecting people to provide this requirement, but we do recommend providing the documents apostyle or legalized for the countries that are not the apostyle, because it's always better to have everything ready. And I will say later why. So the first thing, again, is touch base with your attorney and collect the requirements.

Of course, you can person can also apply, you know, by themself. It's not that they have mandatory to retain the service of an attorney, but it makes your life easier. So once you have the requirements, you can decide, what do I do?

The digital platform or the in-person platform? We do recommend a digital platform. So how does it work?

First, you create a profile. Once the profile is approved, which takes approximately like two weeks tops, I will say. And for that, only the copy of the passport is needed.

And once the profile is approved, the digital government has five days to complete the process online. This is an important difference. Other categories that apply online don't have a window of time.

They don't have a deadline to submit the remaining documents. So once the profile is created, they have time to continue with the process. For the digital nomad, they want to keep things fast.

So they gave only five days to move forward. And this is why we recommend having all the documents ready before you start the process. So even before you request the appointment, in case you want to move forward with the in-person appointment.

So let's say that you have created a profile. It has been approved or that you got an appointment and you have the date. So what happens when you upload the documents?

You submit everything and then the government has 15 days, which is super fast, to tell you if they approve or reject the case. Only 15 days. This should be super fast.

And if they want to request like clarification, which happens many times, they have to do that within five days. So you have to be very careful to see if after five days that you submitted the documents, you have you received a notification saying, hey, you need, you know, the copy of your passport wasn't clear or bank statements are not clear enough or you didn't translate the bank statement. Because remember, everything must be submitted in Spanish.

So and here there is another important difference. The person will only have eight days to comply with the requirements. So let's say they ask for translation of the bank statement.

You have eight days to submit that or the process will be dismissed. The case will be dismissed and you will have to start all over again. So let's say you submit the documents on time, then they have, again, 15 days to tell you if your condition has been granted or denied.

So let's say you have been granted the condition as digital nomad, then as usual, you will have three months to finalize the process. This is the same way with every type of residency or stancia visa. And to finalize the process, you will have to pay the final expenses, which are the security deposit.

And they're saying and here are some doubts because they're they were not supposed to request a deposit. But now they are the amount is not really clear. So there is a little of uncertainty there.

And we will know more as soon as the first will be approved. But in any case, it is going to be about paying some fees. Then you go to the bank or the Correos de Costa Rica, the post office to finalize the process.

They will take your picture. You will smile and to prepare for ERD. And another important thing you may remember or our, you know, viewer may remember that the digital nomad does not require to be registered in the Caja.

But how can the government be sure that you are protected if something happens to you? The digital nomad is required to have a private insurance to cover health expenses. And it must be an insurance for the 12 months of the visa.

Remember, the digital nomad is a one year permit. So the day you go to the bank or the Correos, you have to show them proof that you have the insurance. So this is important because the digital nomad does not need to buy the insurance the moment he start the process.

This is a requirement that can be submitted at the end of the process. This is very important. And then once you have submitted all the documents, you go to the bank, blah, blah, blah.

Then they will have and they will ship the ID as usual. So to the post office.

[Richard Bexon]

It sounds like. A lot of moving parts, Christina, as normal with residency, you know, again, getting documents translated, do they need to be documented by they need to be translated by a authorized translator here in Costa Rica, you know, so you need to get that done and pay them. The Apostle docs need to be a post out in the US.

Do they need to be can they be a post out by like anyone doing a post out or does it need to be a post out by the Costa Rican embassy or, you know, in in the US?

[Cristina Guerrini]

Good question. So how does the Apostle process work? There are some countries around the world which is part of the convention, the Apostle Convention, the Apostle Convention, which states that if a country issues a document, let's say a birth certificate in Italy, they issue a birth certificate for this document to be held valid by the other countries which are part of the convention.

An authority of Italy must put the Apostle on the documents so the Apostle cannot be put by by whoever want to do that. Not even the consulate of Italy could put the Apostle on the document. The document must be Apostle in the country where it is issued.

So this is something that needs to be done in the same, you know, in the same when you get the documents, you make sure that you get it Apostle. For the US, we have a company that we have been using and clients really like that much, which is Get the Docs. And this company works with us.

We have a very strict alliance. They just take care of getting a birth certificate, the background checks, marriage certificate. They know exactly the requirements that we need and they ship the documents directly to us.

So this makes things easier for those countries that are not part of the Apostle process. Then there is the legalization process, which must be done before a consulate of Costa Rica abroad. And this is a little more complicated.

And we when we have clients which which have that problem, let's say like that, we try to help them and it must be, you know, legalized abroad. And then we also bring the document here for a final step. But we just take care of that.

The client doesn't even need to waste time.

[Richard Bexon]

Maybe. Maybe I'm lazy. I would just always I mean, you guys are doing my citizenship applications.

So, you know, maybe it's I'm lazy, but like there's so many hoops to jump through and so many things to understand. It's just worth sometimes, you know, just having somebody do it for you guys. I know you guys do a great job.

[Cristina Guerrini]

So thank you.

[Richard Bexon]

Thank you. Do you need residency to stay in Costa Rica is my question, because I know a lot of people that stay here 90 days leave for 72 hours, come back in. And the only reason they leave for 72 hours is for their driver's license to have validity, meaning they could if they wanted to and didn't want to drive, they could go across the border for Panama and come back into Costa Rica with the steps.

Correct.

[Cristina Guerrini]

Yes, absolutely. So can you leave without residency? Yes.

Will you be having a calm life? No, because if you are a foreigner with no residency here, first of all, as you're saying to a new driver, please, you have to leave the country every 90 days. And it's not like before, you know, customs officials, borders official are no longer that happy to be just stamping passport for people coming and going.

And you will need an exit ticket every time you do the border run.

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah.

[Cristina Guerrini]

And the other thing, if you live here, you know, you need to pay for things. You need to go to the grocery store. You need to pay your rent.

And as a foreigner, it is hard to have a bank account. And if you do open a bank account, let's say with the PCR, the PCR can open a bank account with a foreigner on his passport. But then this foreigner cannot wire money to bank accounts of other banks.

He can only withdraw a certain amount of money. So there are many limitations. And let's say that you are late in the border run.

You're here and you go to the bank. You want to, you know, get some cash. They will say, no, your stamp on the passport is not valid.

We cannot give you any money, even if it's your own money. So I always if your plan is to live here on the long term, at least one year, it is worth to try and request the digital nomad visa if you can. There is also the stancia visa, which is the general category and of the umbrella under which the digital nomad fell.

So I will just try and find a way to make it in the proper way. I will not be a perpetual tourist just coming and going. I would not recommend that.

[Richard Bexon]

OK, OK, well, my last question for you, Christina, that I love to ask anyone, if you inherited five hundred thousand dollars and had to invest it in business or real estate in Costa Rica, what would you invest it in?

[Cristina Guerrini]

Hmm. Well, I will buy a land on, you know, in Guanacaste probably. And I will build.

[Richard Bexon]

Whereabouts? Guanacaste is big.

[Cristina Guerrini]

Come on, Christina, give us where you know, you know, you know, Nosara. Nosara is my favorite spot. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I will buy a piece of land and I will build my home for my family and like another small home home to put, you know, on short term vacation and make some income out of that.

[Richard Bexon]

What happens if you couldn't build your own home, but it had to be a business or like something generating cash flow? What would you what would you invest it in? You know, because building your own house is not really an investment.

[Cristina Guerrini]

Office spaces like co-working office spaces, there is a big need, especially now with the digital moment. So I think that's a good investment. And depending on the location and my husband, maybe it's going to kill me because he's in the tourist business.

He has boats and a catamaran and he is he's doing good. So I will like I will probably invest on his business or a different business. You know, there are many foreigners that come here to fish or do trips on the ocean and enjoy the the beauty of the Costa Rican seas.

[Richard Bexon]

Fantastic. Fantastic. Well, Christina, this has been great as always.

I think anyone that wants to get in contact with Christina, all of her contact details will be in the description. I really appreciate your time coming on the podcast, Christina, and have a great weekend.

[Cristina Guerrini]

Thank you. You too, Richard. It's always a pleasure.

[Richard Bexon]

You're very welcome. Thanks very much, Christina.

[Cristina Guerrini]

Bye bye.