大咖福利影院

Wreimer wrote:

Seems like this thread has been inactive for a while.聽 聽Am curious to know if it鈥檚 gotten easier to transfer money from the US?聽 聽Can social security be directly deposited as in other retirement destinations?

Smaller amounts of money such as Social Security are relatively easy to set up direct deposits once you have residency.聽 Each bank will have different requirements as to what documents you'll need to set up the account.

Large amounts of money coming into the country now have many restrictions on them due to the U.S. government imposing their demands on the Costa Rican government.聽 (Not a political statement of course.聽 Just fact based on what my attorney recently told me.)

Again, different banks will require different documentation for large money transfers.聽 Check with whatever bank you would use to determine what is required.聽 I recently transferred money down to purchase the Sablito property.聽 聽Banco Nacional required the following:

*聽 Certified document showing the origins of the funds.
*聽 The above stated document then needs a certified translation into espanol.
*聽 If the funds are coming out of a U.S. bank account, a receipt from the U.S. bank showing that the fund were transferred to the Costa Rica bank account.
*聽 A certified statement from the bank showing the deposit into that account and all subsequent statements from the time of deposit.

These documents have to be provided to the bank within two weeks of the transfer from the U.S. to the CR account.聽 If they are not presented, the CR bank will return the funds to the U.S. bank.聽 This is exactly what happened to someone who was making a donation to the parrot rescue project.

And as people who live here know, these rules can and will change daily, will be different when talking to different people and will vary with each bank.聽

The main thing you'll need in these transactions - patience.聽 聽

- Expat Dave

Rahstingo wrote:

This is an example of how Costa Rica makes EVERYTHING DIFFICULT! Way too much paperwork. Use you debit card!

New Slogan for CR:

Costa Rica, where we make EASY....DIFFICULT.
Pura Vida.

The difficulty in this case has nothing to do with Costa Rica.聽 You can thank the U.S Government on this one.聽 You cannot transfer large sums of money via the ATM.

- Expat Dave

Rahstingo wrote:

You are right but the paperwork is normal for here. Everything requires excessive paperwork and multiple offices.

True.聽 Many trees have given their lives for the mountains of paperwork in CR.聽 CAJA alone has amazing stacks of papers stuffed into folders.

My favorite is "the stamps."聽 For those that don't live here or are not yet familiar, many documents here need to be stamped to make them official.聽 Example, I needed to file a document with the municipality relative to recording the spring on my property.聽 Before it could be filed we needed a stamp.聽 What this means is we drive a few blocks away to a little hole in the wall store that sells plumbing supplies, office supplies, toys... and聽 the official stamps.聽 They look very much like a postage stamp.聽 You give the plumbing store/toy store official the document that you need stamped and they place it on your paper.聽 Usually several stamps, pay them a few dollars and then, in this case, it was back to the municipality to finalize the recording.聽

Yep, it would make more sense for the government agencies to have these stamps themselves, but this is one of those perfect examples of not using the word - why?聽 Things are the way they are here and you just have to accept things that way, smile and see the humor in it all.聽 聽

- Expat Dave

Rahstingo wrote:

馃ぃ馃憡馃徎 Very inefficient and wasteful country. Went to Dr for an X-ray on my knee. Went to one window to give my name and ID. Then to another for a bill. Then to another to pay. The got a number to sit and wait!! Its a way for the government to employ more people ( easy to control) and pay $400-$500 per month.
It says CR is a democracy. However it's聽 run like a socialist country. Government has fingers in TV, Banks...basically everything!!!
Just say "explitive deleltives" under your breath, shake you head and remember you ARE in a 3rd world country. Not USA.

Everything seems to upset you about this country..聽 聽just curious, why do you stay?

angiecolors wrote:

if you dont like that country ...then you can return for your country. no perfect country no perfect system. 2 options ...always. the desition is in your hands.

Hola Angie,

I understand who you are referring to and you are correct.聽 There are many Gringos here who's glasses are forever "half-empty."聽 No matter where they live they will be just as unhappy.聽 You can choose to change who you are - if needed -聽 and find the beauty in life, or go through life in misery.聽 It is a choice each individual will make themselves.

If you live in CR and can't find the beauty around you, the trees must be in your way.聽 聽

- Expat Dave