Filing for Residency

Yesterday was a very exciting and surreal day. I signed all my papers with my attorney, Roberto Umana. Now he will file them with immigration. Everything is in Spanish. There is no way I could have done this by myself. In about 3-4 months I will officially have my Costa Rican residency!

It has been a lot of work starting in March when I began getting all the required paperwork together. Birth certificate, background check and proof of a pension that is no less than $1,000 a month. For most people that is their Social Security income. Once I had everything together they had to be sent to the Secretary of State for an Apostille to be attached to each document. Then off to Roberto's office and translated into Spanish.

In my case, getting my paperwork together was pretty easy. I was born and raised in the same state. If I had been married I would have been required to get a copy of the Marriage Certificate. If all your life was spent in different States it will take you a little longer to gather all your information. But it is worth it.

Pura Vida!