Should We Nationalize Our Car?

We were in the final stages of packing, selling, and leaving Jacksonville. Things were progressing well but one problem, we still had two cars in our garage: a Jeep and a Subaru.  We needed to sell at least one of the cars and prepare to ship the other to Costa Rica.  Or sell both and buy another in Costa Rica.

We would have preferred to take the Jeep, even though it was not a 4x4 it was newer with lower mileage than my beloved Subaru.  The Jeep had 60,000 miles, the Subaru 225,000!  But the way car importing works in Costa Rica, an incoming vehicle is subject to HUGE import fees (depending on the model, age, mileage, and the attitude of the Customs official.)  Taxes on the Jeep might be 40 – 50% of the assessed value of the vehicle.  I guessed we might be assessed $15,000 or more (much more).  Fees on the Subaru would be more than the sales price but much lower than the Jeep and I was very familiar with the car and felt okay driving a car with so many miles.

Shipping agent arranges for
pickup in Jacksonville

I was not interested in buying a car once we arrived.  I was warned that many used cars on the international market were hurricane cars—survivors of storms in the States and elsewhere that had been overseas to be “refurbished” by shady dealers.  The import fees would be built into the cost of whatever we bought, wherever we bought it.  So, I lobbied the family (really just Dallas) to ship the Subaru to Costa Rica and take our chances.  So we did.

Everything I read before we left told us that cars are an expensive luxury and if you can live on the public transportation system that is the smart decision.  But we are not public transit people and we wanted the freedom to travel and experience the country.  We wanted to see the sights.  The smart money said that car parts were expensive, but labor and insurance were cheap.  They said that Ticos can fix anything, that Japanese or Korean cars were ubiquitous and stick with one or those.  So, we did.  We brought our AWD Outback with 225,000 and have kept our fingers crossed.

Subaru heads to Miami for the voyage
to its new life in Costa Rica

We contracted with a shipper who arranged for our car to be transported to Miami where it would be containerized and shipped to Costa Rica  The shipper would take care of nationalizing the car and deliver it to us. 

This seemed like a good plan.  Then along came COVID-19. The car was picked up in Jacksonville on January 16^th.  We picked it up in San Jose on May 24^th! 

Total cost to bring our car to Costa Rica in a container, inspections, licensing, import taxes, title transfer, insurance, and mechanical work was approximately $10,800 USD. 

Honestly, this was about what I expected except the delay in arrival meant we needed a rental car to a much longer time in Costa Rica, and since we containerized the car for shipping, we packed the back with tools, household goods, books, a TV, golf clubs, and other miscellaneous items we didn’t want to check or ship separately.  Our shipper told us they would have to clear customs in Costa Rica and there would be import fees. They also could not insure these things but they had never had a problem doing this. 

Until this time.  When the car arrived at our home in Puriscal and we started to unpack we noticed things were amiss.  We were missing the TV, a box of power tools, and other small items including things that were in my glove box in the car.  The shipper reminded me that the items were not insured, they had never had anything like this happen, and he would "look into it.”

If you are looking for recommendations for shipping agents, drop me an email.  I would be more than happy to share his information and our experience.

Acquiring Temporary Residency

When you visit Costa Rica you are automatically given a visa which allows you to visit and drive in the country using your passport and out-of-country driver's license.  But lots of people who travel to Costa Rica to stay and never become legal residents.  After all, it is a time consuming and tedious process taking anywhere from one to two years to complete.  They chose instead to remain in a state of “permanent tourism,” constantly renewing their 90-day Visas by making border runs out of the country, as if they were tourists.

 

Cows of Puriscal Canton

A tourist visiting the country in normal non-Covid-19 times is given an automatic 90-day Visa at Immigration upon entering the country.  These tourist Visas are renewable for another 90-days by exiting the country, getting stamped out on your passport, and then returning to be stamped in for another 90-day stay. Permanent tourists call these brief exits into other countries “border runs.”  Costa Rica shares a northern border with Nicaragua and a southern border with Panama.  The travel time to either crossing is about five hours by car, so a border run can be a one-day adventure.

Border runs are technically legal but not encouraged and stories abound of people getting stuck during a border run by an inquisitive immigration official and not getting a full 90-day Visa extension upon re-entry.  

Wise expats apply for temporary residency, which is good for 2 or 3-years, at which time you can apply for permanent residency.  This is the path we have chosen.  As US nationals who have retired and receive lifetime retirement income of at least $1,000, we filed for residency as a Pensionado or retired person.  

The Temporary Residence under the Pensionado Category is valid for two years and can be renewed for additional two-year periods. After three years the person is eligible for Permanent Residence.  Other categories (Rentista and Investor) have different income requirements for which to qualify.

Playa Guiones near Nosara, Guanacaste

Advice on how to obtain resident status is plentiful from other expats but we decided that we would use an immigration attorney due to the large amount of documentation required.

 

Documents Required:

Application Form and cover letter with information about us. (Ours was prepared by our attorney.)

 

An FBI background check.  (Our attorney ordered this from the FBI.)

 

A new or current copy of our birth certificates.  (Ordered by our attorney.)

 

Certified Copy of our passports. (Obtained by our attorney.)

 

Fingerprints (normally obtained at a Police Department, but we had ours taken electronically at our attorney’s office.) 

 

We had to register with the US Consulate.

 

Six additional passport size photographs. (These were also taken at the attorney’s office.)

 

Government Application Fees. ($500 for both of us.)

Each of these documents must be translated into Spanish. All documents are authenticated for use in Costa Rica. The birth certificates and the background checks must be issued within six months prior to filing the application. 

Additional documents may apply if any of the applicants have changed names. Immigration needs documentation to prove that the person on the passport is the same person on the birth certificate. If you have changed names, documents explaining such name changes are needed. These documents need to be apostilled / legalized and translated into Spanish. (We needed to supply our Marriage License.)

Much of this was done in the attorney’s office or online which was a huge relief!  I was not looking forward to having to go to the police station to be fingerprinted.

Altos de Antigua

Why go through all of this just to be considered a resident of Costa Rica?  One Big reason was financial and to participate in the Costa Rican health care system, CAJA.  However you feel about your health care; whether it's through Medicare, private insurance, or self-insure, unless you have some very rare and costly medical condition Costa Rica’s system may be better than yours, be less costly, and as good as you can find.  

Once you become a Temporary or Permanent Resident you are automatically enrolled in CAJA. Your cost is a percentage of your income reported on the Residency Application. I expect the amount to be $120 – 150 per month for both of us.  This amount is subject to an interview with the CAJA officials when legal residency established.

The Visa process is just one more example of how an attitude of Pura Vida is helpful when visiting Costa Rica.  Pura Vida means don't be stressed by the obligations of life, accept things as they come. 

Good advice!

Ramblings

Questions, questions, questions.

Do I have an answer to all our questions and problems? Nada! 

The equation which describes the answers we are all looking for is way too complicated for one person. But I continue to point—point toward the questions and help us think about what solutions might look like.  And encourage us to work on this calculus with love and compassion for all.

Our great American colonial patriot Thomas Paine wrote in his pamphlet The American Crisis.

These are the times that try men’s souls.  The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.

Freedom yes. We all cry out for our freedoms—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Then we fuss over whether Your freedoms infringe upon My freedoms and how do we reconcile these infringements.

It is our SHARED values which hold us together—yes, even the values of universal man and woman. They are the values for which we fight and the values about which we hold common agreement which we hold in common with our nation, church and community; dignity, thoughtfulness, fairness, commitment, diversity, teamwork, harmony, flexibility, patriotism, leadership, and cooperation. But of course, the devil is in the details. One person’s fairness is another’s injustice; one’s patriotism is another’s betrayal.

To say that America is a country divided is a enormous understatement. Even where our values agree there is little common agreement on what those values mean to us. I think we have carried our libertarian interpretation too far and allowed our frontier heritage to overpower our clear thinking.

We seem to have abandoned the rule in favor of shouting fire in a crowded theater when no fire is burning. We seem to first claim our right to free and unfettered individual expression guaranteed by Jefferson as the sole purpose of life. The pursuit of happiness is no longer seen as our gold standard, to be practiced by society because we have the license to do and say what we want, where we want, when we want, and to whom we want. And if we offend or disagree—we will just agree to disagree—even where facts prove otherwise.

We are eroding our own world by failing to recognize and agree upon basic principles and values—human values.  If the United States of America is to survive as a nation we must show a willingness to overcome our selfish desires to place our wants and desires ahead of the wants and desires of all other people. We need to engage each other where we disagree to rediscover the real meaning of these basic human rights, which are the basis of our common life together.,

Our values are the common principles that constitute our moral union as a people, as a nation, and as a world.  If these things which we hold to be self evident are to be so for us, why not for ALL?