Good Immigration Lawyers

You may perhaps take a look at Costa Rica business directory Bill.

Harmonie.

Talk to Marcela Gurdian at Immigration Experts.  Immigration is all she does and she gets it done.  2290-8055 in San Jose, Sabana Sur.

I have used Outlier Legal Services and I find them to be extremely straightforward and reliable. They are very approachable and keep me well informed of the progress of my cases. I have dealt with so may other so called "lawyers" here, who just seem to take money and vanish! Be careful of the ARCR lawyers. A friend of ours lost a ton of money to one who just disappeared without even filing her paperwork! www.outlierlegal.com

A recommended by the USA embassy. I have filtered the firms that do immigration. Good luck... FYI:

1)    aABOGADOS GONZÁLEZ - URIBE Responsible Partners: Javier León Longhi; Luis Javier Uribe Chaverri Contact Person: Javier León Longhi Areas of Practice: Corporate, Administrative, Environmental, Tax, & Immigration Law; Litigation & Arbitration Practice; Notary Services Languages: Spanish, English, Italian Geographical Areas: San José Address: Oficentro Ejecutivo La Sabana, Torre 6 5th floor, San José Telephone: (506) 2231-7060; fax: (506) 2231-7044; cell: (506) 8892-4182 E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: gonur.com

2)    ACZALAW Central American Law Firm Responsible Partners: Oswald A. Bruce; Michael J. Bruce Contact Person: Oswald A. Bruce Areas of Practice: Business, Corporate, Commercial, Civil, Labor, Costumes, & Consumer Law; Immigration, Agency & Distribution Agreements; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Intellectual Property; Collection; Notary; Investments & Off Shore Corporations; Foreign Investment; Mergers & Acquisitions; Civil & Commercial litigation; Taxation; Real Estate; Bankruptcy; Telecommunications & Energy Languages: Spanish, English Geographical Areas: San José; Guanacaste; Puntarenas Address: From Contraloría General de la República 3 blocks south, 75 mts. east, Sabana Sur, San José Telephone: (506) 2296-5656; cell: (506) 8830-4400; (506) 8811-2589; fax: (506) 2296-2828

3)    AG ABOGADOS Responsible Partners: Eduardo Araya Vega; Gonzalo Gutiérrez Acevedo Contact Person: Gonzalo Gutiérrez Areas of Practice: Immigration, Commercial, Civil, Contractual, Criminal, & Labor Law; Fiscal, Administrative, Constitutional, Intellectual & Industrial, Banking & Capital Markets, Free Zone & Family Law; Notary Services; Outsourcing Languages: Spanish, English Geographical Areas: Entire country Address: Street 29, avenue 7, bldg. #2910, San José Telephone: (506) 2257-0006; USA - Canada: (305) 671-3768; fax: (506) 2258-1535 E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: ag-abogados.net

4)    ARA LAW ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW Responsible Partners: Alejandro Rodríguez Vega; Alejandro Rodríguez Castro, Jr. Contact Person: Alejandro Rodríguez, Jr. Areas of Practice: Immigration; Taxation; Intellectual Property; Foreign Investment; Corporate Law & Business; Arbitration & Litigation; Telecommunications; Government Contracts & Real Estate; Notary Services Languages: Spanish, English, French, German, Italian Geographical Areas: Entire country Address: Ara-Law Bdlg., 125 mts. north from "Torre La Sabana", Sabana Norte, San José Telephone: (506) 2291-8844; fax: (506) 2291-8839 E-mail: [email protected] Website: ara-law.com

5)    ASESORES LEGALES EN PROPIEDAD INDUSTRIAL ("ALPI") Responsible Partners: Luis Diego Acuña Delcore; Ana Lorena Vega Vega Contact Person: Luis Diego Acuña Delcore Areas of Practice: Real Estate; Litigation; Dispute Resolution; Corporate Law; Taxation; Intellectual Property; Labor; Banking; Immigration; Customs; International Trade; Transportation; Torts; Notary Services Languages: Spanish, English Geographical Areas: Entire country Address: 7th avenue, 25 and 29 streets, Suite 2524, Barrio Escalante, San José 10101 Telephones: (506) 2221-9058; 2222-1785; cell: (506) 8812-0201; fax: (506) 2222-6054 E-mails: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: acunalegal.com

6)    BOYD SALAS, GABRIEL. Lex Investment & Services S.A Areas of Practice: International & Commercial law; Immigration; International Contracts; Arbitration; Civil Litigation Languages: Spanish, English, Italian Geographical Areas: San José; Central Pacific Address: Del parque de los Mangos 100 Sur y 25 Este, Zapote, San José Telephone: (506) 2283-2692; cell: (506) 8346-6388; fax: (506) 2283-2692 E-mail: [email protected] ; [email protected]

7)    CHAMBERLAIN, HAROLD B. Bufete Chamberlain S.A. Areas of Practice: Real Estate, Immigration & Corporate Law; Notary Services Languages: Spanish, English Geographical Areas: San José; North, Central, and Southern Pacific Address: 200 meters south of Multiplaza, Escazú Telephone: (506) 2289-3798; fax: (506) 2288-1251 E-mail: [email protected]

8)    CORDERO & CORDERO ABOGADOS Responsible Partners: Hernán Cordero-Maduro; Hernán Cordero-Baltodano Contact Person: Ricardo Cordero-Baltodano Areas of Practice: Corporate, Contract Law; Foreign Investment, Project Finance; Mergers & Acquisitions; Real Estate & Zoning; Labor & Immigration; Banking; Financial Institutions & Insurance Law; Civil Litigation Practice; Intellectual Property; Information Technologies & Telecommunications Languages: Spanish, English, French Geographical Areas: Main Office: San José; Branch Office: Guanacaste: Liberia Address: Barrio Don Bosco, 2nd avenue, 24 and 26 streets, corner bldg., 2nd floor Telephone: (506) 2258-2525; fax: (506) 2258-3820 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Website: corderoabogados.com

9)    FACIO ABOGADOS Responsible Partners: Roberto Facio Sáenz; Rafael Enrique Cañas Coto Contact Person: Roberto Facio Sáenz; Rafael Enrique Cañas Coto Areas of Practice: Real Estate Development; Corporate & Business Law; Free Trade Zones; Corporate Tax; Intellectual Property; Banking & Project Finance; Venture Capital & Private Equity; Securities; Immigration; Litigation; Alternate Dispute Resolution; Green Tech; Escrow Services; Notary Services; Certified Translations Languages: Spanish, English, French Geographical Areas: San José; Guanacaste (Tamarindo) Address: Centro Corporativo Plaza Roble, El Patio Bldg., 3rd floor, office 1, Guachipelín, San José Telephone: (506) 2201-8700; fax: (506) 2201-8707; cell: (506) 8825-0422; (506) 8834-8383 E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: faciolaw.com

10)    GLC ABOGADOS CONSORTIUM LLC S.A. Responsible Partners: Augusto R. Arce Marín, Manuel Porras Vargas Contact Person: Marcia Madrigal Quesada Areas of Practice: Business, Immigration, Family, Labor, and Banking Law; Notary Services Languages: Spanish, English, Mandarin, Italian Geographical Areas: San José, Limón; Guanacaste; Central Pacific Address: Street 39, avenues 8 and 10, Los Yoses, San José Telephone: (506) 2524-3176. Fax: (506) 2253-2252. E-mail: [email protected] Website: lawyersofcostarica.com

11)    MACÍS DELGADO, RAYMUNDO JOSÉ. Costa Rica Relocation ZURMAC, S.A. Areas of Practice: Corporate, Real Estate, Immigration & Foreign Investment; Notary Services Languages: Spanish, English Geographical Areas: San José Address: Centro Corporativo Plaza Roble, Los Balcones bldg., 4th floor, Guachipelín de Escazú, San José Telephone: (506) 2201-7156; cell: (506) 8829-5738; fax: (506) 2201-7150 E-mail: [email protected] Website: costaricarelocation.com

12)    MURILLO, ALFONSO. A.B. Interlaw Areas of Practice: Immigration, Criminal, Real Estate & Corporate Law Languages: Spanish, English, Italian, Portuguese, German Geographical Areas: Entire country, Brazil, and Europe Address: 400 west from Hotel Marriott, Belén, Heredia 4005 Telephone: (506) 2239 8160; cell: (506) 8387 9599; fax: (506) 2293-8363 Email: [email protected]

13)    NASSAR ABOGADOS S.A. Responsible Partners: Tomás F. Nassar; Alina Nassar Contact Person: Tomás F. Nassar; Alina Nassar Areas of Practice: Corporate, M&A, Commercial, & Civil Litigation; Aviation; Maritime; Finance and Capital Venture; Bank; Contracts; Competition and Consumer Protection; Intellectual Property; Administrative; Constitutional; Public Contracts; Tax; Customs; Labor; Immigration; Real Estate; Telecommunications Languages: English, French, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish Geographical Areas: San José and Central America Address: Barrio Tournón, Oficentro Torres del Campo. Torre I, 2nd floor, San José Telephone: (506) 2257-2929; fax: (506) 2248-2021 E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: nassarabogados.com

14)    NIEHAUS ABOGADOS Responsible Partners: Walter Niehaus Bonilla; Kurt Niehaus Bonilla Contact Person: Walter Niehaus Bonilla; Kurt Niehaus Bonilla Areas of Practice: Corporate; Real Estate; Condominium; Tourism; Commercial; Immigration; Labor; Administrative; Intellectual Property; Environmental; Banking Law; Telecommunication; Governmental & Parliamentary Operations; Litigation; Notary Services Languages: Spanish, English, German, Italian Geographical Areas: Quepos, Manuel Antonio, Guanacaste, San José Address: 200 meters north from the Subaru Car Agency Telephone: (506) 2224-8282; fax: (506) 2225-0505; cell: (506) 8376-2327; (506) 8845-0025 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Website: ninclaw.com

15)    PACHECO COTO Responsible Partners: Humberto Pacheco; Hernán Pacheco Contact Person: Humberto Pacheco Areas of Practice: International Asset Planning; Business & Corporate, Real Estate & Hospitality, Intellectual Property Law; Litigation & Arbitration; Administrative & Government Procurement; Banking & Finance; Telecommunications Languages: Spanish, English, French, Hebrew Geographical Areas: Costa Rica, Switzerland, New Zealand Address: Forum 2, PACHECO COTO Bldg. 4th floor, Santa Ana Telephone: (506) 2505 0900; fax: (506) 2505 0907 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Website: pachecocoto.com

16)    PREINFALK LAVAGNI, NICOLE Areas of Practice: Commercial law; Notary Services; immigration law Languages: Spanish, English, basic German Geographical Areas: San José; Heredia; Alajuela; Cartago Address: Urbanization Loma Real, Condominium Villa Real # dos, San Rafael, Guachipelín, San José Telephone: (506) 2215-1091; cell: (506) 8705 9500; fax: (506) 2215-0598 E-mail: [email protected]

17)    QUIRÓS ABOGADOS CENTRAL LAW Responsible Partners: Rafael Arturo Quirós Bustamante; Mauricio Quirós González Contact Person: Rafael Arturo Quirós Bustamante Areas of Practice: Corporate, Commerce, Labor, Criminal, Family, Public, Immigration, Real State, Tourism, Environmental, & Insurance Law; Mergers & Acquisitions; Arbitration & Litigation; Notary Services Languages: Spanish, English, French, Hebrew Geographical Areas: San José Address: Street 37 bis, avenue 10, Los Yoses, San José Telephone: (506) 2224-7800; cell: (506) 8816-0000 or 8899-3668 Fax: (506) 2234-7335 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Website: quiroslaw.com; central-law.com

18)    RUDELMAN, WOHLSTEIN, URI. Interlegem Areas of Practice: Real Estate; Corporate; Business, Aviation, Family Law; Immigration & Labor; Public Contracting; Banking & Finance; Mergers & Acquisition; Restructures; Project Financing; Civil & Arbitral Litigation; Transactional & Negotiation; Registered Arbitrator; Notary Services Languages: Spanish, English, German, Portuguese, Hebrew Geographical Areas: San José; Entire country Address: Oficentro Plaza Colonial, Office # 2-16, Escazú, San José Telephone: (506) 2288-4800; cell: + (506) 8834-2394; fax: + (506) 2288-4590, from US dial: +1 818 232 7023 E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: interlegem.com

19)    SERRANO MATTEY, LUIS MAYNOR. Bufete Serrano Mattey Areas of Practice: Immigration & Commercial law; Notary Services Languages: Spanish, English, German Geographical Areas: San José Address: Guadalupe, Residencial Miraflores # 412, San José Telephone: (506) 2280-6131; cell: (506) 8815-2329; fax: (506) 2225-5337 E-mail: [email protected] Website: costaricalegaladvisor.com

20)    ZURCHER, ODIO & RAVEN S.A. Responsible Partners: Harry Zurcher Blen; Edgar Zurcher Gurdián Contact Person: Harry Zurcher Blen Areas of Practice: Corporate & Commercial; Corporate Finance; Mergers & Acquisitions; Real Estate; Banking & Finance; Trusts & Estates; Employer-Labor Relations; Foreign Investment & International Commerce; Tourism Intellectual Property; Trademarks & Patents; Immigration; Environmental Regulation & Public Health; Government Procurement; Energy & Telecommunications Languages: Spanish, English, Italian Geographical Areas: Entire country; San José; Guanacaste Address: Plaza Roble, Los Balcones Bldg, 4th floor Telephone: (506) 2201-3800; fax: (506) 2201-7153 E-mail: [email protected] Website: zurcherodioraven.com

Source

Hello mike.fomena -> Do not hesitate to recommend these Attorneys into the Costa Rica Business directory.

Thank you,
Aurélie

thanks for the extensive list...

Luis Diego Acuna was good, but grossly overcharges.
   Most of these so-called lawyers are money grabbers

[Moderated: No free ad on the forum]

Thanks, but it is OBE now and I have already applied for residency.

Hi Bill, my name is Jerry and my wife and I will be retiring to CR also,Iwas wondering how smooth your Pensionado Residence procedure go? I plan to hire a lawyer before we come down there and we are finding a ranfe of fee charges with every Law Firm that I have talked to.The cost has ranged from 3,000-4,500. Does that sound about right to you?

Hi my name is Jerry and will be applying for Pensionado Residence soon and would like to know the lady's web site if you have it handy. I have talked to several lawyers and the prices ranged from3,000-4,500. Thanks Jerry

[Moderated: No free ad on the forum]

Sounds a bit high Jerry.  Send me a note at cr-bill-52{at}hotmail.com

Jerry,

ARCR charges $1100 each for you and your wife, but there are extra costs like the $500 for you two in a bank account in case they have to deport you and Misc others.  There will be costs at the end of the process also, to get your cedula etc..  Just working with a Lawyer, not through ARCR should be less expensive.

Bill

Hi Bill, I tried to respond to your E-mail ,but it came back invalid. cr-bill-52[at]Hotmail.com  Jerry

Hi Bill, Congrats on your decision on retiring to CR. It sounds like your tour put the winds at your sail. We are also leaning towards Atenas or Grecia, probably Atenas , my wife likes it a little warmer. The location seems to fit our likings being in our late 60.s we wanted to be fairly close to Hospitals and Airports. We plan on renting a furnished small house or a large Apt. near town center. Are you planning on using a local Realtor in Atenas? I was also wondering how your Pensionado Residence went in regards to the paper work and documents, and did you feel good about your Lawyer? By the way, how is your Spanish coming along? Jerry

We recommend Mr. Adrian Fernandez. He is very inexpensive and is a partner in a small law firm in San Jose. He speaks perfect english as well. [email protected] or 506-8386-1698. Good Luck, The Hill Family, Alan and Gina

Many lawyers don't include the legal fees when they quote you a price for applying for residency, so ask specifically 'how his fee is' and 'how much for government legal fees for immigration purposes'...which are in fact, approx $800 for each applicant.

we did our residency paperwork ourselves and became residents within two months. I am beware of attorneys, although there must be one or two honest ones (???). I know, not one or two, but many instances where expats have to wait for over a year or more and to pay twice as initially agreed to get their residency. It will take sometime to do it, need to have patience with the bureaucratic machine but it can be done. The only lawyer in the family was an aunt's husband, he was a crook (no surprise there), he's death now, no more family burden.

Applying through the birth of a child born here, is usually much simpler...but not always so fast, even with this method.

MauroN wrote:

we did our residency paperwork ourselves and became residents within two months. I am beware of attorneys, although there must be one or two honest ones (???). I know, not one or two, but many instances where expats have to wait for over a year or more and to pay twice as initially agreed to get their residency. It will take sometime to do it, need to have patience with the bureaucratic machine but it can be done. The only lawyer in the family was an aunt's husband, he was a crook (no surprise there), he's death now, no more family burden.

Wow! Never heard of anyone doing it themselves! Congrats to you for doing that and I've never heard of ANYONE getting it done in 2 months!

Good job!
You should consider writing a "How To" on this!

I read an article that a immigration lawyer wrote on a website, saying that getting approved for Residency is not permitted, in less than 3 months. Whether that applies to someone applying by the birth of a child, I don't know.

kohlerias wrote:

I read an article that a immigration lawyer wrote on a website, saying that getting approved for Residency is not permitted, in less than 3 months. Whether that applies to someone applying by the birth of a child, I don't know.

Did you use outlier? How did it go?
I would love it if everyone here who has used an immigration attorney would state:
1) who they used
2) what category (pensionado, rentista, investor)
3) how long it took
4) what they paid

We are moving next month and want to get our residency started. We've started getting the paper work together.

Am having a bit of a quandary re how to get the police letter of good conduct as our city doesn't seem to offer it. I guess the next step is to try to get it via the state police?

The lawyer we used has since stopped processing applications, and if your 'lawyer' says it will be done in 5 months, ask him to guarantee it    or interview another lawyer.

Trying to 'estimate' both the cost and time taken to get Residency  is based on previous applications, so it is a moot point, since once residency has been obtained it is 'in the past' and is no help to you.

Hello,

We have used Gloria Leandro Vega, Departamento Migratorio, Tel.: +(506) 2256-5555 ext.790
Of Facio & Cañas  based in San José  (www.fayca.com) to get our pensionado status.  The same lawyer firm that Recap investment used for lot title at Playa Lagarto Eco Development.  She has charged us 1000.00$ USD each, plus 250.00$ ea for immigration (if I am not mistaken), plus an amount based on where you are from (to send you back if there are any issues).  We received our pensionado cedula 1 year later, but if we would have been in Costa Rica at that time, I beleive we would have got it a little sooner (about 8 mos). It went quite smoothly.  Timely, but smoothly !!  If we had to do it all over, I would not hesitate to contact her again !

Some of the best information of the break down of the costs and time taken, related to obtaining Residency was posted by Rafael Valverde of Outlier Legal post #33.
Check it out...

"I can provide some input regarding the costs. You must keep in mind that there are three types of costs related to an application for Temporary Residence under the Pensionado Category. Namely, the attorney's fees, the government fees, and the expenses.

Legal Fees
The attorney's fees, as kohlerias noted, vary depending on the law firm.  The Costa Rican Lawyer's Bar Association has a fee schedule setting the minimum fees for all legal services. In this case, the minimum fee for the application for temporary residence under the pensionado category is $1000 per person.  In the market, you will find attorneys charging between 1000 and 2500. I give two pieces of advice as far as retaining an attorney for these services. First, do not hire an attorney who will charge you less than the minimum fee, because it is illegal. I always warn people to be skeptical of hiring an attorney who is willing to break the law in order to get your business. Second, hire a law firm, do not hire a relocation firm.
There are a number of relocation firms that provide legal services, this is illegal as well. It is ok if the relocation firm refers you to a law firm, in that case you will be dealing directly with the law firm.
Total $1000 per person.

Government Fees
These are the fees that you will need to pay to the Costa Rican government. You will have to pay the fees in two different stages.
First, you will need to pay a $50 application fee. In addition, you will need to pay $200 for the change of status fee. This is required to change from tourist visa status to temporary residence status. You will also need to pay a tax of 80 cents.
Second, when your application is approved, you will need to pay the fees for the DIMEX (ID card for foreigners) which is $123. You will also have to pay the security deposit. This deposit varies from country to country. The purpose of the deposit is for the Costa Rican government to have funds to return you home should you forfeit your residence or should you be deported. Therefore, the amount of the deposit depends on your country of origin. To give you an idea, US nationals pay a deposit of $300. This funds are returned when you either return to your home country or when you obtain permanent residence. In addition, you will need to pay the CCSS which has been widely covered in this topic. It can be somewhere between $100 and $200 per month.
Total $673 per person. The CCSS cost is not added.

Expenses
These are the out of pocket expenses that you will need to incur in order to complete all the documents required for the application.
Translations $100 per person
Registration with US Consulate $50
Passport Size photographs $10
Certified copy of passport $30
Power of attorney $30
Authentication of signature for cover letter $30
Documents from the US (police records, birth certificate) $40
Apostil for documents from the US $50
Total $340 per person

These expenses are calculated on you being from the US and assuming that you will obtain the documents yourself. You can hire a firm in the US to help you obtain the documents, which will increase your expenses. The costs of apostils depend on the state where the documents are from.

The approximate cost for an application for temporary residence under the Pensionado Category is $2013 USD, assuming that: that you are from the US, that your attorney charges the minimum fee, and that you obtain the police records, birth certificates and marriage certificate yourself along with the apostils. From there it can just go up.

I hope this information is useful.

Regards,

Rafael Valverde"

Very useful, thank you

Thank you. This is very important information to be of aware in order to give consideration to these fees before beginning the Temporary Residency application process. For some prospective pensiados, the cumulative plus additional monthly expenses might be more than they can afford.

Can you provide information about any additional monthly insurance payments prospective pensiados should be aware of in order to access through Costa Rica's Health Care Insurance Program(s?)

Is there a certain amount of time a prospective pensiados must wait before being able to access covered health care in Costa Rica?

Thank you for providing such informative and detailed information about the process and costs related to each step of the Temporary Residency Application process:


I look forward to learning how the process of being or becoming eligible for health care in Costa Rica is interwoven, or not, into applying for and/or being approved for Temporary Residency as potential to prospective pensiados.

Sincerely,

CaliFemme

Once you have applied and been approved for residency you must affiliate with the Costa Rica health care system (CAJA) before you receive your residency proper.  Unfortunately there is no "chart" that one can go to, to find what your monthly CAJA fees will be.  It appears to be solely at the discretion of your individual CAJA office.  It is supposed to be based on income but VERY often those of similar incomes have varying monthly fees.  Your best bet is to hope some people in your residency class will share with you what they are paying presently to get a rough idea of your potential monthly fees.  We are sitting waiting for our residency, in fact we just filed an appeal as it is taking so long and we are apprehensive about finding out what our CAJA fees will be.

That was so very well explained.  You are the best !
Have two questions for you:
We have our pensionado card since Jan 2015 which is good for 2 years.  We have moved here permanenyly, in Costa Rica a few months ago, not planning on going back to Canada unless really need to for unfortunate situation.  Once we are due to reniew our Pensionado (in 2 years), we need to provide a proof of Canadian pension for life (the only doc we have to provide as far as we know) and will do so thrue the BCR. The question is :  do you know if the letter (proof of pension) has to be certified in Canada by a lawyer then to the Chamber of notaries again ? Or just bring the original plain letter to BCR is fine ?
Second question:  once we will be here for our 3 years, as I understood, we can ask for our permemency.  Do we have to start from scratch with all the paperwork or just kinda request it ?    Thank you, Marie-Claude

I cannot answer your first question as we are not at that point yet and we also applied under a different category.  As to whether you have to start from scratch - NO!
Where are you from in Canada?  We hail from Red Deer, Alberta.
Cheers .... Terry

No, you can't use the same document when renewing your Temporary Residency. It must dated very close to the date of your appointment.
You could ask an accountant to verify the pension amount that you used to apply for residency, to show that it is at least the same amount, but of course he will have to have access to your financial information. Or contact 'services Canada' and ask them to send you a statement and then have either one notarized here, which should be acceptable.... but since you will be dealing with BCR and not Immigration they may question this.
A US citizen has it easier as they can go to the SS office in the US Embassy where an apostille (a form of authentication) will be added to ensure it is a legal document. The Canadian Embassy does not do this.

Pensionados do have a lower CAJA rate than Investors or Rentistas, and if either of these principal applicants are under 55, they have been known to have to pay approx. US$450    This was also reported in the on-line newspapers  February 2014. so some premiums risen. Updated info here on the payment scale on the Costa Rica Law website.
After you enter into your 4th year of residency, you can apply for Permanent Residency and expect that it may take a year.

We were not planning on using the same document. Actually, it would be the same document as I am retired from the Royal Canadian Air Forces and my pention will always be the same !  Only the date of issue will be different.  I just do not want to go to Montreal just to get a piece of
paper signed !

As long as it is a up-to-date document, showing the same source and amount of income.

Would be prerty much the same.  Same source but maybe minor change in rhe amount. Would I still need to get it notarised in Canada ?

I may have misunderstood the question, when I said the same documents were acceptable I was referring to the birth certificate, marriage, and record check documents.

kohlerias wrote:

No, you can't use the same document when renewing your Temporary Residency. It must dated very close to the date of your appointment.
You could ask an accountant to verify the pension amount that you used to apply for residency, to show that it is at least the same amount, but of course he will have to have access to your financial information. Or contact 'services Canada' and ask them to send you a statement and then have either one notarized here, which should be acceptable.... but since you will be dealing with BCR and not Immigration they may question this.
A US citizen has it easier as they can go to the SS office in the US Embassy where an apostille (a form of authentication) will be added to ensure it is a legal document. The Canadian Embassy does not do this.

Pensionados do have a lower CAJA rate than Investors or Rentistas, and if either of these principal applicants are under 55, they have been known to have to pay approx. US$450    This was also reported in the on-line newspapers  February 2014. so some premiums risen. Updated info here on the payment scale on the Costa Rica Law website.
After you enter into your 4th year of residency, you can apply for Permanent Residency and expect that it may take a year.

By "principal applicants" you mean the person with the pension which residency is based on, right? So if Iam the pensionado and Iam over 55 but my wife is under 55 we won't get charged $450 a month, right? (income is only $1300/month!)

If they charge any more than about $200 for our CAJA as pensionados, we will not be able to become legal residents!
I will be the main applicant with an income of around $1300/mo.

Can someone please clarify this for me?It's worrying me as we are about to apply but no way we could pay anywhere near $450/mo.
Outlier?
Hopefuly my wife being under 55 (with me as 63yo applicant) will not cause our CAJA to be that high!

Sam Ramon;
There is NO WAY anyone on this forum can guarantee what you will pay.  I would be EXTREMELY surprised if you were near $450 but it depends on the person in the CAJA office.  We applied as Inversionista and CAJA assumes that a person applying under that category is rich.  We are DEFINITELY not rich but it is the only program we could apply under.  I have no guaranteed pension, we do not have $120,000 to be rentistas but we were able to sell our house in Canada and purchase / build our house here on the basis of what we sold for in Canada.  I wish you the best as I wish ourselves.  Don't know what we will do with a $500 a month CAJA payment and yet here we sit waiting.