Hi there, I have started toying with the idea of moving to costa rica. I'm 31, work as an urban planner and speaking a bit of spanish, but understand a great deal. I would obviously begin classes prior to leaving in any case. Does anyone know of any architectural firms in CR? I'm dependant on it being a relatively large practice as the projects I tend to work on are relatively large in scale. But I'd be happy contacting smaller firms too.
My reason for wanting this is simple. I am sick and tired of the climate in northern europe. I have several experiences living around the world, and I have been to both south and central america in the past. Are there other potential countries people would recommend? What areas would be ideal to live/work in? My base research tells me San Jose is really the only option for me. I'm culturally flexible and would obviously come for a visit prior to moving, though I don't expect any surprises really.
Are there any other members out there in my age bracket who could comment on lifestyle out there? Looking forward to hearing opinions from anyone happy to give one.
Costa Rica networking
Keep in mind that you CANNOT perform work in Costa Rica (except in a few exceptional cases) without being a PERMANENT resident. It take a minimum of three years to become permanent. The one large exception to this rule is an internet based business.
TerrynViv wrote:Keep in mind that you CANNOT perform work in Costa Rica (except in a few exceptional cases) without being a PERMANENT resident. It take a minimum of three years to become permanent. The one large exception to this rule is an internet based business.
Hi, thanks for your reply. I am however getting quite a lot of conflicting information on this. I understand you can go in and be an investor and get a specific visa for that, however not do any labour for said business. Haing an internet based job I have seen as well. But what I have seen is if you were offered a job as a specialist, you may still obtain a work visa for 1 year, which may be extended. Is this not the case? It is my only angle at the moment.
That would be my comment "except in a few exceptional cases" you need to show (and I don't know how one does this) that you are not doing a job that a Costa Rica citizen could. This topic has been discussed on another forum in great detail, here is one forums.arcr.net/index.php?/topic/7792-help-obtaining-a-work-permit/page__hl__%2Bteacher+%2Bcitizen+%2Bjob__fromsearch__1
That may help you immensely.
TerrynViv wrote:That would be my comment "except in a few exceptional cases" you need to show (and I don't know how one does this) that you are not doing a job that a Costa Rica citizen could. This topic has been discussed on another forum in great detail, here is one forums.arcr.net/index.php?/topic/7792-help-obtaining-a-work-permit/page__hl__%2Bteacher+%2Bcitizen+%2Bjob__fromsearch__1
That may help you immensely.
Thanks for the link, going to register and read it. But that's all I wanted to hear really. I appreciate how hard it might be, but as its early days, I am simply trying to narrow down my search before I move to my next stage of deciding on where to focus finding work and building up my network. I do have people I can ask about providing this proof as I know a few people who have managed to get through similar processes in various countries. I am thoroughly dismissing notions of can't do at the moment.
Do you have any contacts in Costa Rica who update you or have you been there recently? As much as I used to hear good things about the place, the more I am reading and researching currently, it seems to be going down the pan a little i.e rising crime levels, mismanagement in general from government, etc..But I am a generally skeptic person and it's not really something that does put me off.
We bought retirement property in Costa Rica a year and a half ago and have been there three times since. I have read the same thoughts as yours about rising crime but cannot really give a personal opinion since we really don't have a benchmark to measure from. We traveled all over the country before we bought and have never had an uncomfortable moment. There is a definite lack of police presence and the "bribe" still goes a long way.
That sounds fantastic. As for the crime levels, I guess they will either rise or fall depending on economic prosperity of the people somewhat, which is another bigger concern. The world is generally not doing too well and I'm relatively reliant on developments happening. I have considered places in Europe, but most of the south is pretty much off limits at the moment due to the lackluster economic growth/contraction there. But again, thanks for your advice. The forum you sent me has been a new good resource to scour in my pursuit for information.
While, technically, you can't hold a job without residency, you can have a business and manage it, so there's really no impediment to gainful activity. Many, many transactions are in cash besides and not reported. For better or worse.
I think, however, that you'd be hard-pressed to find urban planning work here, and if you did it would probably drive you crazy in short order!! 
I'm wondering if urban planning lends itself to telecommuting at all? If so, you might be able to retain a job in Europe and live here if you have a good 'net connection. If it was possible to do free-lance work you could make it here, but it doesn't seem like it's that kind of a job.
Casey - A Dull Roar - Moving to, Retiring in, and Living with Costa Rica
crenvy wrote:While, technically, you can't hold a job without residency, you can have a business and manage it, so there's really no impediment to gainful activity. Many, many transactions are in cash besides and not reported. For better or worse.
I think, however, that you'd be hard-pressed to find urban planning work here, and if you did it would probably drive you crazy in short order!!
I'm wondering if urban planning lends itself to telecommuting at all? If so, you might be able to retain a job in Europe and live here if you have a good 'net connection. If it was possible to do free-lance work you could make it here, but it doesn't seem like it's that kind of a job.
Casey - A Dull Roar - Moving to, Retiring in, and Living with Costa Rica
Thanks for your response Crenvy. It seems most the advice I'm getting is in this direction. Urban planning in most places will make any sane person loose their hair. Norway where I currently work are masters of discussing plans to death for a good 20 years before the wrong decision is made, and the whole process thrown out to be started over.
I do some freelance/collaboratory work and work witth one of my colleagues via the internet. Networking might be a problem, but completing the work and transferring is no problem..finding a suitable employer who would do this however, might be more difficult.
But as I mentioned in my original post, this is early days still..and the more research I do, Costa Rica is dropping down the list of potential places. But again, thanks for your response.
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