My super insightful Costa Rican immigration coach, Margaret Aliff, recently pointed me to a lovely private group on Facebook whose administrator offers lodging and other welcoming services to newly ariving LGBTQIA+ people who are moving to Costa Rica under various immigration designations — refugee, pensionado, rentista, digital; nomads, etc.
They’re in an area which I have been strongly considering as a landing/launching pad when I arrive, so I reached out on their Facebook page and signed up. They accepted me. And several of the people who have seen my single post have reached out with welcoming, encouraging messages and offers of assistance.
Margaret assures me that my monthly Social Security income will be more than enough to live a middle class, frugal lifestyle in Costa Rica. (By frugal, I mean un-ostentatious, which I do here in the U.S. already. I live on several hundred dollars less than most retirees on SS, and I won’t have goats, hens, a car and gas to buy down there, so I’ll save at least $200 more per month right there!)
She told me she lives there comfortably on less than I get for SS, and she has been there for 18 years. She says that by learning where to shop and how to buy (at tico- owned businesses and farmer’s markets), I can keep my grocery costs low, and that’s really all I need: a low rental rate and groceries. I’m not a gadabout: I’m completely happy staying at home, staying local, petting Charli and watching the sun rise and set amidst beautiful naural surroundings and wildlife sounds! So, occasional outings with new friends to places farther afield will certainly be do-able. I expect I’ll be able to save $600+/month after I get down there. And once I am granted residency (which can take up to two years) I will join their caja (nationalized health care system) and pay perhaps as much as $160 per month and that’s it for all medical services. No deductibles, no co-pays — you know, like the rest of the civilized world (everywhere but here in the U.S.)!!
There are ten hoops to jump through to get pensionado status. I will have jumped through four of them by the time I land in CostaRica: apostiled copies of my birth certificate, FBI background check, proof of Social Security income, and a cover letter detailing why I want to move to Costa Rica. I will have the cover letter translated into Spanish by Reverso (the best translation option I’ve ever found, far superior to Google, etc.) so that maybe I won’t have to pay to have it translated when I get down there. (But they may mandate that I pay an accredited translation agency down there for this document and/or others.No biggy, if so. It isn’t expensive.)
Then I submit the application along with the necessary fees to the DGME and wait for a decision from them on my Pensionado residency application.
Upon receiving approval, I’ll will be granted temporary residency for two years, at which point the residency can be renewed if necessary.
Although the DGME legally processes applications within 180 days, the current processing time ranges from 9 to 12 months. I can request a one-time extension if my application faces challenges in meeting the document submission deadlines.
Margaret advises her clients to bring important medical files (diagnoses, prescriptions, history of vaccines, surgeries and diagnostic tests), and recent test results to help speed up the healthcare process in Costa Rica.
I’m getting excited again. I’m so ready to leave this hideous political climate behind so I can think of more pleasant things every day without WTF???? hanging over every day like a raised hammer.
My fundraiser goes to the end of March. If you haven’t given yet, and have the ability, please do so. I can also accept funds via Paypal and Zelle if you want to use either of those two routes. My email address for both of those is krisATwordwhispererDOTnet. (You know what to do with AT and DOT, swap ’em out for @ and .)
Here’s the link again:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/charli-and-i-need-your-support?
