Many expats who have built families with a Costa Rican want to get their natural or adopted offspring a U.S passport. Some believe that since they are U.S. citizens, the right to pass on U.S. citizenship is automatic. It is not. However, it does not need to be a daunting task either.

Whether expats are applying for their biological or stepchildren, the procedure seems to be less painstaking than getting their spouse U.S. citizenship.

In a nutshell, there are certain permanence requirements for the parents to be able to pass citizenship on to their biological, adopted or legitimated children, and the process is much smoother and faster for children under 18 years of age than for older children.

Parent requirements

Any child born in wedlock or adopted as stepchild outside the United States to an American parent and a foreign parent can obtain U.S. citizenship, as long as the American parent resided in the U.S. for a certain amount of years prior to leaving the country.

Parents born on or after Nov. 14, 1986, need to have lived in the United States at least five years, of which two are required after the age of 14. If they were born between Dec. 24, 1952, and Nov.

13, 1986, they need to have lived 10 years in the U.S., of which five are required after the age of 14.

A child born out of wedlock to an American father and a foreign mother can obtain U.S. citizenship when meeting all the following requirements:

a.) a proven blood relationship between the applicant and the father; b.) the father had U.S. nationality at the time of the child’s birth; c.) the father agrees in writing to provide financial support for the child until he or she reaches 18 years of age; d.) the child is legitimized by the father in their birth country before 18 years of age.

A child born out of wedlock to an American mother and a foreign father may acquire U.S. citizenship if, a.) the mother was a U.S. citizen at the time of the child’s birth and b.) the mother lived in the U.S. for one continuous year.

Immediate citizenship

According to the Citizenship and Immigration Services website, the Child Citizenship Act has streamlined the process for children to obtain citizenship as soon as they enter the U.S.

Children protected by the Child Citizenship Act are called newly entering IR-3 children, and they receive certificates of citizenship within 45 days of arriving to the U.S., without needing a permanent resident card and then filling out form N-600 to obtain citizenship, as outlined in the article on citizenship for spouses. If they wish to obtain their U.S. citizen status while living abroad, they need to apply at the U.S. Embassy using N-600K (Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322), which costs $460. However, children must travel with their parents to the United States to complete the application process.

Parents who wish to obtain a passport for their children must apply for it at the Department of State once they have received their citizenship certificates from Citizen and Immigration Services.

Children who qualify for this automatic process are:

a.) younger than 18 years of age;

b.) orphans whose adoption has been finalized in their country of birth or the United States;

c.) biological or legitimized children;

d.) children born out of wedlock to a naturalized mother;

e.) adopted children after completing two-year custody.

The Child Citizenship Act also requires American parents to have met the required time in the country to be able to request automatic citizenship for their biological or adopted children.

The following paperwork is necessary to qualify for automatic children citizenship:

a.) photographs of the child;

b.) fee (when applying from abroad, N-600K,
$460);

c.) child’s birth certificate;

d.) American parent’s birth certificate;

e.) parents’ marriage certificate (if applicable);

f.) document for termination of previous marriages (if applicable);

g.) document showing full and final adoption or
legitimacy (if applicable);

h.) evidence of all legal name changes (if applicable).

Naturalization

Biological, adopted or legitimized children older than 18 are required to undergo the standard process of residence and naturalization applicable to any immigrant.

According to a previous article on U.S. Citizenship, the American parent needs to request permanent residency for their child, filing I-130 Petition for Alien Relative ($355) and any additional paperwork required by the U.S. Embassy proving the relationship between the parent and the child, as well as a medical exam required for the applicant.

The embassy’s website states that unmarried or married children over 18 obtain limited permanent residency, but no further information on this status is provided. The applicant must wait until Citizenship and Immigration Services approves the petition to be able to travel to the U.S. and apply for naturalization.

Once in the United States, the applicant must ask Citizen and Immigration Services if he or she qualify for an immediate visa number or if they need to wait, in which case, they should periodically check the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin to get their visa number.

Applicants must stay five years in order to request citizenship, leaving the country for periods no longer than six months.

The Citizen and Immigration Services website specifies that once the permanence requirement is met, the applicant must proceed to file form N-400, along with the following:

a.) a check or money order for the application fee
of $675;

b.) a photocopy of both sides of the permanent resident card;

c.) Two identical color photographs (wearing no eyeglasses or earrings), with name and “A-number” written in pencil on the back of the pictures. Those doing so should check the Guide to Naturalization for more details on photo requirements.

Besides the paperwork above, the applicant must pass English proficiency and U.S. civics tests, and show: a.) evidence of good moral character, b.) adherence to the Constitution principles and c.) a positive outlook of the United States. Once the latter requirements are fulfilled, an interview will be scheduled, after which they can take the oath to allegiance and obtain their citizenship.

In summary, expats who want to pass on their U.S. citizenship to their children have to qualify themselves based on their own permanence in the United States. All immigration procedures seem like a bureaucratic endless torture, but to have the steps distilled into an outline like this one makes the task easier to understand and more palatable.

Complimentary Article in PDF Fomat

Most people have heard the Costa Rican dream story. A tourist comes for vacation, falls in love with Costa Rica and/or a Costa Rican, goes back home and sells everything or ships it down here to become an expat. This usually applies more to men than to women. In many cases older men find younger Costa Rican women, some with children from former relationships.

In many cases the Costa Rican counterpart, whether it be a wife or a husband, does not want to live here but wants to live in the United States and, most importantly, wants to be a U. S. citizen. Some even believe it to something of a prize they need to win to be happy and constantly pressure the expat to repatriate — go back to the United States to live — so they can get their citizenship.

Getting married by itself does not give a Costa Rican wife or husband U. S. citizenship. This is true for both expats and Costa Ricans who want citizenship in either country. Many expats do not want to go back to the United States, but some concede to do so for their new spouse.

The process for expats who have decided to move back to the United States and get their Costa Rican spouse residency and eventually U. S. citizenship is not overly complicated if one knows how to do it. However, putting everything down on paper and distilling it into a cheat sheet for expats who have made the big decision to move back took some doing.

In a nutshell, the process goes like this:

1. Applying for permanent residency.

2. Obtaining permanent residency.

3. Moving to and staying in the United States for the time period required to be eligible for citizenship.

4. Applying for naturalization, completing all requirements for the naturalization process, and obtaining citizenship.

5. Requesting citizenship for children

Applying for permanent residency

In order to apply for permanent residency, U. S. citizens are required to file a petition for their relatives. According to the U. S. Embassy’s website, the petition process for expats who have Costa Rican residency differs from expats who do not have it.

Expats with Costa Rican residency:

• Expats who have lived in the country for at least 6 months and have already obtained Costa Rican residency can fill out I-130 Petition for Alien Relative at the U. S. Embassy in Pavas on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 1:30 p.m. The petition costs $355. The embassy sends all petitions to U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

• Once the Citizenship and Immigration Services approves a petition, it is forwarded to the National Visa Center, which may contact the applicant if additional documentation is required. Once approved by the visa center, the petition will be sent back to the U. S. Embassy. No information is available as to how long this process takes.

• The embassy then contacts the expat for presenting their U. S. birth certificate and the document that proves their relationship to the Costa Rican relative, whether it is a marriage certificate (issued by the Registro Civil if the wedding took place in Costa Rica) or the birth certificate of their children.

• The expat must also provide documents that prove termination of any previous marriages by divorce or death.

• The embassy also requires proof of legitimate marriage relationship — provided by answering questions and showing family pictures.

• A medical exam ordered by the Embassy is required for the foreign spouse, as well as other requirements, including police records. This exam can cost around $250.

• Any documents in Spanish must be translated into English.

After all requirements have been filed, an interview is scheduled for the spouse, who should bring an I-864 affidavit of support that proves the expat has sufficient income to support the spouse without public benefits.

Expats without Costa Rican residency:

According to the Citizenship and Immigration Services website, expats who do not have Costa Rican residency must file the I-130 petition in the United States, at the citizenship office closest to their hometown.

After approval, the Citizenship and Immigration Services sends the petition to the Department of State’s National Visa Center to determine if a visa number is available immediately for the relative. Numbers are assigned immediately to spouses and unmarried children under 21. Married children will have to wait to get a visa number, but they can check its status in the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin.

Applicants should be aware that if permanent residency is granted before their second wedding anniversary, the residency will have conditional status, which means the couple must prove they have a legitimate relationship for two years after obtaining conditional residency. The couple must apply for removing the conditions on the residency by gathering the following documents:

•Filling out form I-751 (Petition to Remove Residency Conditions),

• Submitting a copy of the permanent residency card, showing evidence of their relationship (i.e. leases or property deeds that show co-dwelling/co-ownership, birth certificates of children).

Failure to apply for this procedure results in losing all residency rights.

U. S. citizens can obtain unlimited permanent residency for spouses and unmarried children under 21, and limited permanent residency for unmarried children’s minor offspring and married children, their spouses and minor offspring.

Obtaining permanent residency

The U. S. Embassy’s website states that after filing the I-130 petition, while waiting for approval from the Citizenship and Immigration Services, foreign spouses and children can obtain a K-3 visa and travel to the United States to become permanent residents through an adjustment of status, but this process is not immediate.

To apply for the K-3 visa, the following documents must be sent by mail to the United States Department of Homeland Security:

• form I-129,

• a copy of Form I-797 that states the I-130 petition was received by Citizenship and Immigration Services,

• additional forms requested in I-129 and

• a fee of $400.

While waiting for approval, if the foreign relatives wish to travel abroad, they need to request advance permission from the Citizenship and Immigration Services prior to traveling. Otherwise, they will abandon their visa applications and will not be allowed to return to the United States.

Moving to and staying in the United States for the time period required by the Citizenship and Immigration Services to be eligible for citizenship

The Citizenship and Immigration Services website states that foreign spouses may apply for citizenship after remaining in the United States for three years, during which they are not allowed to leave the country for more than 6 months at a time.

No information was available on the time period minor children must remain in the country before applying for naturalization.

Applying for naturalization, completing all requirements for the naturalization process, and obtaining citizenship.

Non-citizen spouses need to meet the following requirements:

• Contiguous residence in the United States for three years prior to applying,

• English language proficiency,

• Knowledge of United States history and civics,

• Good moral character,

• Adherence to United States Constitution principles,

• A positive outlook of the United States.

• Filling out Form N-400 along with a fee of $675 by check or money order (application $595, fingerprints $80) and sending it to the nearest Citizenship and Immigration Services office. Fees are non-refundable.

Even though no specific time frame was given for obtaining citizenship, the Citizenship and Immigration Services website claims the bureau has been trying to maximize efforts and complete the process in six months.

If approved, the immigration services will schedule an interview, right after which the applicant can attend the oath ceremony and obtain citizenship. If the applicant requests to attend the ceremony at a later date, he or she will have to make sure they do not miss the appointment. Otherwise, Immigration Services will close the case and dismiss the process.

If the application for citizenship is denied for lack of requirements and not because of eligibility violations, the foreigner may re-apply as many times as necessary until naturalization is granted.

Requesting citizenship for children

To obtain citizenship for youngsters, parents must file N-600 Application for Certificate of Citizenship, along with 2 photographs of the child, additional documentation to verify eligibility and a fee.

For adopted children, parents must file Form N-643, and when the children are older than 18, parents fill out Form N-400.

Once naturalized, all applicants receive a U. S. passport and all the rights of a United States citizen.

For more information about the citizenship process, visit the Guide to Naturalization.

While helpful, this detailed account of facts and steps will not make the actual process less painstaking, but it will definitely save precious time otherwise spent gathering all relevant information. Some expats that have made the big decision to move back to the United States to make their spouse happy may just decide to stay in Costa Rica after reading this article.

Complimentary Article in PDF Fomat

A long-time friend asked for a recommendation letter last week so she could apply for her U. S. visa. Reluctantly, this author agreed to provide the letter. She picked it up and nervously went off to her appointment that she scheduled months ago. Expats complain all the time about not being able to take their girlfriends or boyfriends home to visit because they cannot obtain a visa to the United States.

Some of the woes of people seeking U.S. visas were outlined in a 2007 article called “Evidence Burden on those seeking a U.S. visa.”

A single woman like my friend would generally have few chances of getting her visa approved. To my surprise, she called some hours later saying that she obtained a 10-year tourist visa with no trouble at all. The embassy officials proceeded correctly in granting her a visa, even though some of the paperwork she took with her was not very impressive: her bank account had only $200 in it, she reported that it receives a monthly balance of only $250, and she even forgot most of her payroll slips from her current job.

As surprising as it may have seemed, what got her a visa was arraigo, a Spanish word that means ties, roots, being established somewhere. It means living permanently somewhere with no probability of migrating to another country.

My friend is Panamanian. She could have moved back to Panama years ago to be with her family but instead, she settled in Costa Rica and made it her home. She painstakingly did all that was required get her Costa Rican residency and always kept it up-to-date, which has never been an easy task. We all know that the Costa Rican Immigration Office is still a quagmire with a bureaucratic inefficiency that surpasses many other governmental offices. Over the past couple of years, this office has had to grant extensions to people whose documents have expired due to its outrageous delays in processing paperwork. Another aspect that reflects arraigo is that my friend has a good employment history, working at very few jobs and keeping her positions for years.

Looking deeper into the facts of visa issuances versus denials, statistics show that in 2007 — the latest data available in Costa Rica — only 22.4% of the Costa Ricans who requested tourist visas at the U.S. Embassy were rejected, which means that 77.6% obtained the document with no problem. It is important to note that these statistics include only the visa types B1, B2, combination of B1/B2, business and, tourism. The 2007 data are even better than 2006’s visa refusal rates, in which 24.1% of the visa applicants were denied their documents. This difference shows an improvement of 1.7% in one year.

The refusal-rate statistics prior to 2006 are very difficult to find, and they were not recorded in nice neat tables like the current ones, since those numbers are buried among many other statistics.

Now a bit of fine print. The tables showing the refusal rates for 2006 and 2007 state that this “data must be read in conjunction with their explanatory notes.” The notes are fortunately not too cryptic, easily understandable by anyone interested in the visa program, and very insightful for those who have been denied a visa.

Because many expats would like to travel to the United States with their tico friends, if they go about this process the right way, proving true arraigo to Costa Rica, they have more than a 75 % chance to get a visa. Expats should also do their homework and ask their friends the right questions to see what their chances are of getting a tourist visa. The U.S. Embassy’s website provides excellent information regarding the visa process.

The only aspect Costa Ricans need to prove to the embassy officials is that their life is in their country, nowhere else. As stated in my 2007 article and on the Embassy’s web page, “Every alien shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the officer, at the time of the application for a visa… that he is entitled to nonimmigrant status . . . .” This statement could not be clearer.

There is one more thing expats should be wary about: they could get themselves into heaps of trouble if their friend can not qualify for a U.S. visa, which is the typical case of older expats with much younger friends.

To be fair, there are horror stories on both sides of the fence. People who should be able to qualify get rejected and many others who cannot possibly qualify get their visa. Everyone makes mistakes, even officials at the United States Embassy.

However, the right steps to take in case of a visa denial are also clearly explained on the embassy’s website. The page states that “If your application for a nonimmigrant visa has been refused, you will be told why at the interview and provided with a written explanation. The most common refusals are under Section 221(g) and Section 214(b) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act . . . Under Section 221(g) additional legal requirements must be met before the visa can be authorized.” Therefore, it is possible to reverse prior denials, after duly complying with the set of requirements that were not met previously.

All in all, it seems like the user-friendliness of the United States Embassy’s web page has greatly improved since 2007, especially the option users have now of printing and filling out the forms before their visa appointment. Most importantly, more and more Costa Ricans may now be able to visit the U.S. because if the State Department statistics are accurate, there is currently a decrease in visa denials and an increase in approvals.

Complimentary Article in PDF Fomat

The sign of things to come: Banco Cuscatlan now requires citizens or resident aliens of the United States to fill out a W9 form for personal accounts at the firm’s banks in Costa Rica.

Why? Because Citigroup bought Grupo Cuscatlan from Corporación UBC Internacional S.A. for $1.51 billion in cash and stock. Grupo Cuscatlan has operations in El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras and Panamá.

Most United States citizens are familiar with a W9 form. It is an Internal Revenue Service form used to obtain a person’s taxpayer identification number. In the case of individuals, the identification number is the Social Security number.

The purpose of the form is to acquire information from taxpayers for the United States government’s tax collection efforts. A web version of the form that can be filled out online and printed.

The bank is also requiring account holders to sign a form that states the following:

“The undersigned hereby authorizes Banco Cuscatlan de Costa Rica, S.A. to report, on an annual basis, the information on the account holder and his or her account(s) and any interest earned on such product(s) or account(s) held in Banco Cuscatlan de Costa Rica S.A. to the United States Internal Revenue Service and to withhold any United States tax.”

This is just another scary story of the transparency phantom stalking bank information.

Recently, an expat sold his home in Costa Rica. He almost put the proceeds of the sale in his Cuscatlan personal account. There is no capital gains tax in Costa Rica but there is in the United States. In theory, the bank could withhold money and send it to the United States government as backup withholding to cover taxes due.

If United States expats do not fill out the form, their personal accounts can be closed and/or the bank can withhold as much as 30 percent of any money in the accounts. The deadline for compliance is the end of this January.

Many expats believe their money in Costa Rica is safe from their home country’s tax authorities. Some countries do not required the payment of taxes on holdings or gains from investments in Costa Rica. The United States does. No matter where a United States citizen goes, he or she owes taxes on the money he or she makes on investments.

Many expats from the United States try to hide their gains here by using companies to hold assets. Some go as far as to use Costa Ricans to hold their stock to hide their profits. Those that do
have no control over their assets, and some take a beating from white-collar thieves.

This kind of reporting to the United States is just the start. Cuscatlan is just taking the lead because it is a United States banking institution. GE Consumer Finance purchased 49.99 peercent of BAC San José in May 2005, and since that purchase, the bank has scrutinized accounts very closely. The bank continues to close many questionable accounts held by expats before the purchase.

HSBC recently purchased Banex. HSBC Bank USA has close ties with the Costa Rican subsidiary and will probably be requiring the same forms as Cuscatlan very soon.

All these facts mean the accounts once used by expats to hide money in Costa Rica are almost gone. Most banks, even the ones not mentioned here now, require any new customer to fill out a form or sign an agreement that permits the bank to give information about the account and the account holders to any authority, including the U. S. Internal Revenue Service.

The best practice when living and investing in Costa Rica is to be on the up and up with all of ones business dealings. This includes paying one’s taxes to Costa Rica and the home country. It makes for a better night’s sleep.

Complimentary Article in PDF Fomat

Shooting oneself in the foot is a common practice in Costa Rica. Eye candy overwhelms some expats — men and women alike — into making bad decisions that affect their lives forever.

Many men and some women come to Costa Rica in search of love. They come here because they could not find love at home.

Others come to the country just for the sexual adventure. Costa Rica is considered one of the top sex tourism destinations of the world. Amazingly, the current president admitted this fact in a news conference recently. Many past presidents have ignored the reality.

Problems arise for an expat when he or she meets the wrong mate. Usually this happens because the expat is looking for love in all the wrong places. Local men and women are everywhere, and they come in all varieties — straight, gay, and bisexual — looking to latch onto a foreigner.

Some of them really want to make a good wife, husband or mate. Many of them just see dollar signs and a way to make extra money for bad habits like drugs or for their umpteen kids at home.

Professional lovers — prostitution is legal in Costa Rica, pimping is not — are great actors. Their profession depends on it. Expats tend to be very bad at seeing through a good show and fall in love easily. Scientists say that sex hormones are powerful chemical messengers and can cloud people’s minds.

The fact is that many expats get taken to the cleaners here because they are not careful in their amorous relationships and because they do not know the law.

Lucky ones may get a wallet or a purse stolen in a hotel room. The not so lucky ones lose a lot more. Here is a true story:

A North American met a young women downtown in a popular place where many expat men go to look for various types of love. He was smitten quickly and fell head over heels for her. In a week, the North American bought his girlfriend a house, a car and a lot of furniture for the house. He was not a rich man, so he pretty much invested everything he had into this relationship.

A month or so passed, and the North American was at the new home when a truck drove up. Men got out of the truck and started to load the furniture onto the truck. The North American did not speak Spanish, so he did not know what was going on. He tried to call the police. They answered, and someone on the other line in broken English told him police knew all about the situation.

The girlfriend had decided to pick up her furniture and move out. She took the car too. Local officials assumed that the furniture and car were in her name.

In another situation, police booted a man out of his house in his skivvies because his girlfriend filed trumped up domestic violence charges against him. In the current legal climate of Costa Rica, domestic violence cases are virtually impossible for a man to fight, and any court hearing can be months away.

Here is the crux. Some expats do their due diligence when buying property because it is a big investment, but they do not do so in an affair of the heart. However, expats should do their homework in an “affaire d’amour” because this is a big investment too.

Here are some interesting facts:

If a man gets married in Costa Rica and his wife then has a child outside the marriage, the child automatically assumes the surname of the man. Even with DNA testing this situation is almost impossible to reverse. And if the marriage breaks up, the man must continue to pay child support.

When getting married in Costa Rica, some expats fail to realize they are not marrying one person but an entire family.

In any marriage, one must stay married for at least three years before applying for a divorce.

Costa Rica’s family and domestic violence laws are tough and one-sided, on the side of women. A man going in front of a judge in family court is damned from the outset.

But sometimes expat women have problems, too. A wealthy North American women decided to get a divorce from her Costa Rican husband. The husband successfully prevailed on a judge to award him substantial alimony so he could continue to live in a wealthy lifestyle after the divorce.

If an expat who is paying alimony and/or child support wants to leave the county, he or she must deposit 13 months of payments. Otherwise the expat will find an impedimento de salida, a judicial order, at the airport prohibiting him or her from getting on a flight.

Article 37 and 39 of the family code covers prenuptial agreements. These types of legal understandings are usually made before a marriage, but it is possible to make them or modify them during a marriage.

Marrying a Tico or a Tica does not help the foreigner to get a visa to the United States unless the couple plans to live there. And even then the paperwork is a chore.

When looking for a mate, it is possible to meet the wrong one anywhere in the world. However, when looking for love in a country known to be a sex tourism destination extra scrutiny is advised.

Complimentary Article in PDF Fomat