benefits of naturalization

[bigj]

Here are the exact steps i took to obtain citizenship via marriage. I should add, this is a legitimate marriage.

My source of information was:
http://www.tse.go.cr/naturalizacion_matrimonio.htm

1) obtained certified and authenticated birth certificate.

I did this without leaving Costa Rica. I asked my mother to drive to San Francisco and pick it up, she then had to take it to the county registrar to get it authenticated and to the California state department for the same. She did both in the same afternoon and dropped it in the mail to the costa rican embassy in san francisco. Once they authenicated it, they remailed it to my aerocasillas acct. from there I had to take it to casa amarilla and get the costa rican embassy authentication, authenticated. finally had it all translated and it was ready for submission.

2) 5 passport photos

3) entrances and exists from immigration

I should clarify .. I gave up being a virtual tourist when i became married, technically ive been illegal here for 5 years .. ive been stopped once (on my honeymoon going to papagayo) told them we just got married and they let us go.. never had a problem since, for this reason however, I had a lawyer pick this up for me.

4) a letter

this was written by a lawyer, i wanted to make sure no mistakes were made by me.. i can share the letter i submitted if people want .. pm me your email.

Thats it ..

The hardest thing is the waiting, if your thinking of starting this, do it now, its easy as hell.

If you move, make sure you keep your information with them up to date so you can receive notices. I obtained a caja en correos for this also.

Also, i did not leave for the entire duration of the process ... that was a personal choice, I figured i had one shot at this and didnt want to screw anything up by getting busted by immigration lol.

I should add, the costs for the entire process was no more than pocket change.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[bigj]

PM me the steps if you will, I'll be applying soon. Although I'll probably just pay my overpaid lawyer to do it.

no reason to really .. i paid a lawyer for a letter, thats it .. everything else was done by me .. if you pm me your email i can scan and email you what my lawyer did for me.

 

[bigj]

5) Passport photo copy

I forgot to put that you also need a complete scan of every passport page from front to back.

 

[wolfie_cr]

Wanna bet..................

I actually know a case of this, where my wife used to work in 2001-2005 I think it was....they had an American guy

it turns out that he was wanted by the interpol and the whole nine yards

when they went to arrest him he pulled out his cedula......that was the end of the arrest (not sure why but the guys of the interpol had NO clue that he was also a CR citizen, probably a case of dual citizenship)

 

[NES]

5) Passport photo copy

I forgot to put that you also need a complete scan of every passport page from front to back.

This is the part im worried about, because of my extreme lifestyle Im on my second passport since coming here, and one of the stamps could be considered questionable, should I get extreme with this one too?

 

[wolfie_cr]

from today's AM Costa Rica (Do the idiots at immigration even know how to check the interpol database???)

<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=700 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=350>

[SIZE=+3]Fugitive Czech official
detained in Barrio Amón[/SIZE]

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
​

Agents detained a former vice minister of the Czech Republic in Barrio Amón Tuesday and said he had been accused in his home country of a $1.6 million fraud.

The arrest took place at the man's apartment on Calle 3 between avenidas 7 and 11. He was identified as Karel Ponocny, 50. Agents said he has lived in Costa Rica since 2005 and obtained permanent residency through marriage to a Costa Rican woman. At that time, the man swore that he had no criminal record, said the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública.

Ponocny was returning from a workout at a gym when he was detained about 12:30 p.m. He has been the subject of an international arrest warrant since 2004, said the ministry citing information form the International Police Agency, INTERPOL. He had been a vice minister in the Czech financial ministry in 2001.

Agents said that a court in Prague determined that he and a businessman there, Anton Murarik, created a fraudulent contract in order to convert to their own use a debt owed to the country by the government of Perú. According to INTERPOL, Ponocny entered into an agreement with a Bolivian company headed by Murarik.

The businessman ended up with 95 percent of the money and just 5 percent went to the Czech Republic, they said. Using the documents the individuals were able to transfer more than $1.5 million to a bank in Prague.

Agents were able to know about Ponocny because he was involved in a motor vehicle accident with a taxi in 2006, they said. They confirmed his location that July 20. The man had a Sabanilla address on his license. To actually get the paperwork here and processed by a judge took more than a year and a half, they said.

The man is an officer in several corporations here, agents said.
</TD><TD vAlign=top width=350>

<SMALL>Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía </SMALL>
<SMALL>y Seguridad Pública photos</SMALL>
​

The fugitive obtained this cédula via marriage.

​

Detained official is handcuffed
​

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[cookie]

bigj,
I would really like a copy of the letter but cannot figure out how to PM you. Help

 

[bigj]

if you click my forum username, a menu should drop down and from there you can select to send me a PM.

 

[bigj]

and actually, you can use the letter example here

http://www.tse.go.cr/naturalizacion_matrimonio.htm

at the bottom, thats pretty much what he wrote, use that to write out your letter and youll have exactly what my lawyer wrote. i didnt know for sure at the time and wanted to be careful, but looking back i know i could have just used the letter on that page to write my own.

Id like to clarify that i did not go straight for naturalization for any reason other than convenience.. i regularly visit my embassy. also, as part of the naturalization process .. oij performs a background check of some sorts .. at the minimum an Interpol check not sure what else.

I would suggest this process to anyone who is in a legitimate marriage, has been residing in Costa Rica for 2 years and married for that time.

I think the biggest benefit of all is completing the circle to make us truly a tico family. I realize its just a paper .. but it feels good to have, and knowing that i have secured the future of my family by having all the rights of a citizen here.

Pura Vida Maes!

 

[AdamSelene]

0 years of residency .. started the process after i was already married for 3 years, i had the option of residency or naturalization, opted for naturalization.

That's interesting, I didn't know you could just skip residency.

For requirements you posted it appears they require less documentation for naturalization by marriage than they do residency by marriage. The latter they require a certified police record from both Costa Rica and birth country, and be fingerprinted at Fuerza Publica (and they just added a requirement to register with your Embassy in Costa Rica).

 

[AdamSelene]

Agents were able to know about Ponocny because he was involved in a motor vehicle accident with a taxi in 2006,

The man is an officer in several corporations here, agents said.

Seriously stupid this guy. You pay off the taxi driver, you put your lawyers' names in public records, not yours, and you'd think with a few million dollars he could steal/buy the identity of some other Czech for getting married and applying for citizenship (which he should have done instead of residency). Doh!

 

[RaoulDuke]

This is the part im worried about, because of my extreme lifestyle Im on my second passport since coming here, and one of the stamps could be considered questionable, should I get extreme with this one too?

I wouldnt really worry about the stamp seeing its just a photocopy. But I had quite a few questionable stamps as did my wife and we had no problems with the "questionable stamps"...I've said this before and I'll say it again there is no reason to hire a lawyer to help with residency besides that letter that other guy was talking about. I did it all my self on my limited spanish I was approved in one month and got my cedula in hand 3 months latter. Anyone who gets a lawyer is pissing their money away. I have several friends who have been waiting 3 years on residency and they all have lawyers...

 

[fuzebox]

You don't need citizenship to get a carry permit.

I think y'all are confusing citizenship (naturalization) with permanent residency. #1 and #5 are also no different for naturalized citizens than permanent residents, and I'm not sure #3 is either.

Sorry, I thought we were talking about residency as the original poster is just a tourist. I didn't even know we had the option of becoming citizens without having kids here.

 

[bigj]

a married tourist .. whom you know
rock band parties are teh fun!