Another interesting point thats related to the residency scam, is
that the thousands of Ticos who live illegally in the US, etc. Are
working illegally, sometimes holding down two or three jobs at minimum
wage and banking the money or sending it to family in Costa Rica....
in other words, they are taking jobs from legal residents and
citizens.... The other side of the Coin here, is the people who live
here as tourists, i.e. Do the border cross routine, are not working
jobs, I know of none holding down regular jobs... instead they are
here to build homes and businesses, and generally tend to bring money
into the country, and Employ Ticos in their businesses and on their
farms..... these people come from all over the planet, but mostly from
the US, Canada, Germany, etc. they cause very few problems per capita
for the police..... and I've had police tell me that; & that the
most problematic types come from Nicaragua, Columbia, and Peru.....
Watching the nightly news and nightly body count, I suspect all those
groups combined aren't a drop in the bucket compared to home grown
crime.....
Also the non resident foriegners do alot of teaching, english, and
other skills.....
The Ticos are so one way about jobs etc. that they dont allow non
residents to teach english in schools etc.... and so have an english
program that produces zero conversational speakers, who get jobs as
english teachers, and produce the next generation of non
conversational students..... it would be humorous if it wasn't so
sad......
But Tico english teachers, if they can pass a proficiency test, can
get visas to go to the US to become spanish teachers.... so again its
a one
way/two faced system.....
So what we have is a money grab...... directed at foriegners who are
non resident residents; the word reside comes from living in a
place.... and so there are people who have resided here for years or
decades, but due to some rather illogical legal double speak are not
actually residents?
well, are they living here? Yes, do they then reside here? yes....
but they are not residents?
well, not unless they pay alot of money to the bureauocracy and lawyers.....
in my son's marriage, as mentioned above, costs were over a thousand
dollars, and he did it himself without a lawyer... if he hadn't
spoken fluent spanish etc. and had gone the lawyer route, it would
have cost twice that or more.....
Another point I'd like to make, is that most of the non resident
residents are bringing money into the country, but generaly less than
required to get residency status.... i.e. the Costa Rican Government
has set the bar so high, that most of the Americans, Canadians, and
Germans aren't rich enough to qualify as victims of the perpetual Tico
business of ripping off foriegners that has gone on for generations
.....
It's like I've heard Ticos say; if the legal system really worked,
they'd all be in jail.....
Another related issue is Tourism..... a couple years back the
Minister of tourism decided they needed to get rid of all the back
packer tourists, and go to only "Golfer" grade tourists... I read
this in a slick magazine left in hotels by Mapache S.A. which
specializes in building gated community retirement projects.... And
sells bare lots for a hundred thousand dollars each, to fat old white
people.....
Maybe I should add ignorant & insecure?
And I've tried to point out to Ticos those young people with
backpacks are the kids of those golfers.... They just dont get it,
as Ticos dont do much tourism and even less camping... the national
parks are for foriegners..... Ticos only know they exist because they
see them on TV.....
Ticos are very judgemental about clothing etc. And consider
themselves better than people who wear sandals and shorts and
T-shirts....
They also bad mouth the tourists behind their backs for smelling
bad, and having dirty clothes....
And with a million tourists a year bringing in a billion dollars a
year, its interesting that the only coin operated laundrymat I have
ever seen in the country is in Dominical, and probably run by non
resident residents.....
I've tried to explain to Ticos for years that the old games were going
to come back on them, that now with internet, word would get out when
foriegners got burned..... I have also been told by even legal
resident foriegners, that every body keeps a file in their computer of
all the shit here, and if the Costa rican Government does start
deporting people & siezing property, all that dirty laundry will go on
the clothesline for the world to see..... good chance, as I have such
a file, and nodded when I was told that.. Yup! I've got mine......
There is already getting to be some interesting stuff online about
Costa Rica......
Including things about ICE, the local electricity and fone company,
who will not allow non resident resident foriegners to have a fone
line... gee? do Ticos need to be legal residents, to get a phone in
the US?
The last time I was in an ICE office was in Rio Claro a couple years
back, and the guy at the desk called Ticos who came in after me up
for service, ahead of me, and then grinned at his buddies at the other
desks.... We had a little talk before I left, and I pointed out I had
been here since he was in grade school, and that I wasn't stupid, and
spoke fluent spanish, etc. And that in my culture what he thought was
funny could get him a black eye or a complaint to authorities.....
I was very polite in my saying it, mindful of the security guard at
my back, and a legal system behind him that operates on bribes from
its own people, and often considers foriegners to be golden
opportunities, rather than people deserving equal or better treatment
under the law than nationals.....
--
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