Making phone calls in Costa Rica

If there is not a phone line already installed at your chosen location, it may be thatthere is no more space or that it can not be done. Many areas do not have phone lines and must rely on cellular phones/internet.
There is Kolbi, movistar and claro. Until you have a cedula, you can't have an actual account, but pre-pay for the use, and this can get expensive.

http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Costa_Rica

If you're planning a move to Costa Rica you'll want to check in your local neighborhood for the mobile carrier that will provide you with the best reception. Claro might work well in a larger town, but Kolbi might be better in your backyard . . . or vice versa. You won't know until you ask your close neighbors. If you want a land line, again, check with your neighbors (or proposed neighbors) to determine whether land lines exist is your area. We live on a mountain and while the phone/electric company (ICE) has power lines all the way up, the phone lines stop at the bottom of the  mountain. Theoretically, ICE could run land lines up the mountain, but it will never ever happen.

If you can't get a land line and you are calling and receiving calls from abroad, you'll want to get a Skype number and use your Internet service (which can be very iffy depending on where you live . . . so check before you move). With Skype you can use your phone to call anywhere, and your friends back home can call you (usually for free or no cost using their mobile phones).

I've seen ICE issue a one-year phone plan to people (usually students) without a cedula (just using their passport); but depending on where you live, don't count on that. If you're near a larger town (San Jose, San Ramon), you'll have many more phone options. I use the pay-as-you-go (prepago) plan with Kolbi and it costs me about $2 per month; but I make most of my calls abroad on my husband's phone using his Skype number. My husband has unlimited phone/data with Kolbi and the cost is about $35 per month. Note that the $35 does not include our Internet.

Mobile phones are everywhere, and even the poorest Tico has a phone. Just check to determine which carrier provides the clearest/most-consistent reception.

These days it is extremely easy to get landlines; it takes less than a week.  The biggest provider is the ICE, also known as Kolbi.  The cost is ridiculously small to get a landline as is the monthly maintenance fee . .something like $5 USD.  That having been said, many people now get their cable, internet, landline and cell service from the same provider.  Kolbi also provides cell phones, a cable type service, and of course internet.  The other big provider that I can think of off of the top of my head is Claro.  The provider which has the best cell phone coverage is Kolbi; although, it does not have the most reliable celular internet.  The following three companies offer pre-paid and post-paid cellular service:  Kolbi, Claro and Movistar.

I don´t use a landline, and use Kolbi celular with 4g.  The cable and internet provider I use is Telecable Económico; note, as in most countries, you will have a reduced selection for your cable and internet provider since not all companies cover all areas.

Have to jump in here, we are in a community that ICE has serviced since day one BUT their nodes are full!  We cannot get a landline and we have found an Internet provider to get by.  This has been over a year so do not rely on a statement that says "it is extremely easy to get landlines; it takes less than a week"  SORRY do not rely on information on this forum unless you can verify or trust the source.

TerrynViv has confirmed, as did KBD,  what I wrote on my response "If there is not a phone line already installed at your chosen location, it may be that there is no more space or that it can not be done"  even if the telephone cable goes right past your door.

It come down to that old saying 'location, location, location.'

Plus, getting a land line installed while still a 'tourist' is not possible.

Bravo! We know a resident on the Nicoya peninsula who purchased his own line (in the U.S.) and had it connected "in town" with ICE's agreement . . . strung it about 1000 meters to his home. The cost was outrageous, and he wasn't up a mountain as we are. One afternoon, just for fun, we walked the distance from our home to the road where the phone lines end, counting each meter. It's just not gong to happen for us. Ever. Period.

Location, location, location. Well said. If having a land line is a must, be certain that you already have land lines right up to your home/apartment before selecting that site. Not nearby . . . right up to your property. And the only way to do that is to speak to your closest neighbor.

Sorry, speaking to our neighbor did not cut it for us.  ICE has service to our community but the last third of us to arrive will not be offered service until ICE installs a new or bigger node.  Has been a year and a half now 

Even having a good neighbor doesn't automatically allow you to get a land line. When we first moved here, in a small rural community the cables did indeed run, right past the door', but there was no more space for new installation. We eventually had a 'neighbor' at least a Klm away from the pueblo where we lived with many Ticos,  from the bottom of the hill, who was moving, transfer his line to us...but this 'line' cold/would never be transferred into our name and when we later sold the property we had to our lawyer transfer it to the new owners..but still not into his name.

At our next residence, the cables stopped just outside of town and we had ICE continue the phone line and it it cost over $7,000 to have it put it.


NEVER believe your 'developer' that promised utilities will be installed 'next month' in a proposed or still vacant development. Consider waiting to purchase, until you can actually see them...if it is essential to you.

Fancy gates doesn't mean a thing...

I've no problem in obtaining celular minutes via Kolbi! However, be very wary of whom to choose when paying for both, TV &, Internet! The worst for TV is by far, CableVision! They don't or, won't provide "SAP!" The best, is "AMNET!" One will pay more but, the service if very good! Been here since 92 thus, please pay attention! I've much valuable info to share with anyone caring to receive!

On another note, I've paid four lawyers to obtain my "permanent residency" and, each one simply had taken my money without their good conduct!

Don't trust anyone!

William

William, changing over to  Permanent residency is usually a very simple procedure and you don't require a lawyer to do it for you.

Really! Then, by all means, please advise! I'm on a pension and, I'm not well!

I've documents from consulates in LA, Ca! As well as many Other doc's! But, the lawyers had told me to visit the incorrect place to obtain my Cedula!

Regards,

William

Sorry to have got your hopes up...but it looks like you are trying to apply for Temporary residency which is best done with a lawyer. You have to have status for 3 years before you can apply to change to Permanent residency.
Did you receive a 'resolution' from Immigration saying that your application was now complete and you had to go to CAJA offices and register for your monthly premiums, then be fingerprinted? This may have taken a year or more.

After having this done you return to Immigration where your cedula is printed.

BTW, the documents that are required must be dated less than 6 months old when handed into immigration with your application.

I've been Fingerprinted and, I had received all the necessary doc's to receive my Cedula! Place makes me crazy! Nothing is easy here! So, I'd given up! My doc's are now outdated and, I've asked my lawyer in LA to, once again, provide with, no success! he doesn't even answer anymore!

I'm not paying another lying lawyer! I'll just leave every 90 days!

William

If your papers have been accepted by immigration, the date shouldn't be a problem.

Try searching here to see how your application is progressing, if at all.

Well, I thank you kindly! However, I'm sure my app is not being processed! otherwise, i would've got a message! Kno?

Thanks,

William

Immigration would have contacted your lawyer, not you. Do you have a friend who speaks Spanish that can go with you to Immigration to see what has happened to your application?

We have had our application in since February 2014.  There have been no notifications but we did follow it's progress on the link that Kohlerias provided above.  We filed a document (protest) last month and it kicked in a process that is supposed to give us an answer 60 days from the filing.  We must appear at Migracion at 8:00am on the 60th day.

Yes...she said she would go to the Court with me in SJ! That's where I believe my lawyer should've advised!
Perhaps, I may then obtain a "Tempory Cedula/".

Thanks for the help1

William

Don't go to the court, but to Immigration.

Department of Immigration

Address: La Uruca, San Jose; next to the Direccion General de Aviacion Civil
Phone Number: 2299-8026 or 900-12345678

Schedule: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday; closed the last Friday of the month.
Walk-ins not permitted after noon so best to go there as early as possible in the morning.

If you have received any paperwork from your lawyer, take it with you.

Yes, that is where we went.  Very good Spanish is a necessity!  We took our bilingual friend, got there at 8:00 when they opened and were done by 10:30.  It is imperative that you get there early.  By the way, we are using a lawyer also but are just fed up with nothing happening.  Our lawyer has said that he will send someone from his office with us next month and we are going to hold him to that.

Thanks for that! I was told to go to the court in SJ! You understand my frustration! I love CR but, nothing is easy for me here!

I've a home in heredia for which I had paid cash for my family! And, in the many years I've been here, i've spent about a milion us dolares! I've lost my beautiful Subaru to the transit police, etc.! Was told it is in la uruca in storage but, it's not!
Another $16,000 usd lost! Ready to go to CUBA!

Amen! Gates, developers, promises, promises. As our real estate agent so wisely advised: buy what you see right now, never what you're promised -- never! With that said, we have the best builder in the world and his promises/contracts have far exceeded our wildest expectations. So, as I've always said: trust is half earned, half given . . .  this really isn't the case in Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, trust is 100% earned.

Oh, William. I'm so sorry to hear about the residency issue. It is so easy to get the wrong residency lawyer/advice/information . . . the whole shebang. I don't know if this forum will allow you to email me privately. But we've got a gal who can help. I've never seen anything so easy as our residency. Less than four hours from start to being back at our hotel, finger-printing, everything. We were in-country less than four weeks before we received our temporary residency permits that don't require us to incur the expense of leaving every 90 days. Good luck. Kathy

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee how fast you can get Residency or if any particular lawyer can 'speed things up' And since you have to leave before the 90 days are up if you wish to continue driving, it doesn't really solve the problem for many of those 'living here'

KBD have you actually received you cedula yet?

Yes we do. We used an individual who came very highly recommended and have not been disappointed. Not a lawyer, just a real go-getter young woman who has been working for expats for many years. We are definitely the lucky exception that proves the rule in Costa Rica. Everything that could have/should have gone wrong didn't. We went under contract last year (we decided to go with a corporation and had that in place before we left C.R.-- took about 15 minutes of our time), and then flew home leaving our home on 1.65 acres in the hands of our builder and real estate agent. Who does that? Seven months later we returned to a home that was better than we had been promised. When we moved, we brought with us all those apostilles, etc. and started residence work within three weeks of our move. In one morning, before noon, we had our paperwork (finger-printing, too) allowing us to stay for more than 90 days (no, this doesn't solve the driver's license issue, I realize), and we still have several steps before obtaining Permanent Resident status -- but our gal does all the work (at this point we just show up when requested). Our shipiper (we shipped 5 pallets) was also a lucky choice. Everything was flawless, from the pick-up of the pallets in DFW to their arrival at our door in C.R. (WAY up a mountain) about five weeks after they left our DFW garage.  I went with a shipper with whom I'd spoken by phone -- no other references, but his talk-the-talk persuaded me that he was the one. Since our move, I've referred our shipper to other expats who were experiencing nightmares getting through customs (threats to action their possessions, etc.). Our shipper resolved the problems. I've referred our residency gal to long-time residents wishing to change their status (I don't recall the exact problems -- maybe from investor to pensionado), and she has come through every time. Our builder and his wife are now among our best friends. Dumb luck? Probably. But it has left me with some wonderful resources. Do we know all the ins-and-outs, tricks, pitfalls of Costa Rica? Not by any means. But we're patient and maintain a sense of humor about it all. Plus, to this very day, our real estate agent, escrow attorney, and builder are our go-to folks for every single issue (banking, ICE, etc.). We don't have our mountain-side "whacked" without confirming a worker's reliability. Plus, we do 99% of everything around our home by ourselves.

Yes, it will take 3 years as a Temporary Resident  before you can apply for Permanent Residency.

Yep. Precisely what we've been advised . . . with a few trips to immigration between now and then. We also have the health insurance issue to resolve, and the driver's licenses. I've been told what/when, but I've clearly got my head in the sand to some extent (or I'm still in the honeymoon phase) because I don't have those details at my fingertips. Heck, I'm still learning how to pay our bills on line with our accounts at Banco National; and this I do perform by myself (though initially we had our escrow paralegal with us to set up bank accounts in dollars and in colones). Generally, I just wait for our "people" to tell me what to do, when it's time, and do it. Are you laughing? It's okay. I laugh at myself, too . . . just waiting for "the other shoe to drop." But I do know this: our home is ours; all work has been performed at the National Registry and at the Municipality in Nicoya. Our auto is ours (purchased by a separate corporation than the one established for the home), and its retivo and marchamo are good (at least for the next month or so). So while I may appear too cavalier about some things, I'm not just blindly going along . . . all the time . . . every day.

KBD , I am somewhat confused by what you have posted...

If you have been issued a cedula and the time stamped on your passport has expired, you can apply for a Costa Rica drivers license....and you are not required to return to immigration to get your temporary cedula renewed but can get this done at the BCR nearest you.
Your Ritive inspection is good for one year, and the marchamo will need to be paid in November.

In regards to health insurance, I presume you are referring to private health insurance, since as a legal resident it is mandatory that you join CAJA.

If the visa/stamp in your passport has expired and you don't have a Costa Rican drivers license, you are driving illegally and your insurance is no longer valid.

No, I've never received my Cedula! Though, I've many doc's to obtain and, I just yesterday received a message from my lawyer in LA, CA! Perhaps, he will assist? Also, I don't have a vehicle anymore!

Thanks,

William

Yes, about the driver's license, that sounds exactly correct. I was never under the impression that we had to return to immigration to accomplish that; and I'm aware that we can handle that little matter right down the road.  I'm in no rush because I happen to be returning to the U.S. for a quick visit soon. Rusty, however, has this on his to-do list before his 90-day passport stamp expires.

And just because you mentioned it, neither of us have time-stamped passports that have expired. We had to go back to the States recently (personal matter), so the driver's license issue isn't pressing. Golly, this is getting personal, which doesn't bother me in the least. We'll pay the marchama asap in November to avoid lines/wait-times that we've heard about but don't anticipate here in Samara. Our retive is good through April. And just FYI, we've paid a portion of our property taxes as I recently discovered could be done quarterly.

We'll do the CAJA thing when it's time. For now, we have insurance, and yes it's good world-wide (Peace Corps benefits).

Don't worry too much about us. I'm the first to admit that I'm not very bright. Crazy? Yes. Insane? No.

You are confusing me too and as far as I am aware  you can't get a cedula/DIMEX without signing up for CAJA.

Applying for CAJA health care, which is mandatory for residency

Driving with a foreign drivers license

Getting a drivers license

You're all confusing me, and I've got a chocolate cream pie to make. We are expecting our residency before our driver's licenses "expire" on the date that is 90 days from our last country entrance (and reasonably so, because, truly, we have the best residency expert in the country . . . and yes, I know that you'll say everyone believes that until everything goes wrong). When we have that residency status (not merely the Expediente), then CAJA will be required (not before). Now, back to the pie.

We expected to be eating pie 22 months ago.  Still no dessert.

Well you're invited here to Samara any time to eat Chocolate Creme pie on a Graham cracker crust with chocolate ganache. Or strawberry creme pie, or key lime pie if you prefer. I'm a pie expert. And should you want the name of our beyond-fabulous residency expert, you have only to ask. Our little community will be working to get her here to do a brief seminar in residency. This gal has got it goin' on. I am to pie what she is to C.R. residency.

How did this thread go from a telephone land-line issue into residency?

Please get Viber.com been phoning Canada for over a year and haven't spent $10.00 yet and our calls are usually an hour
Claude

About phones :
for those who need to call US, Canada, Europe...OFTEN
We use Vonage, it is required high speed internet, it cost us $30us/ month to
have UUNLIMITED calls to 60 countries.
We use pre- paid Kolbi  for our local calls on the cell phone. Cost about $10/ month, we
Do not call locally a lot, but have 2-6 calls daily.

Asking Kathybrownda above, My wife and I are finalizing our small home purchase in Puerto Viejo area. We live in the States now and want to ship 2 or 3 pallets to CR at the beginning of Dec. I have contacted a few movers that people have referred me to and read good things about Charles Keller, but twice I've called to ask specific questions and left messages but no call back. I was wondering if you could give me info to your shipper? Thanks for any help.

Hi everybody,

We have noticed that some posts here are off topic, can we please make sure that we are only sharing information on making phone calls in Costa Rica?

However, if you have some questions or you wish to discuss on a particular subject related to expatriation , you are invited to create your own thread please in order to avoid being off topic on this one.

Thanks all

Priscilla