By Laura Gutierrez of Immigration Help Costa Rica Happy New Years Everyone Costa Rica Entry Requirements… For entry requirements and recently announced new restrictions within Costa Rica, please click on the links below and also read part one "How COVID-19 Changed Costa Rica Immigration in the Eyes of Residency Expert Laura Gutierrez" a recently published article on December 29th. You ...

Costa Rica has its own style of corridas de toros (bullfights), a style shared by no other country on earth. The bulls in “toros a la tica” don’t die in the ring. They fight hard, entertain the crowds, and live to fight another year. But the humans involved in these bullfights tend to get injured – sometimes gravely – so Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health decided this year to forego the tradition and...

By Laura Gutierrez of Immigration Help Costa Rica The Pandemic situation has some of you intrepid types thinking about a more tranquil, warm, and safe country in which to live. As one who once immigrated abroad with a toddler in tow, I understand the burning need for realistic and meaningful information. Hopefully, this will help you move beyond dreams into action. Costa Rica boasts a very low...

UPDATED April 9th 2020 Since the March 24th article about residencies being revoked for ex-pats leaving Costa Rica,  there still seems to be confusion and understandable anger over this temporary edict. This tough measure was primarily directed at Nicaraguans heading home to Nicaragua for their annual celebration of Semana Santa (Easter Week) – a week early. There were also a significant number...

Official sources confirm a total of 13 patients that are currently infected with coronavirus in Costa Rica, however, the list of suspicious cases continues to grow, currently with 179 people under observation and testing. The Ministry of Health confirmed they are investigating 175 people that had direct contact with a 54 year-old man that is positive for Covid-19 and was working at the Alajuela...

In a previous article we published on July 5th, 2019 we explained about the creation of a "Registry of Transparency and Final Beneficiaries", which made becoming necessary to report to the Central Bank of Costa Rica who the stockholders on every corporation existing in Costa Rica are. A calendar was established depending on the last number of Corporate ID number, between September 2019 and January...

A small religious cult calling themselves “Carbon Nation” have now been thrown out of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and on December 5th, out of Panama, for endangering and threatening the national security of those three countries. They were most recently operating in San Carlos province, in western Panama, 75 kilometers from Panama City. Their Carbon Nation leader Eligio Lee Bishop was arrested – he cal...

On Sunday, November 17th, Fox TV aired episode #669 of the famous cartoon family The Simpsons, in “Livin’ La Pura Vida”, in which the entire Simpson family and members of their Springfield community visit Costa Rica on vacation. Amazing. La Nacion newspaper commented about the episode, saying that it “without a doubt, positions tourist information (about Costa Rica) before the eyes of the world.” ...

Costa Rica (Rich Coast), has become a favorite playground for rich and famous Americans, i.e. Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Gisele Bundchen, Mel Gibson, Usher, Leonardo DiCaprio, and many other celebrity Americans who visit Costa Rica to unwind, relax and have quality time with their families. Recently Kim Kardashian’s oldest daughter, North West, daughter of Kanye West, and barely 6-years old, has f...

This past spring, there was a lot of anxiety swirling about the ex-pat community in Costa Rica over vaccines in relation to residency in Costa Rica. It all started with an article in a major Spanish national news outlet and echoed into other minor publications and blogs. The Costa Rica Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud) and Ministry of Immigration (General de Migración y Extranjería – DGMIE)...

By Tradition April 20 is  “weed day” and for the consumers of marijuana it is almost an obligation to celebrate this day, smoking of course! But this year, an event was announced on social media that called the attention of many, even though, it also took place last year in 2018. LaCopaCR (Costa Rica Cannabis Cup) is the name of the activity that was being advertised through different social me...

Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica (April 5, 2019)                                            Crazy Jungle Love, the shocking tale of love and despair based on the true story of American millionaire John Felix Bender’s exploits in the jungles of Costa Rica, is now available on Amazon and Kindle. Written by journalist Carol Blair Vaughn, Crazy Jungle Love makes use of Vaughn’s intimate knowledge of La...

A long awaited concert, it is now a reality and the official announcement will be made in the next few days, the Foo Fighters and Weezer will be live in Costa Rica October 4th at the National Stadium. The presentation is part of the tour Concrete and Gold which began May 2018. The American alternative rock band Foo Fighters was formed in Seattle, Washington back in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Da...

When foreigners consider moving to Costa Rica or buying a vacation home in this paradise, they many times choose a beach community to enjoy everything that living in a warm tropical country has to offer. Costa Rica has coasts on both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, with miles and miles of beautiful beaches to explore, however, there are a few that have become favourites among expats, one of th...

Costa Rica ranks every year among the top destinations to retire to, and hundreds of foreigners choose to relocate to this country for many reasons other than retirement, some are looking to escape the cold winter that affects their home country, others simply come to visit and fall in love with the Pura Vida of the country. The fact that many choose Costa Rica as their new home is not a fluke,...

The city of Curridabat to the east of San José, is one of the 16 finalists in the first edition of the Wellbeing City Award, in the category of Sustainable Development. The Wellbeing City Award is an initiative of NewCities and its partners Novartis Foundation, Novartis US Foundation, and the City of Montréal, and it recognizes cities placing wellbeing at the center of urban design, planning an...

The newly inaugurated Oxigeno Human Playground in Heredia, Costa Rica, will host its first musical show February 22 and 23 with the live performance of Arrival, a Swedish ABBA tribute band. The event will take place in the “Vivir” world (O1)of the Oxigeno complex at 8 p.m. both dates. Arrival was founded in 1995 and soon became one of the most popular and most selling ABBA Show bands. Since ...

For third consecutive year, the Wine World Festival will offer wine lovers a great opportunity to enjoy premium wines at discounted price. This year the event will take place at La Caraña Equine Club in Santa Ana, and will include as usual live music, wine tastings, gastronomy, workshops, activities and kids area. The activity begins at 12 noon and will run through midnight on Saturday and t...

Many anxiously await the announcement of the concert season of the Costa Rican Philharmonic Orchestra, popular music interpreted in an innovative format by a large group of talented musicians. The proposal of Director Marvin Araya has paid off, each of the shows sells out, the public knows they are guaranteed a high quality show. This year’s season includes several English music concerts, amon...

Fans of country music in Costa Rica have a date on February 1 and 2 at Perlas Bar, Potrero Beach in Guanacaste where the Country Fest will take place with the presence of several national and international artists, including Gold Record Artist and American Idol Finalist Josh Gracin. Karla Crawford, Blue Canyon Boys, Will Matthews & Los Vaqueros, and newly added Keith Burns & Will Dakota are ju...

InterNations, the network for expats with local communities worldwide, carried out its annual survey at the end of 2018 to come up with the list of  the "Top 10 Most Welcoming Countries in the world". This is the fifth edition of the survey and included a total of 18,135 expats across the globe. Portugal took the first spot as the country with the friendliest attitude towards foreign residen...

Palmares in Alajuela, prepares like every year for its traditional festivities, two whole weeks of music, parades, dancing, sporting events and plenty of other entertainment. Palmares “a town to make friends”, offers activities for the entire family, if you have been part of the end of the year events in Costa Rica, this is just a continuation of these. The activities this year kick off on ...

The third edition of the Ocaso Underground Music Festival will take on the beach town of Tamarindo as of this Wednesday, January 2, 2019 and will extend through January 7, to start off the New Year with plenty of rhythm. Ocaso brings together an impressive lineup of house and techno artists, an electric music festival with international and national talent for adults 18 and up. “Ocaso has qu...

Miss Costa Rica 2018, Natalia Carvajal, was able to make it among the top 10 in this year’s Miss Universe contest, which took place this Sunday, December 17 in Bangkok, Thailand. The last time that Costa Rica was able to make it among the Top 10, was in 2011 when the country was represented by Johanna Solano; before Solano, it was Nancy Soto in 2004 who managed to make the top 10. Carvajal is t...

The beach town of Tamarindo will fill with glitter when it hosts the Glitters Festival November 30th through December 2nd in the first LGBTQ festival in the country. “Glitters Fest is born with the objective on promoting diverse tourism in Guanacaste and open spaces of entertainment for the LGBTQ+ community outside of the Great Metropolitan Area (GAM)”, explained Andrés Alpizar, organizer of t...

Christmas time will bring the magic of Aladdin to the Coca Cola Amphitheater in Parque Viva, a ballet and urban dance show for the entire family to enjoy will take place next December 16 in two presentations, one at 3 p.m. and the second one at 6 p.m. The event “Villa Mágica” (Magical Village) will begin at noon and offer a parade of reindeers and elves, children's activities and foodtrucks. ...

A total of $3.5 million are being invested in the development of a gastronomy market that will also include a coworking area in the San Jose neighborhood known as La California. The project, under the name “Amor de Barrio” (Neighborhood Love) is expected to open doors by the end of this year and is a project of the owners of La Fabbrica Italian Restaurant. “Amor de Barrio” is one of several ...

Costa Rica barista Remy Molina won first place in the international contest "Coffee Masters New York", which took place October 12-14 in this US city. A beverage including cognac, coffee liquor, cocoa, vodka, orange juice, among others by the name of “First Impression”, earned the Costa Rican the first place in the competition. The prize included a check for $5,000.00 and $15,000.00 worth of...

The renowned Ballet of Prague’s National Theater will have two presentations in Costa Rica next Wednesday, October 24 and Thursday, October 25 at 8 p.m. at the Costa Rican National Theater, announced Interamericana de Producciones production company. The Czech National Ballet was established in 1883, which makes it the oldest ballet body in that country and one of the oldest cultural institutio...

The 5th edition of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week will fill Guanacaste with color and glamour on December 28 which will take place once again at Hacienda Pinilla Beach & Golf Resort. As is usually the case, the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week – Guanacaste (MBFWG) focuses on summer outfits and trends, inspired in the wonderful nature of Costa Rica. The activity is sponsored by Mastercard and prod...

Internationally acclaimed conductor Mark Laycock, from the United States and living in Berlin, Germany, will be directing the Costa Rican Symphony Orchestra this upcoming Friday, September 21 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, September 23 at 10:30 a.m. at the National Theater. The Orchestra will be sharing the stage with the Costa Rican Saxophone band Sonsax presenting the VII Concert of the Official Seaso...

Rafael Angel Fernández Piedra, best known as Rafa Fernández once dreamed of being a bullfighter or maybe a singer, but it was the artist in him that took over, Costa Ricans were lucky to enjoy his talent, the one captured in his paintings for many decades and until this Sunday, September 9, when he passed away at age 82. Costa Rica mourns the death of Fernández, one of the most renown artists the...

The Municipality of San Jose, made an important investment in the adaptation of public spaces for dogs in the Bellavista Park in Rohrmoser and the Nacionalidad Costarricense Park in Mata Redonda (Sabana Sur). The areas offer a secure space and adequate infrastructure specially designed for dogs to play and socialize, while their owners also have opportunity to share with other neighbors and dog...

The Sheraton Hotel in Escazu begins their Food and Entertainment  "Sunday Party" this Sunday September 2. "Sunday Party" combines gastronomy and music which will take place every Sunday for the month of September beginning at noon and finishing at 4 p.m. There will be Five food stations which will include everything, from traditional breakfast dishes such as croissants to exotic fresh option...

When the Roger Waters’ concert was announced in Costa Rica in April, fans were beyond excited; when the tickets went on sale on April 30, in just the first day 25,000 tickets were sold, and in a matter of 10 days the entire concert, scheduled to take place November 24, was sold out. Many people were disappointed they were left without a ticket, but now they will have a second chance to see Pink...

The Life in Color Festival will be back in Cost Rica this September 22, 2018 and this year for the first time at Parque Viva, La Guacima, Alajuela. The Life in Color Festival is an electronic music event that takes place in different countries around the world, in this occasion headliners are Steve Aoki, American electro house musician and DJ who is ranked as number 9 in the “Top 100 DJ’s” list...

International Living is an online magazine that has the mission of helping readers discover different places around the world that are great options for retirement. In the recent article “5 Great Places for Golfing Retirement”, the publication gives Costa Rica a well-deserved spot. Earlier this year, the country was also listed as the best place to retire in the Global Retirement Index 2018 . “...

Roadside fruit stands are a delightful culinary experience not to be missed while traveling through Costa Rica. The country's tropical climate and fertile volcanic soil create excellent conditions for a wide range of fruits to flourish. Although travelers may be familiar with fruits such as mango, papaya, pineapple, bananas, and coconut, Costa Rica offers a wide variety of nutritious and tasty tro...

Playas del Coco in Guanacaste, Costa Rica is one of the oldest beach communities in the country, many expats live here and many more are considering making this location their permanent home. Every year many foreigners choose Costa Rica to start a new life, the country’s closeness to the United States and Canada, its weather, political, social and economic stability, and many natural attraction...

Blue Zones are geographic areas with high concentrations of individuals over 100 years of age and were people generally get to an advance age without experiencing health problems like obesity, heart disease, cancer or diabetes; one of the few blue zones around the world is found in Costa Rica, more specifically in the Nicoya Peninsula. According to recent data by the Ministry of Health, there a...