John R. Says:
Will a previous non-violent felony conviction in the U.S. make it harder for me to move to Costa Rica?
IL Costa Rica Correspondent Bekah Bottone Says:
Hi John,
Immigration Law in Costa Rica states that you must have a clean background check when applying for residency. The search is conducted at the national level. This means a person convicted of a felony in the last 10 years will not be approved. So, for your situation, it depends on when your conviction happened.
I suggest seeking legal advice for an attorney in Costa Rica if you want to move here. It’s a good idea to try multiple firms.
I have a friend who had two misdemeanor charges on his police record. One law firm told him that Costa Rica would never approve his residency. Yet a second firm, GLC Abogados in Escazú, accepted him as a client, pushing his application through in record time.
The firm even told him that if they could not get the residency accepted, they would not charge any attorney fees at all, only out-of-pocket fees that they had to pay to the Costa Rican government on his behalf, so that made it an easy decision for him to try.
He was also impressed with GLC Abogados because they were so helpful in assigning a paralegal to his case who accompanied him to every meeting to help in Spanish. And his application was approved in just a few months, rather than several years, as some of his friends had experienced.
I have never used GLC Abogados myself. My own lawyer is Rosa at Themis Legal (the firm is currently redesigning its website but you can call Rosa at +506 8831 2261). Working with her and her team is always a pleasure.
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