US expatriates who are struggling with expatriate tax will find the article written by Nick Hodges, President of NCH Wealth Advisors, very helpful. The article – 25 Questions US expatriates MUST Ask provides US expatriates with the best tools, strategies and planning techniques to help US expatriates to manage their tax and financial goals and dreams on a day-to-day basis regardless of their location.

The Internet super-highway opens up marvelous opportunities for US expatriates to harvest expat tax advice and information from some of the greatest minds at reasonable prices from anywhere in the world. But it also emphasizes a crucial question: How do you know whom to trust? Sharing your intimate, personal financial information with a stranger is problematic at best. The article’s 25 questions can help any expat choose a tax and financial professional you can trust. The original article can be found at: http://www.ExpatCFO.com.

Much interest continues to be shown about the rules and regulations regarding bringing pets into Costa Rica. The following from Livingabroadin.com will answer many questions and help clarify the procedure. In this case, dogs and cats.

For dogs and cats and other small pets, you’ll need to prove to both the airlines and Costa Rica customs officers that your animal is healthy. Schedule an exam with your local veterinarian a week or two before your departure date—the vet should fill out a health certificate stating that the animal is disease-free and has been vaccinated against distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, and rabies. The rabies vaccination is supposed to be more than 30 days but less than a year old, and is necessary only for animals 4 months or older. The health certificate should then be endorsed by a Veterinary Service (VS) veterinarian, but need not be notarized. The Costa Rican consulate says the examination for the certificate must be conducted within the two weeks prior to travel to Costa Rica, though anecdotal evidence suggests that a certificate up to 30 days old will do the trick.

Pet owners also need to get authorization from the Costa Rican Health Ministry; go through your nearest Costa Rica consulate or embassy to obtain this permission.

When you arrive in Costa Rica, the customs officer will do a visual inspection of your pet (for which you will be charged US$1), and look over the health certificate and the authorization from the Costa Rican Health Ministry. If all is in order, you’re through, and can find a pet-friendly taxi (not an easy task) and stuff your Irish wolfhound in the backseat. Some people traveling with pets report that they weren’t even asked for their documents, but you can’t count on encountering such relaxed attitudes yourself.

If you’re missing any documents or the officer decides your pet looks ill and might transmit disease, the animal will either be temporarily released to your care (kind of like being out on bail) or (if the official decides there’s a real health risk) kept in a state kennel for up to 30 days, until you work out what to do next—arrange for the necessary paperwork, or contact a local vet if your animal needs care.

Photo By: Petteri Sulonen

Launched roughly a month ago, the site is getting a boost in the volume of long-form, HD quality programming, according to Forbes.com. Pablo Silva, vice-president of global online publishing at Fox International Channels, said the site has attracted 1.5 million unique visitors and “millions of streams” since its launch.

To view the new site and the various features of its programming, visit www.mundofox.com

mundofox.egg on Aviary.

In addition to Costa Rica, the rankings included, in order, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guatemala, Vietnam, and Colombia. According to an article on its website, www.amcostarica.com, the results seem to be correlated highly with the size of the country, although Brazil is rated highly, too.

“I was speaking to the owner of one of the larger moving companies some while back, and he told me that he is now moving back “home” more than 50% of the customers he moved here originally.”

For learning Spanish, TRCR blog mentioned Coffee Break Spanish, which I’ve been listening to for some time.  There are also a few other Spanish/language learning sites that I would recommend as well.

• The learn Spanish Survival Guide
• Insta Spanish Lessons
• Donquijote Spanish Word of the Day
• Learn It Lists
• palabea.net
• mango languages

They also reminded me that if you’re moving from the USA that it’s also a good idea to learn the metric system. It’s things like that, that will make your transition into another country/culture, so much easier.

1. Its Official Name is the Republic of Costa Rica, La Republica de Costa Rica.
2. It contains 19,730 square miles. About the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined.
3. It has a population of 4.3 million.
4. Costa Rica’s capital city is San Jose with a population of 2.1 million.
5. Costa Rica’s literacy rate is 96%. Higher than the U.S.
6. The life expectancy is 74.6 years for men and 79.9 years for women. Both higher than the U.S.
7. Approximately 50,000 U.S. citizens, including many retirees, reside in Costa Rica. More than 700,000 U.S. citizens visit the country annually.
8. Approximately 31% of the country is contained in national parks or private preserves.
9. Costa Rica has one of the oldest democracies in the Americas. It became an independent nation in 1821.
10. Its present constitution was adopted November 7, 1949.
11. Its government is comprised of executive, legislative and judicial branches just like the U.S.
12. The country has seven provinces.
13. The GDP in 2006 was approximately $21.5 Billion.
14. 62% of the economy is devoted to the service sector principally tourism and related services and banking; 29% industry principally electronics, food processing, textiles, medical equipment and construction; 9% agriculture principally bananas, coffee, pineapples, sugar, rice, daily, fruits and vegetables.
15. The U.S. is Costa Rica’s most important trading partner accounting for half of its exports, imports and tourism and more than two-thirds of its foreign investment.
16. Natural resources include hydroelectric power, fisheries and forest products.
17. Costa Rica abolished its armed forces in 1949.
18. Major Fortune 500 Companies with significant investments in Costa Rica include Intel, Proctor & Gamble, Glaxo Smith Kline, Motorola, Abbott Labs, Baxter Health Care, Roche and Pfizer.
19. Costa Rica is served by three international airports at San Jose, Osa and Liberia. There are direct flights from Miami, New York, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Washington, Los Angeles, Pittsburg, Phoenix, Charlotte and Ft. Lauderdale.
20. Major hotel and resort companies in Costa Rica include Marriott, Westin, Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons, St. Regis, Hilton, Hyatt, Ramada, The Palms, Wyndham and the Ritz-Carlton.
21. The country is investing hundreds of millions on infrastructure improvements including roads, telecommunications and services.
22. Costa Rica recently approved participation in the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) which will attract continued investment to the country.
23. The Costa Rica Power Team is the leading real estate consulting firm in Costa Rica!

[VIA Costa Rica Power Team]

“The sharp drop in poverty to the best level in 30 years means that 56,000 families, representing 83,000 persons have left extreme poverty status since last year. And along with this encouraging figure is the news that underage employment has dropped and the kids are staying in school longer”.

You can read the rest at Costa Rica Blog

Click here to read her story.

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