Receiving Money from Abroad

Do you plan on having money from abroad sent to you in Costa Rica? The fastest and safest way to receive money while visiting or temporarily residing in Costa Rica, and you don't have a bank account, is to have an international money order or any other type of important merchandise or document shipped to you by one of the worldwide courier services, such as DHL or UPS. Letters and small packages usually take about two working days (Mon.-Fri.) to reach Costa Rica from the United States or Canada.

Many worldwide air couriers have offices in San José, such as DHL (290-3010), Federal Express (255-4567), UPS (257-7447), TNT (233-5678), Jetex (293-5838) and Skynet (232-5678). The latter two are probably the cheapest options. Until recently, Costa Rica's postal service, Correos de Costa Rica, was the slowest and least safe option. Its "non-priority" mail was too slow to even consider as a valid option. "Priority" mail (certificado) supposedly takes 12 days to reach any destination in the U.S., three weeks for Europe and the rest of the world. Rates are very affordable at about $5.35 per kilo and $4.75 for each additional kilo.

However, Correos de Costa Rica just inaugurated EMS Courier - a national and international courier service with 127 offices in any part of the country. They hope to compete with private courier companies. You may contact them at Tel: 221-2136, Fax: 221-1737, E-mail: ems@correos.go.cr. The Costa Rican postal Service also offers Priority Mail Service Tel: 253-3375, 800-9002000 or E-mail: pacc_prioritymail@correos.go.cr.

U. S. banks can wire money to banks in Costa Rica. This method is safe, but can be slow at times, as many bureaucratic delays can develop. You are also charged a fee for the transfer. We had a money order sent from England to our account in the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica and didn't experience much delay or any problems. Once we followed the correct procedure our money arrived promptly. This method is the best way for a business to function reliably and quickly in receiving or sending money.

The Costa Rican postal service is planning to start a money order service allowing money orders to be sent from the U.S. to Costa Rica. This service promises to be much faster and much more economical than getting money wired to your bank in Costa Rica.

Western Union in Costa Rica boasts that they offer the fastest money transfers in the country. Call Western Union at 1-800-777-7777, 283-6336 or E-mail: bvib@western-union.co.crfor additional information or go to one of their local agencies in San José, Libería, San Isidro General, Puntarenas or other parts of the country. You'll have to show some form of valid identification to pick up your money.

You can always have a trustworthy friend or relative bring you up to $10,000 when they come to Costa Rica. Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) are found all over the country. You can't transfer money directly but can get cash advances from one of your credit or debit cards. Use of ATMs along with cashing a personal check are perhaps the fastest way to get money.

Many money changers (cambistas) have private offices near the central post office and banks in downtown San José. Some of these money changers will cash personal checks from your U. S. checking account when they know you. You can get the name of a money changer from other retirees or residents.

Another safe way of having checks sent to you is through one of the private mail services we list in the next section.

Once you have stablished a permanent residence in Costa Rica you can have Social Security and Veteran's benefits mailed to you directly through the U.S. Embassy. However, these checks usually don't arrive until sometime after the tenth of each month.

The worst way to send money is through the regular mail. People report that many checks have been lost or stolen. Postal thieves are very sophisticated in Costa Rica and may work with some unscrupulous black market money changers. The postal system has received numerous complaints and has promised to do something about them. If you need to file a complaint about lost or stolen mail, go to Correo de Costa Rica's complaint department (Departamento de Reclamaciones) in downtown San José on Ave. 6, between Calles 17 and 19. If you live outside San José, you can file a complaint at any local post office and it will be forwarded to San José.

If you still choose to use the regular mail system after reading the above, be sure to have your checks or money orders sent to you in secure, non-transparent manila envelopes-ones that can't be seen through when held up to a light.

A rash of postal thefts, has prompted more and more people to use the private-mail companies that offer a variety of postal related services.