We went to COSEVI (koh-say'-vee) early this week to get our first CR Driver's Licenses. Below is a detailed accounting of our experience, but first I will summarize a few key points that we learned:
1. Bring two copies each of your passport, DIMEX card, Foreign Driver's License (non-expired), and current CCSS receipt. For the Passport, copy both the main page and the page showing your last Visa entry date. For the Driver's License and DIMEX card, copy both sides of each card - copy page should have front and back of card on a single sheet. You can have the copy office at COSEVI make copies for you if you wish, for a small fee.
2. You must have one copy of a "Dictamen Medico". You go to a doctor of your choice and explain that you want a medical exam for driver's license. You must know what your blood type is or have a blood test done. The doctor examines you and types the info onto a web site. Then the doctor gives you a "Dictamen Medico". This document has a numeric code on it for accessing your medical info online. You give that paper to COSEVI in lieu of an actual medical form. Note: Our doctor said that, by law, a doctor cannot charge more than 18,000 colones for this doctor's visit.
3. Bring a copy of a legal document that identifies your address. (Extra copies not needed.)
4. You must apply for your CR Driver's License 3 months plus one day after your last Visa entry date. (If your Visa was dated on the 17th of the month, apply on the 18th of the third following month. I assume if that falls on a non-business day, you would have until the next business day to apply.) Your foreign driver's license will remain valid until that day (assuming that you now have your DIMEX card).
5. All business was done in Spanish. I can generally get by with my moderate Spanish knowledge, but sometimes I can't understand. Occasionally the Civil Servant would throw in a couple of English words when I had trouble understanding. They seem to know a little English to help keep the process going. (We did see one gringo using an assistant that spoke fluent Spanish.)
6. The COSEVI website says that your first license must be obtained at the offices in La Uruca. Renewals can be made at regional offices.
Here is our rather detailed accounting:
I had read other expat accounts that they received their CR license on the 91st day after their last Visa entry date, so we drove from Tamarindo to San Jose (La Uruca) on the 90th day and went to COSEVI to apply for our license on the 91st day. We planned to stay two nights in San Jose. We drove by the COSEVI offices the day before applying to see where to go - we saw a sign for "Licencias" pointing down a side road, Calle 36, where there was a gate into COSEVI at the end of that road - we assumed that is where we should go to get in line - we were wrong!
We took a cab from our hotel to COSEVI early in the morning to arrive at about 6:45 am. The taxi driver went past the side road we had taken and dropped us off in front of COSEVI on the main road, Avenida 39. He pointed to a line that had formed at the entrance gate into COSEVI. There were only about 7 or 8 people ahead of us in line. COSEVI's website said they opened at 8 am, so we planned to stand in line for 1 1/4 hours. But at 7 am they opened the entrance gate to let people into the COSEVI campus, in advance of the official office openings.
I had tried to pay in advance for our licenses at BCR - but for some reason, they said we could not. So I first went to the CAJA just inside the entrance gate and requested to pay. The woman said that I could not pay yet but must go to licensing first. So we asked the entrance guard where to go and were directed down a long sidewalk - we walked a distance of about two blocks to the rear of COSEVI's campus and saw a line formed to the right in front of a building. Here there was some bench seating for the first 15 people or so. We were able to sit; the line continued to grow and many others had to stand until the doors opened at 8 am. (We asked someone in line if this was the line for licenses for the first time and he said "yes".)
They opened the doors about 8 am. A man sat at a desk at the entrance and asked people to step forward to the desk one at a time. He took a quick look at each persons papers and determined which "window" you must go to inside for service. He took us to "Window #11" (actually a cubicle). Others were sent to different lines and windows. Here the lines are formed by sitting in chairs in order of arrival. The person in the first chair is the next to go in. When they go in, everyone else advances a chair. We were the first ones in our line, apparently the line for "extranjeros". A man called me into his cubicle. I asked if my wife could also come in since she had the same status and he said OK. He proceeded to examine all of our papers and in particular he examined our passport Visa dates and started counting days. He then looked at me and said "You cannot get your license today. You must come back in two days." I protested and said, "But today is the 91st day after our Visa entry!" He said "No, it must be 3 months." I said "But other expats have reported that they got their license on the 91st day." He opened the COSEVI website and pointed to where it said 3 months. I said I had read that, but "month" was not defined and could be interpreted as 30 days. He would not budge and insisted that we come back in two days (3 months based on the calendar day plus 1 day). We were very frustrated but had to leave. We returned to our hotel and had to extend our reservation another night.
After we left, I realized that I forgot to ask if my driver's license was valid after my Visa expired but before I got my CR license. To be safe, we took taxis wherever we went for the next two days.
We returned to COSEVI two days later, again arriving at 6:45 am and proceeding to the line at the building at 7 am. When we went forward to the man at the desk at the entrance this time, he looked at my foreign drivers license and said we must go back and get into a second line that had started to form adjacent to the first line. Apparently this was a line for extranjeros - there were two people in line, so we stood behind them. After about 10 minutes of processing some of the people from the other line, he told the 4 of us in the other line to follow him. He led us to the chair line for Window #11. As I passed the cubicle, I saw that the same "bureaucrat" would be assisting us again.
Round 2: Knowing that this man had our fate that day in his hands, we decided to be very polite when we went in and not show frustration over the two extra days it cost us. He again proceeded to look over all of our papers in great detail. Then he said, "Sir, there is a problem with your papers. You only copied the front of your driver's license and DIMEX card. You must have a copy of both sides. (Didn't he see this during "Round 1"?) I asked where we could have this done. He said there was a copy office by the front gate that could do it for us. He said to go get copies and signal him when we got back. We paid a small fee to have the copies made per his specifications (front of license on top of copy page and back of license on the bottom of the same page.)
Round 3: We returned to the building, bypassed the outside line and nodded to him as we passed his cubicle and sat back down in the chair line. When he was done with his current client, he stepped out and signaled for us to come in next, before others that were now in line. (Those people grumbled at little.) He reviewed the papers and again and then asked for our "direccion" (proof of address). This made me nervous - I had copies of our receipts for electrical bill and Cable Tica, but these did not show our address, just our name and account number. Our water bill is included in our HOA fees. I only had a private health insurance policy that showed our complete address (condominium name and unit number and town) - not an official government document. I showed that to him and he said "OK" and handed it back to me. Phew! Finally we got a break! As we finished up, I said I had a question: "After our 90-day Visa had expired and before we had our CR license, was our foreign driver's license valid for driving for those 3 days?" He said "yes". I noted that we had been taking taxis everywhere for the past 3 days - we both chuckled over that! (I have also since confirmed this interpretation with our residency attorney.)
He asked us to sign a ledger book and then handed us our papers and said to take them up the stairs to the second floor. There we sat in another row of chairs - with just a couple people ahead of us. We then went into a more formal office where another man reviewed all of our documents and applied official stamps to each of them. He asked a couple of questions, and then asked us to sign a ledger sheet; then gave us our papers and said to go back downstairs to "Window #1". We sat in another chair-line with just a couple of people ahead of us. The man in the cubicle looked over the papers and then said, "Now you must go to pay the fee." I asked if I should pay at the CAJA at COSEVI, but he said "No, you must go to Banco Nacional to pay. The bank is next door." He said to bring the receipts back to him.
We went to pay and returned with the receipts. (I forget what we paid, I think about 4000 colones each.) He stapled the receipts to the rest of our forms and filed them away. He took our pictures, had us sign an electronic signature pad, and took a fingerprint of our forefinger via an electronic fingerprint device. He had us sign a ledger book. He then said to go back and sit in the chairs to wait. Within 5 minutes he signaled us to come back and he handed us our licenses. (A machine in his office printed the licenses directly.) "COMPLETO!" We finally had our CR driver's licenses! The license is valid for 3 years. ( I had a motorcycle endorsement on my USA license and asked to be permitted to drive motorcycles as well - he gave me two licenses - one for the car and one for driving a motorcycle.)
Sorry for such a long post, but I hope this detailed account can assist others in their own COSEVI experience!
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