Many people think they can move to Costa Rica and work part-time to supplement their pension. With a few exceptions you can’t work in Costa Rica without getting legal permanent residency first. The country does not allow non-resident foreigners to work as employees. Employment laws are designed to protect local workers by preventing foreigners from performing jobs that a Tico or permanent resident expat might do.

To work in Costa Rica you need to be a permanent resident. With other residency such as rentista (investor) or pensionado (retired), you can own a business but you cannot work in the business (your activity is limited to managing the business). Instead you will need to hire Costa Ricans or permanent residents for the labor.

There are a few exceptions. Highly-skilled people working in a certain field  might be one. An employer can apply for a work permit, usually for up to one year. The Ministry of Labor (Ministerio de Trabajo) maintains a list of professionals and skilled labor that it seeks from time to time.

Here’s a good exception for non-resident expats — work online for a company in your home country. If you are physically living in Costa Rica but work online for an employer outside its border, the work is likely legal as long as payment comes from there and your work is unrelated to Costa Rica. This might include writing, IT consulting, web design, translation, and sales/telemarketing, creating a virtual business or online drop-shipping company. When in doubt, consult a local attorney. Better still? Apply for and obtain legal residency.

Source: qcostarica.com

Corinne McKay was a former French high school teacher in the United States.  She went from earning $9,000 a year from 3-4 clients and working 20 hours a week in the first year, $18,000 her second year, to $36,000 in year three. According to a recent compensation survey of the American Translators Association, a self-employed freelance translator working full time in the US earns about $50,000 a year. Corinne expects to meet that while working about 30 hours a week and taking four weeks of vacation each year.

Tips for beginning freelance translators

Corinne offers her suggestions for those getting started…

• Be realistic. To work full-time as a translator you’ll need a sizable list of regular clients. It may take a year or more until you are working full time. In Corrine’s case, she contacted about 400 translation agencies her first year in business. It took about 18 months until she earned an amount equal to her previous full time job. While you may work 30-40 hours each week, it may more realistic to plan on only billing 25  hours a week.
• Never stop marketing. When you get steady work, it’s tempting to think that agencies will keep referring you. Work flows go up and down. Agencies go out of business. Keep sending your resume to 3-5 new agencies each week.
• Don’t forget your own backyard Check the yellow pages under “interpreters and translators.”
• Join the associations. The American Translators Association and local chapters will establish your seriousness as a translator, and to meet other translators.
• Ask for advice. Check out freelancers groups. Talk with those with more experience than you.
• Focus your resume on specific translation skills Highlight your specific skills right away such as “Spanish-bilingual software specialist,” or “Native speaker of Arabic with mechanical engineering background,” etc.
• Offer services other translators don’t  Many experienced translators don’t have a financial need to work nights, weekends, rush jobs, etc. Set yourself apart
• Get your certifications You don’t have to get certified by the American Translators Association but it can lead to an increase in business.
• Consider the other advantages of freelancing You might qualify for significant tax deductions for business related expenses. If you work from home you won’t be paying commuting expenses, lunch out, work clothes, etc.
• Keep in touch As you apply to agencies, keep a file of the person you talked to or e-mailed with, and what his or her response was to your inquiry. As you get more experience, periodically contact these people again to let them know a) you’re still there and b) you have some new projects to tell them about.
• Never take on work you can’t handle. Don’t do what you don’t know, particularly in a small community of translators and translation consumers. Clients will appreciate your honesty and use you for projects better suited to you.
• Keep them happy Finish projects on time and on budget. NEVER miss a deadline without notifying a client as soon as possible it won’t be done by the deadline. Return phone calls and e-mails within one business day. When you can’t do the job,  refer them to a colleague. Be professional in all of your dealings.

Source: www.project4hire.com

Taylor Banks is running multiple businesses from an RV he shares with his wife. One online business (Ace Hackware) was born out of a 2010 working vacation to Costa Rica. Banks explains…

“In 2010, we went on a pseudo-working vacation in Costa Rica, because we realized it was cheaper to meet my business associate there rather than either of us flying to meet the other. While there, we had this epiphany. We were busting our butts, doing this rat race thing. In Costa Rica, we had this little casita on the beach with no TV but thankfully wireless internet. It was life-altering. We thought, ‘this is what we should be aiming for’. We said, ‘let’s make this plan to move to Costa Rica’.”

Around the same time, Taylor read Tim Ferriss’ The 4 Hour Work Week. “I was pumped up by this idea, by the concept of outsourcing to make this happen,” he told me. He built his first ecommerce store on Shopify. Ace Hackware – a source for hidden cameras, lock picks, and pentest drop boxes – was an obvious freshman shop for a self-proclaimed “long-time penetration tester and hacking countermeasures instructor.”

It took off, thanks to a small but growing community of security enthusiasts, but they still hadn’t made any progress in moving to Costa Rica. The logistics and paperwork involved in moving to (and running a business) from a foreign country, it turns out, were prohibitive. The couple then realized that while they loved Costa Rica, there was still much of the US they hadn’t explored. Beth convinced her company to allow her to work remotely, and they haven’t looked back.

“Credit to my wife’s company for allowing her to work remotely. Companies are starting to realize that remote doesn’t mean less productive – and in some cases it means more productive. Beth has discovered that she can get a lot more done on a day out of the office than a day in the office.”

Running Ace Hackware remotely relies on outsourcing a lot of the business. Taylor hired a VA three to four months into launching the store. She’s covered everything from bookkeeping and managing the site, to customer service and backend process management. Years later, she’s still on the team, and an integral part of business operations, affording Taylor a much lighter schedule than a typical entrepreneur.

The Banks haven’t yet transitioned to living in Costa Rica. However, they are creating a consistent revenue stream to sustain them when (and if) the time comes.

Source: www.shopify.com