Getting Your Mail In Costa Rica
Written by JohnK
The postal service in Costa Rica may take longer than expected.
Costa Rica’s postal system is very rudimentary but you should be able to find a suitable option. You can opt to use the local Correos de Costa Rica service if you’re receiving letters that are not time sensitive. On the other hand, if you’re going to be receiving urgent mail, like your credit card statements, you should find an alternative option as regular mail could take up to a month in some cases. For many of your foreign banking and credit card services, you should seriously consider using their online facilities. This will save you a lot of hassle and keep you from paying any late fees.
Correos de Costa Rica
The national postal service offers home delivery but I wouldn’t recommend it as it’s still not very reliable. You can opt to get an a P.O. Box, (i.e. ‘apartado’) where you receive your mail and you have to physically go to the post office to pick up your mail. Apartados are in high demand and therefore hard to obtain in some areas - it could even take up to a year to get one. If you’re lucky enough to get an apartado the initial cost is about 10,000 colones for the first year and 5,000 colones every year thereafter.
Courier Service
Another way to get your mail is by paying for a slightly more expensive, but more efficient and secure, private mail service. Many companies have taken advantage of the underdeveloped Costa Rican national system and now offer this type of service.
Among them are:
Aerocasillas - 208-4848
JetBox - 289-2704
Mail Boxes Etc. - 203-8615
Most of these private courier services offer a physical street address and P.O. Box in the United States. You can use this address to safely receive all your correspondence and packages. Once your mail is delivered to the U.S. location, it will be air-shipped by the courier to Costa Rica. All packages will need to go through customs and your courier will assist you with this process. They will usually serve as an intermediary if there are any applicable custom fees or other import restrictions. Costa Rica’s customs laws allow private citizens, and foreigners too, to import $500 worth of personal goods semi-anually.
Each courier company will have slightly different rates and rules but they usually offer different packages depending on how much you plan on using the courier service. Be sure to read the small print as couriers are notorious for charging a small fee for everything. These small fees could add up to a whole bunch in the end, so remember your Latin and ‘Caveat emptor’ (i.e. buyer beware).
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John D. Kloninger is a online marketer living in Costa Rica. Born in California, he grew up in San Jose and then went on to University in Honolulu, HI and Boston, MA. You can contact him at jkloninger@gmail.com.
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Filed under: Living on March 6th, 2008
[…] Eric Kraushar wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThe postal service in Costa Rica may take longer than expected. Costa Rica’s postal system is very rudimentary but you should be able to find a suitable option. You can opt to use the local Correos de Costa Rica service if you’re … […]