Costa Rica

[fathertime]

FT,

Most Asian girls are the same way about the sun but maybe more-so. We were snorkeling in Thailand and my fiance was constantly worried about getting tan. I think she was using an extra coating of SPF 50 about every hour and then complained about getting a tiny bit of a tan.

Well Jm, it is sorta funny, because I just made the assumption that my wife would love the sun because she is so naturally tan.  As I look back though, when we were in Colombia we only hit the hotel pool late in the afternoon when the sun was far less intense.  I bought this special beach chair for my wife, it has an overhead top that creates shade for her.  That way we can still go to the beach in the middle of the day, while she gets the sun protection she wants.  

I live near an area where there is a heavy Asian population and I see the older ladies with umbrellas all the time.  The teenage gals don't seem nearly as uptight about sun though.   The moms load their kids up with sunscreen a lot more than any other race I've seen though.  Although Latina, I got a feeling my wife is going to do the same thing with our kid.

Fathertime!  

[PachucoBro]

The reason I ask is because i have heard bringing a girl from asia or from eastern europe is way easier then a girl from Colombia.  So I was wondering if Costa Rica was classified the same as Colombia which based on what I have gotten out of this thread it appears to be.

I believe you are victim of "I heard..." syndrome. Who said? Someone who 'really knows' what they are talking about?

The TRUTH and FACT is:

Number of days on average from time the Foreign Embassy receives Visa Petition to interview date:

Bangkok - 90-110 days
Manila, Philippines - 50-80 days (huge spike increase since Aug)
Ukrane - 40-50 days

Bogota, Colombia - 50-60 days

All processing times prior to the foreign embassy receiving the petition are all about the same.

All information for these numbers are available for public knowledge from the USCIS.

[play2win]

I believe you are victim of "I heard..." syndrome. Who said? Someone who 'really knows' what they are talking about?

The TRUTH and FACT is:

Number of days on average from time the Foreign Embassy receives Visa Petition to interview date:

Bangkok - 90-110 days
Manila, Philippines - 50-80 days (huge spike increase since Aug)
Ukrane - 40-50 days

Bogota, Colombia - 50-60 days

All processing times prior to the foreign embassy receiving the petition are all about the same.

All information for these numbers are available for public knowledge from the USCIS.

What about other parts of colombia? what about costa rica? btw u might want to make it easier to navigate ur site and allow people to control how fast they scroll through the pic on the main page instead of using a statically timed flash animation.  just a thought.

btw thanks for the info that is helpful and interesting.  I thought it took many many many months based on what i have read on this board and people I have talked to in person

[PachucoBro]

btw u might want to make it easier to navigate ur site and allow people to control how fast they scroll through the pic on the main page instead of using a statically timed flash animation.  just a thought.

There is a pause and Play button in the top left corner.

btw thanks for the info that is helpful and interesting.  I thought it took many many many months based on what i have read on this board and people I have talked to in person

It does take months from the time you decide to send in the paperwork to the time your fiancee has a visa in her hand. This is true of ALL immigration processes no matter what country.

For the last 12 months the overall average processing time from sending the paperwork in to getting a visa in hand is taking about 160-200 days. That is a global ALL Embassies ALL countries number.

Back in 2006 it took me about 4.5 months to get a VISA, now I am looking at 6 months.

[jm21-2]

Well Jm, it is sorta funny, because I just made the assumption that my wife would love the sun because she is so naturally tan.  As I look back though, when we were in Colombia we only hit the hotel pool late in the afternoon when the sun was far less intense.  I bought this special beach chair for my wife, it has an overhead top that creates shade for her.  That way we can still go to the beach in the middle of the day, while she gets the sun protection she wants.  

I live near an area where there is a heavy Asian population and I see the older ladies with umbrellas all the time.  The teenage gals don't seem nearly as uptight about sun though.   The moms load their kids up with sunscreen a lot more than any other race I've seen though.  Although Latina, I got a feeling my wife is going to do the same thing with our kid.

Fathertime!  

Yep, I made a similar assumption. My fiance has browner skin and I can barely even tell when she is "tan" but she sure can...

Usually not a problem here to avoid a tan but between my convertible and messing around on boats (pretty easy to get tanned/burned due to the reflection off the water and fiberglass) I maintain some color most of the year. I can just see her asking me to put the top up on a sunny day so she doesn't get tanned, hahaha.

[Alabamaboy!]

For actual time frames of individuals seeking Visas from whatever particular embassy around the world you can search that information on www.visajourney.com They have a wealth of information if you spend some time there and navigate around all the nooks and crannies.

[Jeff S]

WOW! Ummm, where did the whole prostitution thing come about??? Did miss a response somewhere?

Also, the woman does not need to have employment to get 'A' visa to the U.S. And employment alone does not mean she qualifies for 'ANY' visa. Let me explain...

A woman with no job CAN qualify for a K-1 or K3, Fiancee or Spousal visa and employment is not a requirement for her.

If a woman wants to get a Tourist Visa she will need much more than just a job. She will need a REALLY good job... plus family in her native country or a house/property... or a business she owns... or anything else that would almost guarantee she will want to return to her country of origin.

Immigration is a big and difficult animal. I would even go so far to say that understanding the processes is tougher than US taxes because the instruction sheets do leave a bit of detail out.

Oh and my 2 cents is just that, but I have been through the K-1 Finacee visa through Colombia and I filed all the paperwork myself with no attorney. Cost me a total of about $400-$500 with all fees and shipping of paperwork back and forth etc. So I do have a good idea of what I am talking about.

Also, there should not be much difference in 'difficulty' for bringing a woman from Costa Rica or Colombia. It is still the whole immigration process, which is like any other government run process.  

Just so you know, William is an immigration attorney that has done many, many visa applications for people, seen many accepted and seen many rejected. The reason he brought up prostitution is because that's what ICE investigators are on the lookout for from certain countries - especially Costa Rica and Colombia, so if the K1 has any whiff of impropriety they are suspicious that the relationship is very real, particularly if the women has no, or very sketchy employment history (store clerk, waitress, etc.) Don't shoot the messenger, it's based on a history of abuse from certain areas. The standard method for a pimp to traffic a women to the US has been to find a gringo to fill out a K1 for a few bucks under the table.

[bcc_1_2]

Sorry, I haven't been reading threads for awhile. First, to the person with limited posts... AFA has a history of trashing Spanish Eyes online. Someone with limited posts trashing Spanish eyes and backing AFA is a red flag for me. But enough about agencies and personals because we are talking about a microscopic amount of women compared to those you'll meet in your actual travels.

Unforunately, I'm not sure how many posters on here have spent time in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is good for two different types of guys. One example is the older guy staying downtown looking to pay less than cien for sex with a bonita chica. The other group is young men (20-35... maybe early 40s with a decent appearance or above) who stay and party in San Pedro. Well there are other groups like the surfers on the pacific coast and the wealthy gringos/couples that have vacation pads.

But basically if you fit into that 20-40ish range and decent looking best to stay by the college and mall in San Pedro (plenty of safe night life). The sex tourists stay downtown.

San Jose is one of the top sex tourist destinations in the world... don't think the women don't know it. What I'm saying is if you are some 55-60 old guy traveling down there... a lot of the women might assume things about you... like you are there to pay for sex. The guys in their 20s don't face that so much.

[Jeff S]

Well of course... everyone knows what the the 55-60 year old gang are after, while the 25 to 40 crowd are... 

[william3rd]

I believe you are victim of "I heard..." syndrome. Who said? Someone who 'really knows' what they are talking about?

The TRUTH and FACT is:

Number of days on average from time the Foreign Embassy receives Visa Petition to interview date:

Bangkok - 90-110 days
Manila, Philippines - 50-80 days (huge spike increase since Aug)
Ukrane - 40-50 days

Bogota, Colombia - 50-60 days

All processing times prior to the foreign embassy receiving the petition are all about the same.

All information for these numbers are available for public knowledge from the USCIS.

Bangkok- from NVC completion on  November 1 an interview date was set for December 9 is only about 6 weeks. Its time for the feel good Christmas rush!!!!

[william3rd]

Sorry, I haven't been reading threads for awhile. First, to the person with limited posts... AFA has a history of trashing Spanish Eyes online. Someone with limited posts trashing Spanish eyes and backing AFA is a red flag for me. But enough about agencies and personals because we are talking about a microscopic amount of women compared to those you'll meet in your actual travels.

San Jose is one of the top sex tourist destinations in the world... don't think the women don't know it. What I'm saying is if you are some 55-60 old guy traveling down there... a lot of the women might assume things about you... like you are there to pay for sex. The guys in their 20s don't face that so much.

Oh Boy!!! I get to talk about the sex tour/romance tour agency know as AFA, foreignladies, foreignwomen, beautifulbrides as well as hundreds of other concealed names.

They started running combined sex/romance tours to Russia about seven years ago or so-not telling the women, of course, of the dual nature of the tour. To the women, this was solely a marriage agency, although much of the US advertising was for "singles" tours. "Just tell the woman that you are serious" was the advice. "We are all alpha male wolves" was the description given by one of their now former tour directors.

They ran "tours" to Costa Rica when they had at best a couple of hundred women registered, violating their own policies of having at least 800 for "successful" marriage tours. I was told I shouldn't go because they "weren't set up yet."  For legitimate tours anyway."
I previously posted email complaints from their employees that bewailed the condoned presence of known prostitutes at the socials in St. Petersburg. I remember reporting the presence of a woman who propositioned me on three different occasions. "She must have snuck in. We'll remove her." It finally sunk in that they were never going to remove her- she was there to ply her trade.

Many of the women  "candidates" in Kiev would go to the social and then go to their regular job at the River Palace renting themselves out to men.

They have also been positively linked to pornography- sales, production and distribution. They used to film at the Time Out bar and in their own flats in St. Petersburg, using the same video equipment for their testimonials.

As I previously posted, I still have contact with some of their former employees who have personal knowledge of their activities. One of their Kiev employees talks about their VIP program where the introduction video for the client was shot without any film in the camera. LOL. Another talks about the use of their 800 number to recruit adult actors in Phoenix.

Their advertising for Thailand talks about the Thai women who will go off to explore the country with you. Not likely, unless you are renting the girl. And their much touted Thailand New Year's bash from a few years ago? Never saw the pictures from that party. And Thai culture would look down on someone who went to an event like that- unless you are renting.

Of course, it now seems that they have abandoned Russia and Thailand and focused on more impoverished lands.

[william3rd]

Just so you know, William is an immigration attorney that has done many, many visa applications for people, seen many accepted and seen many rejected. The reason he brought up prostitution is because that's what ICE investigators are on the lookout for from certain countries - especially Costa Rica and Colombia, so if the K1 has any whiff of impropriety they are suspicious that the relationship is very real, particularly if the women has no, or very sketchy employment history (store clerk, waitress, etc.) Don't shoot the messenger, it's based on a history of abuse from certain areas. The standard method for a pimp to traffic a women to the US has been to find a gringo to fill out a K1 for a few bucks under the table.

I stopped at about 4000 K visas. And somewhere about the same number of I130s. I dont keep track anymore. I still handle a few but I didnt feel like competing with the volume producers. In addition, DHS became very user friendly. The information is no longer years out of date. Now I spend more time cleaning up the wreckage. hehehehe.

I had one interesting one last month where I uncovered a prior deportation that the woman had "forgotten" about. If there is an A#- find out why she has one-and get document copies. And dont listen to the alien's "boolShidski." The dog ate my homework didnt work in elementary school and it shouldnt work in bride search.

An "unemployed" woman is a problem in many countries. She eats air to survive? Or does she graze in the field with the cattle? She sleeps on a riverbank? Gets her makeup and clothing from Salvation Army? The interviewer wants to know how she has survived-and YOU need to know as well. "Unemployed" in Thailand and Costa Rica is a real problem due to the prostitution factor.

Keep in mind where the BURDEN lies!!! The burden is on YOU and the ALIEN to prove to a "clear and convincing" standard that the alien is eligible for the immigration benefit sought. It is not up to the government to prove anything. The consulate has a function to decide issues of inadmissibility (reasons of not letting her in) after you have gotten a government approval to get a visa.

Single, unemployed, without children, lower education, attractive, fluent English- put it all together and it spells red flags!!! OR posibble prostitute- depending on the language

[bcc_1_2]

Well of course... everyone knows what the the 55-60 year old gang are after, while the 25 to 40 crowd are... 

While your point is valid... the stereotyping on the ground (actually in CR) is different. I'm just relaying what most ticas think/assume. And my point was targeted directly at SJO (not the rest of Latin America). Sex tourism is absolutely huge in CR. Thailand and Costa Rica have got to be at the top of the list. I would think my example of San Pedro and Downtown Costa Rica is a little like the difference between say Khao San Road and Sukhumvit areas.

It is not like a bunch of young men are staying at the Hotel Del Rey... its a bunch of middle age plus men. So that's the stereotype you're up against.


If you are a middle aged man and not into the adult activities you might check out Escazu.

[play2win]

So I just re-read this thread and I am wondering are there any legit agencies NOT associated with loveme.com?

Btw this thread is a good read for people who are thinking about Costa Rica

[bcc_1_2]

So I just re-read this thread and I am wondering are there any legit agencies NOT associated with loveme.com?

Btw this thread is a good read for people who are thinking about Costa Rica

that would be spanish eyes costa rica. another agency in central america is amor si. if using agencies is of interest almost all of them are in Colombia, Russia, and Ukraine.