Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Tips for Costa Ricans to Get US Visas

If you are looking to get a US visa there are some tips that help up to 93.51% of Costa Ricans who apply get granted a visa. You’ll be well on your way to enjoying New York, Hawaii, Miami or Vegas.

First, you can save money by filling out your own DS-160 form online instead of paying a service to do it. Make sure to specify that you are applying for a non-immigrant visa, in the tourism category. Answer everything truthfully. You will be able to add digital photographs but will also need printed photos. At a photographic studio let them know you need pictures that meet the requirements for a US visa.

After uploading photos, proofread your answers and press the upload key. Keep the ID number it gives you. Print the first page where your name and a bar code appear. This barcode is needed for access to the Embassy on the day of your appointment. Lastly, pay $160 via debit card or Servimás. The next day you will be able to sign in and pick an appointment time.

Bring documents to demonstrate roots in Costa Rica to the appointment. These can be bank account statements, proof of employer or salary, or others. At the Embassy you will have fingerprints taken and go to an interview. Visas are delivered via Correos de Costa Rica.

Costa Rican Surfer Defeats Leader

A Tica, Brisa Hennessy, defeated the previous leader, American Caroline Mark, in the maximum surf circuit on the planet. The Women’s World Tour took place in Australia and advanced to the third round.

Her aggressive style impressed fans and got her high scores on the second date of the competition in Bells Beach, Victoria. She was previously crowned Pan American champion in Lima, Peru.

Hennessey wears number 99 on her uniform alongside the Costa Rican flag. She and Marks, who won the first leg of the circuit, both demonstrated great techniques. Hennessey added the highest wave of the tournament, 8.33.

Brisa said the “waves have been incredible and I felt very good.” She will also compete in the Pan American Games and is hoping to secure a position in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. She was born in Costa Rica and moved with her family to Hawaii and Fiji to improve her surfing and become a professional athlete.

Haunted Cambodia

Monday, April 22, 2019

As Civilization Collapses, A Turning?

Costa Rican Family Trying to Get Daughter Home After Death in Barcelona

A grieving family is seeking economic help to bring the body of their loved one home.

Stephany Gradys Artola was a special education teacher in Barcelona, Spain. She was also part of the choir of the Sagrada Familia temple. The 27-year-old died this weekend after eating. She died by asphyxia but the cause is still unclear.

Her mother and two sisters traveled to Barcelona after hearing the news. They have the intention of repatriating her body but this costs ¢6.2 million. The option to cremate the body is also costly, ¢3.1 million. They must also cover the three round-trip plane tickets.

Stephany is remembered as a woman of faith who had clear objectives and was dedicated to her dreams. She was happy, optimistic and full of hope.

Contributions can be deposited in the account in colones of the BAC in the name of Andrés Arturo Barquero Torres, identity card 1-1340-0758.

SINPE account: 10200007000184356.

Client Account: 700018435

Costa Rica’s CCSS & a Hearing Aid Conundrum

The CCSS funded 15,000 prostheses to help those hard of hearing. This sounds good on the surface but the Costa Rican Association of Therapists is against this move. Let’s look into the issue.

The Caja believes that this decision will maintain the quality of appliances and that the attention will improve. It points out that more expensive options are now available at now cost to the patient.

The CTCR believes this will actually negatively affect service to 15,000 patients. This is because the old model of service was that the CCSS funded the hearing aids and the patients were able to choose the one they wanted as well as the private practice to receive care but through the new consolidated public purchase the available devices will come from only 9 of the current 45 companies in the country, limiting the patient’s options.

They also ask how control will be handled for the entire population by only 30 audiologists when the wait list is already 1-3 years long.

Is the Costa Rican Government Trying to Save Recope for Ulterior Motives

Should the Government save Recope and to what end and at what cost? These are doubts some deputies have. There is an initiative to save it almost at any cost by changing it into an entity that ventures into alternative energies.

The bill in question would change the name of Recope to the Costa Rican Company of Fuels and Alternative Energies, Sociedad Anónima (Ecoena) and dedicate it to the research, development and sale of alternative energies.

It is not well received because it is a way to finance an institution that has already been inefficient for such a long time, a risk to public finances. Additionally, it would be doing a job that the private sector already does well.

An additional problem seen with the idea is that it focuses on hydrogen energy, an energy type not yet proven. Costa Rica should be focused on solar power because of the solar energy to spare.