Visa
Internet
e-mail
Apply to CATIE
Registration
Tuition and Fees
Research
Tele/Video confern.
Library
Classes

Helpful Links:
Government sites
MINAE
SINAC

 

• Passports
• 4 passport photos/person ("Macho" in the building behind the Wallace building can take these for you at a minimal cost.)
• ~$15/year/person
• Huelles Digitales (Fingerprints) Jeanette Solano (506) 558-2421 can help you.  You have to go to the Ministerio de Gobernacion y Policia en San José.  It is located across the street from the Comercial del Sur Decamparados.  Each person who needs a visa has to be there in person, and you need to take:
  1. A passport photo
  2. Passport
  3. The form that Jeanette fills out for you
• marriage license
• children's birth certificates

Renewing your visa takes between 1-4 weeks and can not be done until the month that your visa expires.  Take the following to JeanetteSolano:

• Passports
• Letter of Intent (fill in your own data)
• Approximately $3 per person/year

*If you need to do the tramites yourself, here's what to do:  (¢3000, 2 hours if everyone is there to sign your paperwork)

• Go to Migracion which is by the Hospital Mexicano on the way to the airport.  The turn is only about 3km (just past the overpass) from Parque Sabana.  There's a small green sign that says Migracion and you need to be in the far right lane.  Take the frontage road which parallels the highway and turn right under the high-voltage powerlines.  Then there's another green Migracion sign where you need to turn left.  It gets a little tricky from here, but you are only a couple of blocks away and can ask for help.
• Go past the information desk and look for the sign and arrow that says varias puertas.  Go to the left of the sign and then turn right through a set of doors where you will see several rows of plastic seats.  Look for the sign in an office window to the left that says Atencion convenios and ask for Ana Rios who sits at the first desk (There probably will NOT be  a line, so don't let the guards tell you to wait in a different line!).
• Ana processes your documents and then gives them to her boss to stamp and sign.  This can take anywhere from 20 minutes to a couple of days.
• You will have to give her the following documents:
  1. Original passports
  2. Copy of your passports
  3. Constancia de notas (your CATIE grades - get this from Jeanette Solano)
  4. Letter of Intent - you write this and give it to Jeannette Solano for the attorney to notarize.  This can take several days to get back.
  5. Notarized letter to Andrea Campos from Glenn that Jeannette Solano will give you.  This letter must have timbres (stamp looking things that you get at the Municipio) and looks very official.  It can take several days to get all of the signatures on this letter, so plan ahead!
  6. Original and two copies of the receipt for the timbres that go in your passport.  You pay for these in the migracion complex at the Banco de Costa Rica window which is past all of the puertas and then to your left at the very far end of the building.  Give the original and one copy to Ana Rios and you keep the other copy.  It costs ¢1500 for students and ¢3000 for spouses.

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Internet:
CATIE has fairly reliable, high speed internet access in all of the apartments and in the library.  You are charged a small fee for the service when you pay your tuition.  To set up an IP address on your computer, go to José Ramón in the Centro de Computo.

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e-mail:
Once you get here, you will need to go to Computo to setup a CATIE e-mail address.  This is important, because CATIE sends out a lot of announcements to the student list serve.  Many students have had problems being signed out of Vandal Mail, but this problem is being resolved.

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Applying to catie:
Admissions
Requirements

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Registration:
To register for classes at CATIE, you need to be accepted to the Escuela de Posgrado and make sure that Hannia Fernández (506) 558-2424 has a file set up for you.  She will need a signed copy of your study plan and official UI transcripts with all of your courses posted.  Hannia will help you register for classes.

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Tuition and Fees:
Hannia Fernández  (506) 558-2424 will give you a bill once you have registered at CATIE.  You pay the bill in the caja in the Wallace building. You can pay using almost any type of credit or debit card.  The total annual tuition should be approximately the same amount you would have paid at UI.

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Research:

1. If your research includes collecting samples, you need to solicit a Collection Permit from MINAE.
   • Process
   • Solicitud
2. Hiring Locals to help with your field work can be very helpful. You will pay them a daily wage, as well as food and lodging if appropriate.  You are also required by Costa Rican law to provide them with  workers compensation insurance.  (More details coming soon)
3. If you need a vehicle, you can rent a vehicle from CATIE.

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Tele/Video conferences:
CATIE has both teleconference and video conference capabilities.  Talk to Hannia Fernández (506) 558-2424 to set up a time.

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LIBRARY:
The campus library has a fairly large selection of journals as well as a copy center and several computers.  885-2410
M-F:  7:00am-5:00pm

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Classes:
The official course schedule is not out yet, but Hannia Fernández  (506) 558-2424 should have it soon.  Here is the schedule of classes that were offered in 2003.

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