The Agony and the Ecstacy Continues

Yesterday i went for my Costa Rican residence, It was very straight forward as all the hard work has gone on in the previous 3 years. So it was smile for the camera and then have your fingerprint scanned, it took 5 minutes, but the fly in the ointment was the fact that the residence only lasts 1 year only, yes i have to go through this every year if i want to keep my residence, if i had known it was such a short term thing i wouldn't have bothered until i retire here. I think the lawyers probably new that and never mentioned the 1 year thing. I have probably wasted $3000 on this escapade and as I am now about to go to spain I will have to start the whole thing again at some point in the future. There is a possible and only possible solution is that I actually apply for a suspension of my residence for a certain number of years, I cannot guarantee the length of my stay away but we will see how it goes, I think i will apply for a 5 year thing and if i come back early then we are OK, but if it is later I am not sure what is going to happen, but lets say goodbye to my money.