GlobeQuest

Costa Rica visas and residency

Who can visit Costa Rica without a visa, and the 6 long-stay routes that let you actually live there.

Short stay

Visiting Costa Rica, by passport

How the 198 passports we track get in. A visitor entry is never permission to work, study or settle — that is what the routes further down are for.

United StatesVisa-free · 180 daysUnited KingdomVisa-free · 180 daysIndiaVisa requiredCanadaVisa-free · 180 daysAustraliaVisa-free · 180 daysGermanyVisa-free · 180 daysFranceVisa-free · 180 daysNetherlandsVisa-free · 180 daysIrelandVisa-free · 180 daysSpainVisa-free · 180 daysItalyVisa-free · 180 daysPortugalVisa-free · 180 daysPolandVisa-free · 180 daysSwedenVisa-free · 180 daysSwitzerlandVisa-free · 180 daysSouth AfricaVisa-free · 180 days
Long stay

How you actually move to Costa Rica

RetirementHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Residencia temporal — Pensionado

Retirees with a guaranteed lifetime pension from a public or private scheme. The oldest and simplest of Costa Rica's residence categories.

What you need
  • A permanent pension of at least USD 1,000 a month, certified by the paying institution and apostilled
  • The pension must be paid for life; a drawdown from savings does not qualify
  • The stated amount must actually be brought into Costa Rica and exchanged or deposited through the national banking system each month
  • Apostilled birth certificate and criminal-record certificate
  • Registration with the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social before the residence card is issued
How long it lasts
Two years, renewable. The DIMEX identity card is issued for the same period.
Path to permanent residence
Yes. Three years of temporary residence opens permanent residence, which removes the income condition. Naturalisation follows at seven years, or five for nationals of Spain, Ibero-America and Central America.
Cost
DGME filing and change-of-category fees, the DIMEX issue fee, plus the monthly CCSS contribution — which for a couple on a modest pension is frequently the largest recurring cost of holding the status.
Processing time
Historically several months to over a year at the DGME. File complete and apostilled; incomplete files go to the back of the queue rather than being corrected in place.
Worth knowing
  • The USD 1,000 covers the applicant and dependants together — it is a household figure, not per person, which makes pensionado unusually good value for a couple.
  • Pensionado does not authorise employment for a Costa Rican employer. You may own a company and receive dividends from it; you may not draw a salary.
  • The Ley 9996 incentives are closed. That law attached import and tax benefits — duty-free household goods, up to two vehicles, a 20% cut in property transfer tax — to this category, but only for people who applied during its first five years. The window ran from 14 July 2021 to 14 July 2026 and has now shut. Eligibility was fixed by the date the application was filed, not the date it was approved, so anyone who filed in time keeps the benefits for ten years from grant. Anyone applying now does not get them, and a great deal of relocation marketing still advertises them as current.
Sources:Dirección General de Migración y ExtranjeríaCaja Costarricense de Seguro Social
RetirementHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Residencia temporal — Rentista

People with stable unearned income from outside Costa Rica but no lifetime pension — the standard route for early retirees, landlords and business owners.

What you need
  • Stable income of at least USD 2,500 a month, guaranteed for at least two years, certified by a bank or financial institution
  • In practice this is evidenced either by a bank letter guaranteeing the income stream, or by depositing USD 60,000 with an approved Costa Rican bank to be drawn down over two years
  • The income must originate outside Costa Rica
  • Apostilled birth certificate and criminal-record certificate
  • Registration with the CCSS before the DIMEX is issued
How long it lasts
Two years, renewable on proof the income or deposit condition is still met.
Path to permanent residence
Yes — permanent residence after three years of temporary residence.
Cost
DGME and DIMEX fees, monthly CCSS contributions, and the opportunity cost of the deposit if you take that route.
Processing time
Several months to over a year, in line with other DGME categories.
Worth knowing
  • USD 2,500 a month is the household figure, not per person, and the amount must genuinely be brought into the country and exchanged.
  • Rentista is a passive category and does not permit employment by a Costa Rican employer. Remote work for a foreign employer sits in an awkward space — if that is your actual situation, the Ley 10008 nomad route was designed for it.
  • A renewal is refused where the income stream cannot be re-evidenced. Anyone relying on a two-year bank guarantee should plan the next one well before the second anniversary.
Sources:Dirección General de Migración y ExtranjeríaCaja Costarricense de Seguro Social
InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Residencia temporal — Inversionista

People investing in Costa Rican real estate, a registered business, securities or a project of declared national interest.

What you need
  • An investment of at least USD 150,000 — but see the caveats: that figure came from Ley 9996, whose application window closed on 14 July 2026, and the threshold applying to a new application filed after that date is not settled
  • The investment registered with the Banco Central de Costa Rica as foreign direct investment
  • Registered evidence of the investment — title deed and municipal valuation for property, corporate and share records for a business
  • Apostilled birth certificate and criminal-record certificate
  • Registration with the CCSS before the DIMEX is issued
How long it lasts
Two years, renewable while the investment is maintained.
Path to permanent residence
Yes — permanent residence after three years.
Cost
DGME and DIMEX fees plus the investment's own transaction, legal and property-tax costs, and monthly CCSS contributions.
Processing time
Several months to over a year at the DGME once the investment is documented.
Worth knowing
  • The threshold is in flux and this is the single thing to check before transferring money. USD 150,000 was set by Ley 9996 in 2021, down from the USD 200,000 in Decreto Ejecutivo 37112-GOB. Ley 9996's window closed on 14 July 2026, and the expectation is that the figure reverts to USD 200,000 — but the amount is set at the Executive's discretion and the position for applications filed after that date could not be confirmed against the DGME as of August 2026. Treat USD 150,000 as the outgoing number and USD 200,000 as the likely one, and get the current requirement in writing.
  • Investor status permits you to manage your own investment but not to take employment with a third party.
  • Whatever the threshold, it applies per applicant, and the investment must be maintained through the residence period — a sale before permanent residence is granted puts the status at risk.
  • The tax and import concessions that used to accompany this category came from Ley 9996 and lapsed with it on 14 July 2026. The residence category itself continues; the incentives do not.
  • Costa Rica is expensive relative to its neighbours, and property at this level in the Central Valley or on the Pacific coast is priced accordingly. The threshold buys residence, not a bargain.
Sources:Dirección General de Migración y ExtranjeríaCaja Costarricense de Seguro SocialCRIE — consequences of the expiration of the benefits under Law 9996
Digital nomadHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Estancia — Trabajador remoto / prestador de servicios (Ley 10008)

Remote employees and service providers paid entirely by people or companies outside Costa Rica. Legislated in 2021 and genuinely operating.

What you need
  • Stable monthly income of at least USD 3,000 over the previous year, or USD 4,000 where the family group is included
  • The income must be paid from outside Costa Rica by a foreign employer or foreign clients
  • A medical insurance policy covering the applicant for the whole stay in Costa Rica
  • Apostilled evidence of the income and a clean record
How long it lasts
One year, extendable by a further year for a total of two, conditional on having actually been in Costa Rica for at least 180 days during the first year.
Path to permanent residence
No. This is an estancia — a stay category — not a residencia. Time spent on it does not count toward the three years that open permanent residence. Anyone planning to settle should treat it as a trial, not a first step.
Cost
Application fee to the DGME plus the insurance premium; substantially cheaper and faster than the residence categories.
Processing time
Weeks rather than months — deliberately much faster than the DGME's residence queues.
Worth knowing
  • Ley 10008 exempts holders from Costa Rican income tax on the foreign income that qualified them, and from import duties on the basic equipment needed to do the work. That exemption is specific to this category — it is not a general rule about foreigners in Costa Rica.
  • You may not provide services to the Costa Rican market. Taking a local client is outside the category.
  • The 180-day presence condition is checked when you ask for the extension. People who treat the visa as a right to come and go lose the second year.
Sources:Dirección General de Migración y ExtranjeríaMinisterio de Hacienda — income tax
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Residencia temporal — Trabajador (employer-sponsored)

People hired by a Costa Rican employer, most realistically in free-zone multinationals, technology, shared services, tourism at four-star level and up, telecoms, and finance.

What you need
  • An employment contract meeting articles 23 and 24 of the Código de Trabajo
  • The employer files the application, not you
  • A sworn employer declaration setting out why the role requires specialised knowledge or experience not available locally
  • Apostilled and legalised qualifications and evidence of experience
  • Enrolment with the CCSS by the employer from the first day of work
How long it lasts
Typically granted for one to two years and tied to the employer.
Path to permanent residence
Yes — time as a temporary resident counts toward the three-year clock.
Cost
DGME and DIMEX fees, ordinarily borne by the employer for professional hires.
Processing time
Months. The labour-market assessment adds a stage the passive categories do not have.
Worth knowing
  • The Dirección Nacional de Empleo at the Ministerio de Trabajo assesses whether the role displaces Costa Rican labour and issues a criterion. It is advisory rather than binding on the DGME, but a negative one is very hard to overcome.
  • This is the hardest of Costa Rica's routes and the reason most foreigners here arrive on a passive category and then look for work, rather than the other way round.
  • Losing the job puts the residence at risk. Companies accredited with the DGME — free-zone employers in particular — handle this far more smoothly than a small local company will.
Sources:Dirección General de Migración y ExtranjeríaCaja Costarricense de Seguro Social
FamilyMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Residencia por vínculo con costarricense

Spouses of Costa Rican nationals, parents of Costa Rican children, and close family in the first degree of consanguinity.

What you need
  • Marriage certificate registered in Costa Rica, or the child's Costa Rican birth registration
  • Apostilled criminal-record certificate and birth certificate
  • Registration with the CCSS
How long it lasts
Parents of a Costa Rican child are generally granted permanent residence outright. Spouses are placed in a temporary category first, with the marriage verified over time.
Path to permanent residence
The shortest route Costa Rica has — in the case of a Costa Rican child, immediate.
Cost
DGME and DIMEX fees plus civil-registry costs for registering a foreign marriage.
Processing time
Months, and faster than the income-based categories in practice.
Worth knowing
  • A foreign marriage must be inscribed in the Costa Rican civil registry before it can be relied on. Start this before filing anything else.
  • Residence by marriage is scrutinised and the DGME does check. It is not the shortcut some agencies present it as.
  • Permanent residence, unlike the temporary categories, carries full work authorisation — which is why it matters so much more here than the label suggests.
Sources:Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería
On the ground

Where you'd land in Costa Rica

San Jose

A mild highland valley with no army, drinkable tap water, and no street addresses at all.

Full San Jose guide

Costa Rica at a glance

Capital
San Jose
Population
5.2M
Languages
Spanish
Currency
CRC