Moving to Costa Rica

A monthly, permanent and stable pension from abroad of at least USD 1,000 (about EUR 920) (Ley General de Migración y Extranjería n.° 8764, art. 81), shown by a document from the competent authority that the pension is paid for life; a certificate issued abroad must be legalised or apostilled (Reglamento de Extranjería, art. 100 inciso l). Your spouse, your children under twenty-five and your adult children with a disability can be included (art. 100). Temporary residence is granted for up to two years and can be extended for the same period (Ley 8764 art. 79); you must be enrolled in the CCSS social-insurance system when the residence document is issued (Reglamento art. 184) and show that enrolment to renew (Ley 8764 art. 80). Three consecutive years of temporary residence open permanent residence (art. 78). A temporary resident may do only the paid or profit-making work the Dirección General de Migración authorises (art. 80). CORRECTED 2026-09-25: this entry previously said the whole pension had to be changed into colones through a Costa Rican bank every month - no text in force read for this review says so, and the pensioner renewal inciso the regulation once carried was repealed in 2023 (Decreto 43926 art. 31) - and that territorial taxation is this route's principal attraction, which is a tax opinion rather than a rule of this route.

A monthly, permanent and stable income of at least USD 2,500 (about EUR 2,300), from abroad or from banks of the Costa Rican national banking system (Ley General de Migración y Extranjería n.° 8764, art. 82), shown by a document from a bank of the Costa Rican national banking system that you will receive it for a period of not less than two years; income from abroad is shown by a document from a bank in the country it comes from, legalised or apostilled, or failing that by a certificate from a Costa Rican authorised public accountant (Reglamento de Extranjería, art. 99 inciso l). The same income covers your spouse, your children under twenty-five and your adult children with a disability (art. 82). To renew, income from abroad must be shown to have entered the national banking system by monthly transfer (Reglamento art. 227). Temporary residence is granted for up to two years and can be extended for the same period (Ley 8764 art. 79); renewal needs CCSS enrolment (art. 80), and three consecutive years of temporary residence open permanent residence (art. 78). A temporary resident may do only the paid or profit-making work the Dirección General de Migración authorises (art. 80). CORRECTED 2026-09-25: this entry previously offered a USD 60,000 deposit drawn down monthly as an alternative to the income, and said holders may own a business and take dividends - neither is in the texts in force read for this review.

Created by Ley 10008 of 2021 for a foreigner who works or provides services remotely for a person or company abroad and is paid from abroad (art. 3). Requires a stable monthly remuneration, fixed rents or an average monthly income over the last year of at least USD 3,000 (about EUR 2,760); where the family is included it must reach USD 4,000 (about EUR 3,680) a month and may be made up with a spouse's or another member's income, and in either case it must be income that keeps coming while you are away from your home country (art. 10). Also requires a medical policy covering you, and every family member included, for the whole stay (art. 10). The family that can be included is a spouse or de facto partner, children under twenty-five, children of any age with a disability and older adults who live with you (arts. 3 and 11). Granted for up to one year and extendable once, for one more year, if you spent at least 180 days in Costa Rica in the first year (art. 15). Holders are wholly exempt from the tax on profits (impuesto sobre las utilidades, Title I of the Income Tax Law), are never treated as habitually resident for tax purposes and their income from abroad is not treated as Costa Rican-source - an exemption that does NOT extend to the family members (art. 16) - and from import taxes on basic work equipment (art. 17), and may drive on a valid licence from their home country (art. 19). It is a non-resident 'estancia' (stay) permit, not temporary residence, so it does not count toward the three years of temporary residence that open permanent residence; before it expires the holder may apply to change migration category if they meet that category's requirements (art. 15).

Temporary residence is granted to the executives, representatives, managers and technical staff of companies established in the country, and to specialised employees the Dirección General de Migración considers the work requires (Ley General de Migración y Extranjería n.° 8764, art. 79 inciso 3), for up to two years and extendable for the same period (art. 79); their salary may not be below the legal minimum wage for the post increased by 25% (art. 83). A temporary resident may do only the paid work the Dirección General authorises, which takes into account the Ministry of Labour and Social Security's advisory opinions and other criteria of convenience and opportunity (art. 80); renewal needs CCSS enrolment (arts. 80 and 83). Three consecutive years of temporary residence open permanent residence (art. 78). Other employment is handled as a special category - specific-occupation workers, business visitors and intra-company transferees among them (art. 94 inciso 3) - and special categories 'no generarán derechos de permanencia definitiva', do not give a right to permanent residence (art. 95). CORRECTED 2026-09-25: this entry previously said Costa Rica protects a number of professions for nationals and that most foreign movers use the passive-income routes instead - neither is in the law read for this review.

Ley General de Migración y Extranjería n.° 8764 art. 78 inciso 2 gives permanent residence directly to a foreigner related in the first degree by blood to a Costa Rican, and defines them in full: 'los padres, los hijos menores o mayores con discapacidad y los hermanos menores de edad o mayores con discapacidad' - the parents, minor children or adult children with a disability, and minor siblings or adult siblings with a disability. An adult child or adult sibling without a disability is not on that list. Nor is a spouse: the spouse of a Costa Rican holds TEMPORARY residence (art. 79 inciso 1), granted on condition and for one year at a time, renewed each year on proof of conjugal cohabitation, and three consecutive years of that proof give permanent residence (art. 73). The marriage must be registered in the Costa Rican Registro Civil (art. 73), and a de facto union must be recognised by the competent judge (art. 73 bis). Spouses may naturalise after two years of marriage to a Costa Rican and two years' residence in the country (Constitution art. 14 inciso 5). CORRECTED 2026-09-25: this entry previously said Ley 8764 gives the spouse, parent, child or sibling of a Costa Rican permanent residence directly; the spouse, the adult child and the adult sibling are not covered by art. 78. CORRECTED 2026-09-18: this entry previously said Costa Rica 'applies unrestricted jus soli, so a child born there is Costa Rican'. The Constitution does not say that. Art. 13.1 covers a child born in Costa Rica to a Costa Rican parent; a child born there to TWO FOREIGN parents falls under Art. 13.3 and is Costa Rican only once registered as such - by a parent during minority or by the person themselves up to age 25. Birth on the soil creates an entitlement to register, not automatic nationality, and that entitlement expires.

A certificate from a recognised educational institution, signed by its legal representative or director, stating that you are its student, and proof of your economic solvency by a certificate from an authorised public accountant, or for a scholarship holder a certificate of the scholarship's amount, term and what it covers (Reglamento de Extranjería, art. 124 incisos j and m). Granted for one year, extendable (art. 124). A foreign student may not do or take part in paid or profit-making activity; the Dirección General may authorise an exception by reasoned resolution (art. 127). Students are a special category under the Ley General de Migración y Extranjería n.° 8764 (art. 94 inciso 4, as reformed by Ley 10645 of 24 February 2025), and special categories 'no generarán derechos de permanencia definitiva' - they do not give a right to permanent residence (art. 95). The Reglamento read for this review has not been checked against every change Ley 10645 made to the student category. CORRECTED 2026-09-25: this entry previously listed medical insurance as a requirement and said the permit runs for the duration of studies - the article read states one year, extendable, and does not list insurance.

Under the Constitution: 7 years of official residence for most applicants (Art. 14.3); 5 years for nationals of other Central American countries, of Spain and of Ibero-American countries BY BIRTH (Art. 14.2); and 2 years of residence combined with 2 years of marriage for the spouse of a Costa Rican (Art. 14.5). Art. 15 sets the substantive conditions and they are easy to underestimate: good conduct, a known trade or means of living, Spanish spoken, read AND written, an examination on the country's history and values, a promise to reside in the country regularly, and an oath to respect the constitutional order. CORRECTED 2026-09-18: this entry previously said the oath includes 'formal renunciation of foreign nationality'. Art. 15 was read verbatim in the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones' consolidation and contains no renunciation requirement; the oath it prescribes is 'jurar que respetara el orden constitucional de la Republica'. There is a separate route for the child of a Costa Rican who missed the Art. 13.2 registration window: the TSE administers a naturalisation under Ley 1902 of 9 July 1953 for a person born abroad to a Costa Rican-by-birth parent who passed the age for the opcion, on the same Art. 14 residence periods.