Establishing Residency in Costa Rica
It is necessary to qualify for and establish legal residency if one plans to
live in Costa Rica for an extended period of time. There are several options if you are considering applying for residency in Costa Rica. Migratory categories and their specific requirements are described below, however, general requirements (1-11) are applicable to all of them. Any request for residency in Costa Rica should be submitted to the Costa Rican Consulate in the country of origin or residency. In the case of retirees, rentists and foreign relatives of a Costa Rican citizen, these requests can be submitted in Costa Rica.
The retarees and rentist program has historically been the easiest method of establishing temporary residency in Costa Rica. Keep in mind
when receiving advice from current retarees and rentist who have been residing in Costa Rica since before 1992, that the laws governing such
residency status have changed. In 1992, the legislature revoked the tax exemption laws that allowed retarees and rentist to bring all
of their possessions into the country duty free. Under the current law, these groups are no longer exempt and must pay import taxes of up to 100 percent on their belongings.
General Requirements
1. An application addressed to the Director General of Migration by the person concerned. If the applicant is not going to be able to go in person, he/she should grant a special power of
attorney to a representative in the USA, who will submit the documents at the Consulate. This power of attorney should be in
ink, notarized and follow the authentication procedures.
2. The applicant should grant special authority to a representative (apoderado). This document could be either signed or authenticated in the Consulate. It should indicate the personal particulars of the representative (apoderado) and the address where to receive notifications, both within the judicial perimeter of San Jose
3. Birth Certificate (required for applicant, spouse and all dependent children up to 18 years or up to 25 if a university student – proof of enrollment is required) *
Every certificate should have the parents' name.
4. Police Certificate (not older than six months) issued by the State/last place where the applicant has lived for the past two years (required for applicant, spouse and any dependent children aged 18 to 25) *
5. Marriage Certificate (if the applicant is married)*
6. Photocopy of the passport certified by the Consul, Costa Rican Notary Public or by an American Notary Public, but in this last case, the copies will also have to be authenticated. (This is required for applicant, spouse and any dependent children).
7. Four recent forehead passport size photographs (required for applicant, spouse and any dependent children).
8. Eligible individuals can claim their spouses and children under 18, as dependents, as well as older children with disabilities. A son or daughter between 18 and 25 can be included as dependent if he or she is enrolled in a University.
9. In the case of a family group, an individual file is required per member. Parents should sign applications on behalf of minor children.
10. In order to practice a profession, the individual concerned should provide his or her diplomas. Concerning other professional activities, relevant documentation such as courses and studies undertaken should be submitted.
* NB: All documents listed in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 must be authenticated by the Costa Rican Consul and translated to Spanish language. (A Costa Rican Consulate will charge US$ 40 in official stamps for authentication of each document).
Once you have all the required documents, send them FIRST to the Consulate of your jurisdiction, where they will be checked. If documents are complete, you will be asked to go to the Consulate for an interview and sign the application you have already sent, as well as the power of attorney. As mentioned in point 1., if you are not going to appear in person, you should grant a power of attorney to someone in the USA who will submit the documents to the Consulate. In this case, since you are not going personally to the Consulate, the power of attorney mentioned on point 2. should be already signed by you, and it should be notarized and authenticated.
The documents will be sent to Migration in Costa Rica, who will contact your representative in Costa Rica. For this purpose, you will have to pay for the courier service.
Additionally to points 1-10, you should fulfill the following requirements depending on your immigration category. Those documents do not need to be sent together with the ones mentioned in points 1-10, but if they are missing, your representative will be notified once Migration receives and processes the documents sent by the Consulate. He/she will have 10 days to complete those documents which are issued in Costa Rica, or 30 days if they are issued abroad. Please consider that some need to be authenticated by the Costa Rican Consulate first.
For detail information on migratory categories, please visit The Costa Rica Embassy web site at
Costa Rica Embassy
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