Question 1

What entry rights and short-stay conditions apply to foreign nationals in Costa Rica?

Accepted Answer

Costa Rica classifies foreign nationals into four entry groups under the Directrices Generales de Visas issued by the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME) on 17 November 2025 under resolution AJ-484-11-2025, which repealed the October 2023 circular DG-30-10-2023-AJ and its amendments. Group I nationals enter without a visa and may be granted up to 180 calendar days of legal stay, not extendable except where the immigration officer grants fewer than 90 days at entry, in which case an extension up to 90 days is possible. Group I includes, among others, all European Union and European Economic Area states, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Ukraine, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, and the Latin American and Caribbean states of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, the Bahamas, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. The passport need only be valid for one day at entry. A return or onward ticket and proof of economic solvency of at least USD 100 per month or fraction of month of stay must be available at entry. Permitted activities include tourism, conferences, business meetings, family visits and short professional missions, but not remunerated work for Costa Rican employers or clients.

Group II nationals also enter without a visa but are generally limited to 30 calendar days, extendable up to a total of 90 days, and must hold a passport valid for at least 90 days. This group includes Belize, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Turkey and several Caribbean and Pacific states, plus the Russian Federation, whose nationals may stay up to 90 days under a bilateral agreement. Group III nationals require a consular visa obtained before travel. The visa is single-entry, must be stamped in the passport within three months of authorisation, must be used within 60 business days once stamped, requires a passport valid for at least 180 days, and allows a stay of up to 30 days extendable to 90. Group III includes China, Colombia, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Nicaragua, Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo and most African states. Group IV nationals require a restricted visa authorised by the Comisión de Visas Restringidas y Refugio. The visa is single-entry, must be stamped within three months of authorisation, must be used within 60 days once stamped, requires a passport valid for at least 180 days, and allows a stay of up to 30 days extendable to 90. Group IV includes Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Korea, Palestine, Syria, Somalia, Sri Lanka and several Central Asian states.

Nationals in Groups III and IV may enter without a Costa Rican visa if they qualify for one of the recognised exemptions. A multiple-entry visa or residence document from the United States or Canada exempts the traveller when valid for at least one day at entry, although United States transit visas of category C1, C2 and C3 are not accepted. Legal residence in the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland or a European Union member state also exempts the traveller when it allows multiple entries or is valid for at least 90 days, excluding residence based on refugee or asylum status. A Schengen category C or D multiple-entry visa likewise exempts the traveller when valid for at least one day at entry.

Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia sit in Group I and enter visa-free, so the broad assumption that all former Yugoslav republics require a visa is inaccurate. Entry duration is set by the immigration officer at each entry and is never guaranteed, and overstaying exposes the traveller to fines, future entry refusals or a re-entry ban. Repeated tourist entries confer no right to reside, so anyone intending to settle should regularise their status through a residence category under the Ley General de Migración y Extranjería No. 8764 of 19 August 2009 or, for remote workers paid from abroad, through the Digital Nomad estancia under Ley No. 10008 of 1 September 2021, rather than relying on successive short stays.

Question 2

What long-term residence options exist in Costa Rica for internationally mobile individuals?

Accepted Answer

Costa Rica organises long-term residence under the Ley General de Migracion y Extranjeria No. 8764 of 19 August 2009, complemented by the Digital Nomad framework under Ley No. 10008 published on 1 September 2021. The Digital Nomad permit grants a 12-month estancia, extendable once for another 12 months, to remote workers and self-employed providers earning at least USD 3,000 monthly from foreign sources, rising to USD 4,000 with dependents. It is legally a non-resident stay under the Estancia subcategory, requires at least 180 days of physical presence per year to renew, and does not count toward permanent residency or naturalisation. Salaried work residence for executives, representatives, managers and technical personnel of companies established in the country is a temporary-residence subcategory under Article 79(3). Article 80 subjects remunerated activity by temporary residents to authorisation from the Direccion General de Migracion y Extranjeria (DGME), taking into account recommendatory opinions from the Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, while Article 83 requires a salary at least 25 percent above the legal minimum wage for the position. Other work-related cases such as cross-border, temporary and specific-occupation workers fall instead under the special categories of Articles 93 to 124.

The Ley 9996 attraction regime, layered on the pre-existing Ley 8764 investor, rentista and pensionado subcategories and implemented by Reglamento Decreto Ejecutivo No. 43926-MGP-H-TUR, dated 14 February 2023 and in force from 23 February 2023, forms the dominant pathway for mobile capital. Inversionista, listed under Article 79(4) of Ley 8764, requires a minimum USD 150,000 investment in real estate, registrable goods, shares, securities, productive or national-interest projects, venture capital funds or sustainable tourism infrastructure, granted as temporary residence for 2 years and renewable. Rentista, regulated by Article 82, requires stable monthly income of at least USD 2,500 for at least two years or a USD 60,000 deposit in a Costa Rican bank disbursing USD 2,500 monthly over 24 months. Pensionado, listed as a subcategory under Article 79(10) and regulated by Article 81, requires a permanent monthly pension of at least USD 1,000. Each category may also cover the applicant spouse, minor children, adult children with a disability, and unmarried economically dependent children under 25, with the Ley 9996 investor regulation additionally requiring, for those under-25 children, a sworn declaration of single status and proof of ongoing studies toward a profession or trade.

Holders of these temporary categories may apply for permanent residency after three years of continuous temporary status under Article 78(1), and for naturalisation after five years of official residence for nationals of other Central American states, Spain and Ibero-American countries by birth, or after seven years for other foreign nationals, under Article 14 of the Constitution. Family-linked residence runs on a separate track, since Article 78(2) grants direct permanent residency to close blood relatives of Costa Rican citizens, defined as parents, minor or disabled adult children, and minor or disabled adult siblings, while Article 73 grants temporary residence in libre condicion, allowing free work, to the foreign spouse of a Costa Rican, with naturalisation available after two years of marriage and concurrent residence under Article 14(5) of the Constitution. The Ley 9996 customs and transfer-tax incentives are available only within the five-year statutory window running from its entry into force on 14 July 2021, sunsetting for new applications on 14 July 2026 unless renewed by the Asamblea Legislativa. The rentista and pensionado income thresholds are set directly in Ley 8764 (Articles 82 and 81) and survive the sunset, whereas the reduced USD 150,000 investor threshold is a Ley 9996 measure tied to that window, with the pre-9996 statutory figure of USD 200,000 as the default once the window closes.

Question 3

How does taxation apply to residents and foreign-source income in Costa Rica?

Accepted Answer

Costa Rica applies a territorial tax system under Article 1 of Ley 7092 (Income Tax Law), under which only income from a Costa Rican source is taxable, defined as income from services rendered, assets located or capital used within the national territory. Foreign-source dividends, interest, royalties, rental income and capital gains therefore fall outside the Costa Rican tax base for both individual residents and companies. The single exception was introduced by Ley 10381 (published in La Gaceta on 2 October 2023) to remove the country from the European Union list of non-cooperative jurisdictions, and it taxes certain foreign-source passive income at 15 percent when that income is received by a non-qualified entity, meaning an entity that belongs to a multinational group and lacks adequate economic substance in the country. Individual residents and entities with genuine local substance remain fully exempt on their foreign income, and a credit for analogous tax paid abroad is available where the exception applies.

The standard corporate income tax rate is 30 percent, while companies whose annual gross income does not exceed CRC 119.174 million in 2026 apply reduced bracket rates of 5, 10, 15 and 20 percent. Under Article 15 of Ley 7092, micro and small enterprises newly registered with the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio (MEIC) or the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería (MAG) pay none of the profit tax in their first three years of activity, then 25 percent of the tax due in years four and five and 50 percent in year six, before reaching the full rate from year seven, the sixth-year tier having been added by a 2023 reform of Article 15.

The Régimen de Zona Franca (free trade zone regime) under Ley 7210 grants income tax relief whose rate and duration depend on company type and location, with export-processing companies inside the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) taxed at 6 percent on profits for the first eight years and 15 percent for the following four, and companies outside the GAM benefiting from longer full exemptions. The regime also grants exemption from import duties on qualifying inputs such as machinery, equipment and raw materials, from value-added tax (VAT) on qualifying local purchases of goods and services, and from taxes on foreign remittances, while its exemptions from property transfer tax, real estate tax and the municipal business licence are capped at ten years from the start of operations. The Régimen de Tributación Simplificada lets small retail, food, hospitality and artisanal contributors replace standard income tax and the 13 percent VAT with quarterly fixed-factor declarations, and its filing forms are currently migrating to the new TRIBU-CR digital tax platform.

Personal income tax for residents is also territorial. For 2026, the top marginal rate of 25 percent applies to self-employed lucrative-activity net income above CRC 20.872 million per year and to employment income above CRC 4.727 million per month, with lower brackets of 10, 15 and 20 percent applying below those levels. Under inciso s) of Article 8 of Ley 7092, professionals, technicians and other independent personal-service providers, together with sales agents, commission agents and insurance agents, may elect a single deduction of 25 percent of gross income or commissions with no supporting documents, as an alternative to deducting documented expenses, the two methods being mutually exclusive. A reform published on 11 December 2025 and effective 1 January 2026 widened the range of independent providers eligible for this election.

Two special individual regimes sit on top of this territorial baseline. Ley 10008 grants Digital Nomad permit holders a full income tax exemption on foreign-source remote-work income and does not treat them as habitual tax residents while the status is valid, though the exemption does not extend automatically to accompanying family members. Ley 9996 grants Inversionista, Rentista and Pensionado residents an income tax exemption on the income declared to qualify for each category, a one-time exemption from import duties on household goods, exemption from import taxes on up to two vehicles for personal or family use, and a 20 percent reduction in the property transfer tax on the principal residence. These benefits may be claimed only during the law's first five years, sunsetting for new applications on 14 July 2026, and once granted are kept for ten years from the date of approval, with all exempted taxes falling due if the exempted registrable assets are sold or transferred within that period.

Costa Rica levies capital gains tax of 15 percent on passive, non-business gains, with an optional 2.25 percent rate on the sale price for assets acquired before July 2019, a 15 percent withholding tax on dividends paid to non-residents, and a 13 percent standard VAT. There is no inheritance tax and no net wealth tax. The treaty network is limited to four double taxation agreements (DTAs), covering Spain, Germany, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates, so residents of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Switzerland must rely on unilateral relief in their home country.

Question 4

Can foreign residents open bank accounts and deploy capital in Costa Rica without friction?

Accepted Answer

Costa Rican banking is supervised by the Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras (SUGEF). Major commercial banks include the state-owned Banco Nacional de Costa Rica and Banco de Costa Rica, alongside private players such as BAC Credomatic, Scotiabank, Davivienda and Promerica, and this list is not exhaustive. Account opening for foreign residents and non-residents is feasible but documentation-heavy, since banks apply risk-based due diligence under the anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing (AML/CFT) framework supervised by SUGEF. Required documents typically include a passport, the immigration identity document (Documento de Identidad Migratorio para Extranjeros, DIMEX) for residents or the Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) approval letter, proof of address, and documented source of funds or source of wealth backed by tax filings, employment contracts or pension certifications. Lead times generally run from 2 to 8 weeks depending on the bank and applicant profile. Costa Rica participates in the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and in Common Reporting Standard (CRS) automatic exchange of information, with CRS reporting since 2018, and sits inside the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) global network through the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT) under ongoing mutual-evaluation follow-up, and it is not on the FATF list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring. Digital Nomad permit holders have a statutory basis under Ley No. 10008 to open savings accounts in national banking system banks, but every applicant across all residence categories remains subject to standard AML/CFT due diligence rather than any category-specific simplified procedure.

Costa Rica does not maintain restrictions on payments and transfers for current international transactions and remains current under Article VIII of the International Monetary Fund Articles of Agreement. The colón operates under a managed floating exchange-rate regime administered by the Banco Central de Costa Rica, which intervenes to smooth volatility rather than to defend a formal exchange-rate band. Foreign-currency accounts, primarily in United States dollars, are commonly offered, subject to each bank's onboarding policy. Foreign nationals can generally acquire titled real estate, in their personal name or through a Costa Rican company, since titled private property lying outside the maritime-terrestrial zone is excluded from that special regime under Article 6 of Ley No. 6043. Within the maritime-terrestrial zone, the 200-metre coastal strip splits into a 50-metre public zone where occupation is barred and a 150-metre restricted zone where concessions run 5 to 20 years, and Article 47 of Ley No. 6043 denies concessions to foreigners who have not resided in the country for at least 5 years, to bearer-share companies, to entities domiciled abroad and to entities more than 50 percent foreign-owned. For Inversionista residence, Ley No. 9996 and its Reglamento require documented qualifying investment of at least USD 150,000, which may take the form of real estate, registrable goods, shares, securities, productive or national-interest projects, venture capital funds or sustainable tourism infrastructure. When the qualifying asset is real estate or other registrable goods, the Reglamento requires it to be registered directly in the applicant's personal name and rejects assets held through a legal entity, whereas the other investment routes may be held personally or through a company, so direct personal-name property title is not a universal condition for investor qualification.

Crypto-assets are not legal tender in Costa Rica and are not prohibited as a means of private payment, but the claim that no specific framework exists is no longer accurate. On 25 May 2026 the Asamblea Legislativa approved in second debate a reform to Ley No. 7786 (expediente 25.340) that subjects virtual asset service providers (VASP) to AML/CFT obligations, mandatory registration with SUGEF, client identification and suspicious-transaction reporting, while regulated financial entities cannot enable or continue services for VASPs that remain unregistered. The reform carries a three-month window for implementing regulations and enters into force three months after publication in La Gaceta, so the regime is legislated but not yet fully operational. Capital deployment through a Sociedad Anónima (SA) or a Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (SRL) is generally feasible through a Costa Rican notary and registration with the Registro Nacional, which takes roughly 2 to 4 weeks, although banking, tax registration and beneficial-ownership compliance can add practical friction beyond the incorporation step itself.

Question 5

Is Costa Rica a viable operational base for foreign professionals?

Accepted Answer

Costa Rica is a viable operational base for foreign professionals, with the strongest infrastructure concentrated in the Greater Metropolitan Area around San José, Escazú, Santa Ana and Heredia, and in established remote-work and tourism hubs such as Tamarindo, Santa Teresa, Nosara, Puerto Viejo, Jacó and Quepos. Fixed broadband is solid in urban areas, with the national median fixed download speed reaching around 147 Mbps at the end of 2025 and the median mobile download speed around 56 Mbps, both up roughly 50 percent year on year, though real-world speeds vary materially by neighbourhood, building and operator. 4G and 5G mobile coverage is expanding but should not yet be assumed uniform across every coastal location. The coworking ecosystem is real but smaller than often advertised, with Coworker.com currently listing around 35 spaces, including Impact Hub San José, WeWork Escazú Village, WeWork C3 Cariari Corporate Center, Gracias Cowork in Barrio Escalante and Regus and Spaces locations. Day passes typically run USD 8 to 30 and monthly memberships USD 100 to 250. Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) is the main gateway, with direct flights to more than 50 destinations including major United States hubs, Mexico City, Madrid, Frankfurt and Zürich. Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR) in Liberia is the secondary international airport, serving Guanacaste and the northern Pacific with strong direct links to the United States and Canada.

Cost of living is moderate to high by Latin American standards and materially higher than Paraguay. Against Panama it tends to read as more expensive in consumer-price datasets, though the gap narrows or reverses depending on city and rent profile. In San José, a central one-bedroom apartment commonly rents for USD 600 to 1,000 per month, while furnished expat rentals in premium beach towns range from roughly USD 800 to 2,500. Restaurant meals run from about USD 8 for a local meal to USD 25 for a mid-range option, and monthly groceries for one person fall around USD 250 to 400 depending on the share of imported goods. Spanish is the working language. English is readily usable in tourism, international business, premium services and expatriate circles, but the country sits at moderate proficiency on international rankings and should not be treated as broadly bilingual. Healthcare runs through the public Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS), mandatory for legal residents, with contribution rates that vary by status and income category. The salaried-employee CCSS contribution rose to 9.83 percent of gross salary on 1 January 2026, and the total mandatory employee payroll deduction reaches 10.83 percent once the 1 percent Banco Popular worker contribution is added, while voluntary and independent affiliates contribute on an income-based sliding scale. A strong private sector complements the public system, with hospitals such as Hospital CIMA San José and Hospital Clínica Bíblica holding Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation.

The security profile is mixed. Costa Rica remains institutionally stable, but petty theft, vehicle break-ins and tourist-targeted property crime are common, and homicides have risen sharply since 2022, reaching around 16.8 per 100,000 in 2025 against roughly 11 to 12 before 2023. The violence is driven largely by cocaine-trafficking disputes and clusters in specific districts, with particular exposure in Limón, parts of Puntarenas and certain coastal and urban zones rather than across the whole country. The climate is tropical, with a broadly dry season from December to April and a rainy season from May to November, though April and November act as transition months and the Caribbean side follows a different pattern from the Pacific. Institutional stability remains a core advantage, as Costa Rica is a long-standing democracy with no permanent army under its 1949 Constitution, is rated Free by Freedom House, and has been an OECD member since 2021.

Lucky Nomads Proprietary Indices

Country snapshot

General facts

Tax system

Special tax regimes

Visa and mobility

Your access

Overview

Programmes

Residence by investment

Work (employer sponsored)

Retirement routes

Family and dependant routes

Remote work visas

Dimensions breakdown

Strongest dimensions

Weakest dimensions

FAQ

What entry rights and short-stay conditions apply to foreign nationals in Costa Rica?

What long-term residence options exist in Costa Rica for internationally mobile individuals?

How does taxation apply to residents and foreign-source income in Costa Rica?

Can foreign residents open bank accounts and deploy capital in Costa Rica without friction?

Is Costa Rica a viable operational base for foreign professionals?

Lucky Nomads editorial note

Published ranks by index

Compare Costa Rica with…

Is Costa Rica really your strongest move?

Lucky Nomads Proprietary Indices

Country snapshot

General facts

Tax system

Special tax regimes

Visa and mobility

Your access

Overview

Programmes

Residence by investment

Work (employer sponsored)

Retirement routes

Family and dependant routes

Remote work visas

Dimensions breakdown

Strongest dimensions

Weakest dimensions

FAQ

What entry rights and short-stay conditions apply to foreign nationals in Costa Rica?

What long-term residence options exist in Costa Rica for internationally mobile individuals?

How does taxation apply to residents and foreign-source income in Costa Rica?

Can foreign residents open bank accounts and deploy capital in Costa Rica without friction?

Is Costa Rica a viable operational base for foreign professionals?

Lucky Nomads editorial note

Published ranks by index

Compare Costa Rica with…

Is Costa Rica really your strongest move?