When you decide to pursue legal residency in Costa Rica, finding the right lawyer to guide you through the complex laws and Tico bureaucracy will be your most important first step. Although some people do achieve resident status without the aide of a lawyer, for my husband Layne and me, it was a no-brainer that we would need help.
Feb 09, 2020 · To apply for residency under the Rentista category (Article 82), the applicant must show that they will receive at least US$2,500 per month of income in a permanent, stable and irrevocable manner for at least 2 years.This category includes the applicant, their spouse and all their children which are under the age of 25.
Couple of things for you. It is fairly normal to have to wait and return to immigration every 90 days while waiting on your Residency papers. As for driving I believe you do not need to be a resident to get a Costa Rica Drivers license. The laws may have changed but I was not a resident when I got my first Costa Rica license.
The following are 10 of the main reasons why people choose to move to Costa Rica and obtain legal residency status: The most stable democracy in Latin America. Strategic location only 2.5 hours away from Miami in the middle of the Americas.
DETERMINE YOUR ELIGIBILITY TO LIVE IN COSTA RICA. Our lawyers will professionally advise you verifying your eligibility for residency in our country. In Costa Rica residencies are, in general terms, divided in four categories: 1 Due to family ties with a Costa Rican or a res ident (spouse, siblings or minor children, parents) 2.
Required Costa Rica Residency Documents1.An FBI report of Good Conduct from your last place of residency. Valid for 6 months. ... Birth Certificate. ... Marriage Certificate (if spouse wishes residency). ... Income Certificate for Pensionado and Rentista Residency (required for only the applicant, valid six months).Dec 7, 2021
If the person enters Costa Rica as a tourist and wishes to change his/her status as temporary resident, a payment of $200 must be paid in the Bank of Costa Rica's account number 242480-0. The payment is in colones.
Permanent Resident Applications Costa Rica is so beautiful that you may never want to leave! We can help you apply to become a Permanent Resident of Costa Rica. In order to qualify, you must first be a temporary resident under one of the above programs for at least three years.
The requirements of Costa Rica Residence PermitsA letter of application, addressed to the Consul of Costa Rica, clearly requiresting a Residency Provisional Visa. ... Your birth certificate.Certificate of police clearance from your country.You valid passport and copies of all the pages on your passport, even blank ones.More items...
Costa Rica grants a temporary residency visa under the category of “pensionado”, to foreign-nationals willing to immigrate to the country, who have a lifetime pension, such as social security, annuities, retirement funds, military pensions or other guaranteed retirement benefits.
Yes, you do need a visa to be in Costa Rica. And technically, you cannot LEGALLY live here without applying for legal resident status (more on that later.) North Americans and many other passport holders will receive a free, automatic three month tourist visa at customs.Sep 4, 2015
After two years of pensionado, rentista, or inversionista status, application can be made for permanent residency in Costa Rica. This is usually unrestricted, and working is permitted. Citizens of Spain can apply for permanent residency right away. Permanent residents must visit Costa Rica at least once each year.
Can I move to Costa Rica from the U.S.? Yes. It's quite easy to move to Costa Rica from the U.S. Before the global pandemic disrupting travel and immigration, some 120,000 U.S. citizens were thought to reside permanently in Costa Rica.Mar 25, 2022
You can just overstay your visa and pay a fine. While it's true that you'll have to pay a fine you may also be incarcerated, deported and not allowed to return to Costa Rica for at least 3x the number of days you overstayed your visa or possibly never.
If your move to Costa Rica is the result of a work, study, or volunteer project, you can apply for a temporary permit that allows you to stay in the country.Dec 21, 2021
The following are 10 of the main reasons why people choose to move to Costa Rica and obtain legal residency status: 1 The most stable democracy in Latin America. 2 Strategic location only 2.5 hours away from Miami in the middle of the Americas. 3 The country is the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish its army, thus being able to invest in the education and social welfare of its people creating an educated labor force ideal for launching a regional or global business hub following the path of many multinational companies. 4 Higher life expectancy than the United States. 5 Consistently ranked among the top Latin American countries in human development 6 Ranked 3rd in the world in the Environmental Performance Index. 7 Ranks first as the happiest greenest country in the world. 8 A diversified economy able to absorb shocks from the global economy. 9 Exuberant natural beauty. 10 Investment opportunities proper of a developing country but with a respect legal system.
A diversified economy able to absorb shocks from the global economy. Exuberant natural beauty. Investment opportunities proper of a developing country but with a respect legal system. Because it is a privilege to live in Costa Rica, the country has to maintain a clear policy in Costa Rica Immigration Law, in that sense please take ...
First: In general if the document is not issued by a government authority and it does not have the official seal, it has to be notarized by a local notary public.
Permanent residency comes with more benefits than temporary residency. For example, with permanent residency, you have all the rights of a citizen (except voting) and can work legally in Costa Rica. Temporary residents can own/run a business, but must hire employees to do any labor.
Request the necessary personal documents from your home country. They are valid for only six months from the date of issuance according to Costa Rican requirements. The timing can be critical, as we note below with respect to the FBI background check. You might need more documents than this depending on your specific circumstances, but in general you will need the following.
Hola! We’re Matt & Jenn, a couple who left Boston to pursue a dream of traveling, living, and starting a family in Costa Rica. It all started about 10 years ago with an amazing two-week vacation . . . Read More
Five hundred dollars per person isn’t too bad for applying for residency in Costa Rica, especially when you consider the benefits we’ll get. We won’t have to leave the country to renew our visas every three months anymore and will be able to work as an employee here if we want. It will also be a lot easier to open a bank account, get a Costa Rican driver’s license, etc.
Association of Residents of Costa Rica: ARCR is one of the leading companies for obtaining residency in Costa Rica. They have a lot of info on their website about the process and also an active forum where you can ask questions even if you don’t plan on applying through them.
One thing that we wished we had when starting this process was a step-by-step guide, mostly because the timing of when to do things was not clear. We couldn’t find one so we made our own:
The immigration laws in Costa Rica offer numerous options for people to gain legal immigration status in the country. There are opportunities for retirees, people on fixed incomes, investors, spouses or parents of a Costa Rican, self-employed persons or entrepreneurs, and employees of a company. You can review the most popular categories here.
Panama also offers multiple options for people to gain legal immigration status. The two most common are the Friendly Nations Visa for people from one of 50 Friendly Nations who can demonstrate a professional or commercial reason for residency and the Pensionado Visa (residency for retired people).
All residency applications are filed with and processed by the Costa Rican Department of Immigration (DirecciĂłn General de MigraciĂłn y Extranjeria) for those that are present in Costa Rica. Residency applications may also be filed with a Costa Rican Consular office in your country of origin. Whenever possible we recommend those that are eligible to do so to file directly in Costa Rica. For a list of Embassy and Consular Offices of Costa Rica around the world you can refer to the Ministry of Foreign Relations Embassy and Consular List.
If the visa is granted it is for a period of 30 days and may be renewable up to a maximum of 90 days.
The Investor Category requires an applicant to demonstrate to the Department of Immigration that they will be coming to Costa Rica to invest in the country. The category is found in Article 79 (4) of the law. It is also addressed in the Regulations to the Immigration Law in Article 87 of Decree No. 37112-G.
If you are traveling to Costa Rica it is recommended that your passport have at least 3 months validity from the date of entry for those nationalities included in the no visa requirement and 6 months for those in the rest of the categories.
If you are located in Costa Rica and are elgible to apply within Costa Rica then you can do so by paying an additional $200 change of status fee. The only requirement that you need to satisfy to apply from Costa Rica is that you are in the country with a valid tourist visa at the time of application.
Once you have had temporary residency for 3 years you are eligible to file a petition for change of status to permanent residency. It requires a signed petition to be filed with the Department of Immigration. They will then review the petition and if granted they will issue a resolution indicating that it is approved and changing your legal status to permanent resident.
In order to qualify, you must first be a temporary resident under one of the above programs for at least three years.
A married couple needs to show proof of only one (1) monthly pension of at least $1,000 USD for both husband and wife to qualify to apply for residency. The pension recipient can be either spouse.
Applications based upon having a child born in Costa Rica are approved as permanent residents . The application can include the parent (s) and siblings (brothers and sisters) of the Costa Rican citizen.
Costa Rican immigration laws are changing – mostly to the benefit of those seeking residency. The new laws are being designed to attract investors, rentistas and retirees. Residency in Costa Rica will temporarily stop taking new clients, effective July 1, 2021 while the laws are being implemented and until Migracion in Costa Rica goes back ...