Costa Rica digital nomad visa: one income figure for the whole family, and 180 days in the country for a second year
Costa Rica · Digital Nomad Remote Worker Visa
Income required
USD 3,000 per month
Monthly income for the applicant alone, steady or averaged over the past year, paid from outside Costa Rica
Also on file
USD 4,000 per month
Monthly income when your family group joins you — one figure whatever the family size, which your spouse's or another member's income can help make up
Government fee
USD 100
Official fee, main applicant, initial application
Official source · Government fee checked 7 Oct 2026 · No rule-change history on file for this route — check the official source for changes · Figures read from the official rules on file at the time this page was served.
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Bringing your family raises the income bar once, not per person, and a spouse's earnings can count towards it, but the visa fee and the health cover are charged for everyone. The second year hangs on time spent in the country: the law extends the stay only for someone who was in Costa Rica at least 180 days of the first.
Someone who plans a year of trips around the region from a Costa Rican base can lose the extension they were counting on. Law 10008 grants the stay for a year, which a later law reads as up to a year, and allows one extension of a year, on condition of 180 days inside Costa Rica during the first.
The income rule
The figure above is the bar for an applicant on their own: a steady monthly income, fixed earnings, or an average over the past year, paid from outside Costa Rica. The law adds that it must be income you can keep receiving while living away from your home country. The tourism board's requirements page says it is shown with a year of bank statements and a sworn statement, or a certificate from a public accountant or notary.
What the family add-on covers
The family figure, also on file, is one amount whatever the size of the group, and it may be made up of your income together with your spouse's or another member's. The law's family group is a spouse or partner, children under 25, children of any age with a disability, and older adults who live with you.
Some costs do grow with each person. Every member pays the visa fee once, and every member must be covered by a health policy for the whole stay.
Paid to the immigration directorate:
- The fee shown above, once for you and once for each family member.
Paid to others:
- The health policy, to the insurer, for each person.
- A firm's own fee, if you use one, on a line of its own.
Questions to answer before paying:
- Who in your household fits the law's family group, and is each one counted for the fee and the insurance?
- Does every source of income you are relying on come from outside Costa Rica, and will it carry on after you move?
- Whose earnings make up the family figure, and do the statements cover the full past year?
- Does the policy cover each member for the whole stay?
- If you want the second year, will you be in Costa Rica for at least 180 days of the first?
Quotes from relocation firms or lawyers for this application are what the box above is built for: say yes at the start and each line is compared with Costa Rica's published rules. An employment contract is outside what it reads; with only that, say no and enter your monthly income from abroad, per month. The check compares a document or a figure with the published rules, and does not look at your application or advise on it; for advice on your own case, speak to a qualified immigration lawyer.
General information, not legal advice.
