Costa Rica, at your own pace.
Costa Rica offers one of the more approachable residency landscapes in Latin America, with distinct routes for remote workers, pensioners, people living on investment or rental income, and direct investors.
When rules change mid-way, the date your application is filed is what often decides which rules apply to you. Where are you right now?
Pick by how you live
9 routes, grouped by what Costa Rica's system asks of you day to day — not by which visa is most talked about. Every figure below is what Immimaps has verified against Costa Rica's official programme rules.
Your income comes from employers or clients outside the country. You don't want a local employer, and you don't need one.
A pension or other steady income from outside the country, and no plan to take a local job.
Routes where you prove money you hold or receive, rather than a job offer. The money is shown, not spent.
Most of these sums are shown, not spent.
On most remote-work and retirement routes, the figure is proof of means — it sits in your own account until it's checked, and nothing is transferred. Routes where money genuinely moves are marked below.
routes ask you to show a balance or income — once it's checked, it stays yours.
routes place capital that is exposed until the hold period or conditions are met.
What keeping the visa actually asks of you
Costa Rica Employee Residency (Trabajador Dependiente), Costa Rica Student Residency (Categoría Especial de Estudiante) are renewed rather than granted once. Expect each renewal to check the route's conditions again, so keep the same proof ready.
Counted from each route's own rules. Some routes lead to permanent residence or citizenship and some don't; the route cards below say which.
Pick a route, see the real commitment
Every official figure below is what Immimaps has verified for that route against Costa Rica's official programme rules — not a marketing minimum. Service fees are what independent firms publish for the route, shown only once five or more are on file.
Built specifically for people working for employers or clients based outside the country — the fastest route to a decision on this list.
For people taking up direct employment with a Costa Rican employer under a formal work contract.
For close family members of a Costa Rican citizen or resident.
For full-time students enrolled at a recognized Costa Rican institution, renewed annually alongside the study program.
A lower-threshold investor route tied specifically to an approved forestry or reforestation project.
The general investor route, open to real estate, business, and several other qualifying investment types, with the investment held through the process.
For people with a lifetime pension guaranteed to continue for life — multiple pensions can be combined to meet the threshold.
A structured-deposit alternative to the income route; recent rule changes mean the deposit has to generate real interest rather than just being drawn down month by month.
Passive income only — simple bank savings do not qualify under current rules, so the income source needs to be genuinely recurring.
What each route costs, stage by stage
Added up from the official figures on file for each route — split into money spent for good, money locked and returned later, and money shown but never transferred. Not a modelled estimate.
Costa Rica Digital Nomad Remote Worker Visa▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $100, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$3,000 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
2 ways to qualify — shown: the cheapest. Alternatives: $3,000 (shown) / $4,000.
Costa Rica Employee Residency (Trabajador Dependiente)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodEstimated government fees, shown not graded: $400 – $600, paid to the government for the initial application.
Costa Rica Family Reunification Residency (Residencia por Vínculo Familiar)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 10 months.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $145 – $183, paid to the government for the initial application.
Costa Rica Student Residency (Categoría Especial de Estudiante)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $103 – $133, paid to the government for the initial application.
Inversionista Forestry▾
At application
Decision — reported: 9 months.- Spent for goodEstimated government fees, shown not graded: $523 – $2,815, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$100,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Inversionista General▾
At application
Decision — reported: 9 months.- Spent for goodEstimated government fees, shown not graded: $70, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$100,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
2 ways to qualify — shown: the cheapest. Alternatives: $150,000 / $100,000 (shown).
Pensionado (Retiree) program▾
At application
- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $679, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$1,000 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
Rentista Bank Deposit▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 year.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $200, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$60,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Rentista Income▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 year.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $379, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$2,500 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
The order Pensionado (Retiree) program follows
No confirmed rule change has been flagged for Costa Rica since it was last checked against the official visitcostarica.com portal on 2026-08-29. Immimaps keeps watching official immigration sources and will list dated changes here as soon as one is confirmed.
Check the visitcostarica.com portal directly →The cost calculator separates money spent for good from money that's only shown or locked up.
Open the cost calculatorUpload it and Immimaps checks it against what Costa Rica's official programme actually requires, and reads the contract clause by clause. Free, no account.
Check my documentEvery official figure on this page is checked against Costa Rica's official immigration sources. Service fees are what independent firms publish for a route — not an official figure, and never any one firm's price. Immimaps does not publish success rates, approval odds or any probability score — here or anywhere else.
Don’t take a life-changing move on someone else’s word.
Immimaps is not an agency and takes no placement fees. We show the real figures on every route, show the working, and tell you what it actually costs.
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