Working in Costa Rica: as a pensionado only with permission, and the rules your employer knows

No, not just like that. Article 80 of the migration law says that temporary residents "may only carry out the paid or profitable activities, on their own account or as employees, that the Dirección General authorises them", after advice from the labour ministry. The pensionado and the rentista are temporary residents, so their card is no work permit; whoever wants to work applies for the permission separately, and the partner and children on the card may only study or work with the same permission. What it earns is fixed per occupation: the minimum wage for a university licenciado in 2026 is ¢796,921 a month. The trap is the order: whoever finds a job as a tourist needs an employer to carry the application, and the DGME counts in months.

May I work with my card?

Three situations.

You are a pensionado or rentista. You may run a business or work as soon as the DGME allows it; without that permission, not. Income from work doesn't count towards your card either — that rests on the pension or the fixed income from abroad, as the residence routes describe.

You come for a job. The law has its own doors for that: article 79 for directors, managers and technical staff of companies established in Costa Rica, and article 94 for the special categories, from temporary workers to "self-employed workers". For the first group article 83 sets a floor: their pay may not be lower than the legal minimum wage for that position plus 25 percent, and they must show they are insured with the Caja.

You are a permanent resident. After three consecutive years of temporary residence you can apply for permanent residence (article 78), and the law doesn't have that restriction on work there.

What does work in Costa Rica pay at minimum?

The Consejo Nacional de Salarios sets the private-sector minimum wages each year, per occupational level and not per industry. For 2026 the council decided on 27 October 2025 on a general increase of 1.63 percent, laid down in decree 45303-MTSS and in force since 1 January 2026.

Category	Minimum wage 2026
Unskilled, per day	¢12,436.41
Semi-skilled, per day	¢13,523.69
Skilled, per day	¢13,991.86
Specialised, per day	¢16,244.50
Domestic work, per month	¢268,731.31
University bachiller, per month	¢664,078.07
University licenciado, per month	¢796,921.00

The wages for bachilleres and licenciados apply only to whoever has a "duly recognised" university degree — and that brings you to CONARE.

Does my Dutch degree count?

For whoever wants to work in their profession, yes, but only after recognition. CONARE, the council of the state universities, says it without ceremony: "persons, national and foreign, who have obtained a university degree outside Costa Rica and wish to work in their profession in our country must go through this procedure". The Oficina de Reconocimiento y Equiparación de Títulos does it together with the universities, with counter hours on working days. Bring the degree and the grade lists apostilled from the Netherlands; that is the same lesson as with school for the children.

Which rules does my employer already know?

The labour code of 1943 applies "to all inhabitants of the Republic, without distinction of sex or nationality" (article 14).

• Working time: at most eight hours a day by day, six at night, and 48 hours a week; in non-hazardous work a day shift may run to ten hours, as long as the week stays under 48 (article 136).
• Holidays: at least two weeks per fifty weeks with the same employer; whoever leaves earlier is paid one day per month worked (article 153).
• Aguinaldo: every private employer pays a thirteenth month, calculated as the average pay of the twelve months before 1 December (Ley 2412).
• Notice period for an open-ended contract: one week after three to six months' service, fifteen days between six months and a year, one month after a year — in writing (article 28).

With work the Caja doesn't come on top, but in place. Whoever takes up employment is insured with the Caja by the employer at a different percentage from a pensionado's voluntary affiliation. Report the switch at the sucursal, so that no double affiliation runs and the sequence for renewal stays unbroken — see healthcare in Costa Rica.

What happens with tax?

Wages from Costa Rica are income from a Costa Rican source, and that Costa Rica does tax — unlike your Dutch pension. How that works out without a treaty is in the article on AOW, pension and tax in Costa Rica. What isn't here: the Caja contribution percentages for employees and the self-employed. Those are published by the Caja itself and were not checked at the source here; the sucursal works them out for you.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Costa Rica or go straight to step 2.1 in the open plan.