The residence routes to Costa Rica: three cards, an income test in dollars, and a waiting time the brochure doesn't mention

Most pages on emigrating to Costa Rica are written for Americans and are three things at once: enthusiastic, English-language and out of date. The rules themselves are simpler than they sound — they're in Title VI of the migration law of 2009 — and the waiting time is longer than they say.

Three cards

The pensionado. Article 81 requires a monthly, fixed and lasting pension from abroad of at least 1,000 dollars, or the equivalent. AOW and occupational pension count together, and one pension covers a couple: the partner and the children go along as dependientes on the same application. This is the route of almost everyone who comes from the Netherlands on a pension.

The rentista. Article 82 requires fixed and lasting income of at least 2,500 dollars a month, from abroad or from a bank of the Costa Rican banking system. In practice that runs through a deposit of 60,000 dollars with a Costa Rican bank that pays out 2,500 monthly for two years. Wages don't count: a temporary resident may only work with a separate permission from the DGME.

The inversionista. For whoever invests in property, a business or securities. The law of 2021 lowered the bar to 150,000 dollars; now that its term of five years is over, it is legally open whether the old 200,000 returns. Ask the DGME in writing before you invest.

All three get a temporary residence of at most two years, each time renewable for the same period (article 79), and after three consecutive years they can apply for the permanent one (article 78).

The law that has just closed

Almost every brochure mentions law 9996 of 2021: a one-off exemption for the household goods, two cars tax-free, twenty percent off the transfer tax, and the declared income free of Costa Rican tax. The ICT describes the benefits and the condition: they could only be applied for in the first five years of the law. The law entered into force on 14 July 2021, so those five years ended on 14 July 2026.

Whoever was granted the benefits before that date keeps them ten years. Whoever applies now falls under the ordinary rules: duties and VAT on the household goods, the full tax on a car, the full transfer tax. For a Dutch person that changes the sum of the move more than that of the residence.

The file

The income test is simple; the documents are the work. The DGME wants a form, a letter with your motives, passport photos, copies of your whole passport, and three documents from the Netherlands that each have to be apostilled and translated:

• the pension statement from the SVB, your fund or both, with the amount and the confirmation that it is lifelong;
• your birth certificate;
• a certificate of conduct.

The certificate and the police certificate may be at most six months old at the moment of lodging. That is the clock of the file: only request them once your departure date is fixed, and count back from the day you lodge. The translation is done in Costa Rica by an official translator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not by a Dutch sworn translator.

The exact requirements — which amount the statement has to name, which signature, which age — the DGME publishes on a site that doesn't let itself be read, and they change per counter. Have your lawyer approve the text of the statement before you have the apostille put on.

Lodging in Costa Rica, as a tourist

The Netherlands is in the first group of the visa directives: you enter without a visa and the border officer gives you up to 180 days, not extendable. Unlike with Mexico you may lodge the application in Costa Rica itself, while you're there as a tourist: article 89 of the law lets a non-resident change category for 200 dollars, on top of the ordinary fees.

That is the route of almost everyone. In the first weeks you have your fingerprints registered at the Ministry of Security, your lawyer lodges the file, and you get a receipt with a file number. Keep it like your passport: until the decision it is your only proof that you're there legally, even if the 180 days are over.

Lodging at the consulate in the Netherlands is possible too and saves the 200 dollars, but the file travels more slowly and the fingerprints still come after arrival.

The waiting time

The law names three months. The practice is months to more than a year, and nobody can give you a date. In that time you live on your Dutch policy and your Dutch driving licence, without a Costa Rican bank account — because the bank wants the card. Plan on that, and count the waiting months in the first months of your budget.

The DIMEX, and the Caja on top

As soon as the DGME approves, you pay the fees for the DIMEX, the residence card, and collect it. The card is valid two years and the price differs per category. With the card an obligation starts that Panama and Mexico don't know: article 80 requires a temporary resident to be insured with the Caja without interruption from the grant, and the DGME asks for the proof at every renewal. So go to the sucursal in the same week.

Renewing, and permanent

The temporary card you renew before it expires, with the proof of your Caja affiliation. After three consecutive years you apply for the permanent one, for 200 dollars extra (article 125). Put the end date in your diary on the day you get the card: the DGME counts in months, and nobody sends you a reminder.