Costa Rica

Categoría Inversionista. Costa Rica's investor residence; Law 9996's temporary cut of the bar from $200,000 to $150,000 expired on July 14, 2026, so the minimum has reverted to $200,000 for applications filed after that date unless the Asamblea Legislativa renews the lower figure.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 27, 2026

Categoría Inversionista

Renewable 2-year temporary residence, plus Law 9996 tax and import incentives.

Who qualifies

Applications filed on or before July 14, 2026 still qualify at the reduced $150,000 threshold; anything filed after that date is subject to the pre-2021 $200,000 minimum, since the law's temporary reduction has expired and no renewal has been confirmed.
Ley 9996 sunset of the reduced investment threshold, July 14, 2026, summarized by Moray & Glesias
Minimum investment in real estate, registrable assets, securities, or a productive/national-interest project.
ECIJA, Reglamento de la Ley 9996
The investment must be maintained for as long as the residence status depends on it.
EY Costa Rica, alert on the Reglamento to Ley 9996

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

Does it fit your family?

One question, from the program’s own rules.

Savings you could move or invest?

Not legal advice.

What it takes.

Investment: About $200,000.
Time: 3–6 months.
Cost: Modest government fees; the $200,000 investment itself dominates, plus $3,000–5,000 in legal and structuring fees.
The hard part: Confirm the current threshold with DGME in writing before filing: the $150,000 incentive expired July 14, 2026, and a written inquiry is the only reliable way to know which figure applies to a given filing date.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

Citizens by 2035.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

2027
First residence permit
2 years, renewable for 2 years at a time.
2029
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 2 years.
2030
Permanent residence
Three years in a row on temporary residence. Student and special categories do not qualify. Permanent residents must keep up their national health-insurance (CCSS) payments to renew the card.
2034
Apply for citizenship
With a language test and a civics test.
2035
Citizenship

Language: Speak, read and write Spanish, shown by passing the Education Ministry's naturalisation Spanish exam or by Costa Rican schooling.
Civics: The Education Ministry's Estudios Sociales exam on Costa Rican history and values; pass mark 70. Older adults are exempt.
Time away: Seven (or five) years of official, continuous residence. The TSE asks two witnesses to confirm you have lived there throughout and accepts social-security or medical records as extra proof. No day count for absences is published.
Two passports: Yes. You keep your U.S. citizenship.

Same road as Pensionado, as long as the investment is kept.
Whether the clock starts at the first temporary permit: the Constitution says 'officially resided', and temporary residence is official residence, but I did not see the TSE rule that sets the start date.
No absence limit for naturalisation was found. To keep the permit itself, a temporary resident may not be away more than two years in a row and a permanent resident more than four.
Decision time: the TSE's legal limit is 285 working days (about 13 months). I found no figure for practice.
Dual citizenship: the Constitution's naturalisation article asks for no renunciation, so Costa Rica lets you keep your old citizenship; the home country's own rules still apply.
'Central Americans' is not defined in the Constitution; Belize is left off the five-year list.
Remote-worker stay: Law 8764 gives it one year, extendable once by the same period. The subcategory's heading did not extract from the PDF, and the migration service's own page returned 403.
The earlier research says Law 9996 residents must enter Costa Rica at least once a year; not confirmed today.
How long the decision takes isn’t published; we allow a year.

The law behind these dates

Ley General de Migración y Extranjería 8764, Title VI, arts. 77–79, 88 and 129 (Defensoría de los Habitantes copy) · checked 2026-09-25
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones — Naturalización por Residencia (Ley 1155): requirements and 285-working-day limit · checked 2026-09-25
Constitución Política de Costa Rica, arts. 14–16 (Imprenta Nacional edition) · checked 2026-09-25

Living there.

Time you must spend there: Must enter at least once a year.
Tax: Territorial taxation; capital gains and rental income earned outside Costa Rica are generally untaxed there.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

Start today.

Engage a Costa Rican immigration attorney to confirm the current investment threshold with DGME, then structure and register the qualifying investment before filing.Open ecija.com ↗
Round up the papers.
- Proof of the funds to invest: about $200,000, and where they came from
- Request your FBI Identity History Summary
- Health cover for the move

Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

19 steps, from the first paper to the passport. You do 4 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →

ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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