Citizeo
Pathway

Costa Rica Investor Residence

Costa Rica Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

Costa Rica's investor category is temporary residence for a foreign national who makes and documents at least USD $150,000 in one of the investment forms listed by current law. The investment must be maintained continuously for renewal.

Type
Investor residence
Investment fit
Investors making a qualifying investment in Costa Rica
Core requirements
Investment amount, source of funds, and required approvals
What to know
The investment type, value, and continuous maintenance must be proved
Duration
Temporary residence is commonly granted for 2 years.
Renewal / path
Can support permanent residence after the required temporary-residence period.

Summary

Costa Rica's inversionista category is temporary residence for a foreign national who makes a qualifying investment in Costa Rica worth at least USD $150,000, or the colón equivalent at the official selling exchange rate.

The current investor regulation lists the accepted forms:

The investment must be documented in the manner required for its category and kept continuously in place. The initial status is granted for two years and can be renewed in two-year periods if the investor proves that the qualifying investment has remained continuously maintained.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The applicant must have completed, or be able to complete and document, at least USD $150,000 in a listed Costa Rican investment. Being interested in investing, having USD $150,000 in savings, paying a purchase deposit, or spending that amount in Costa Rica does not by itself satisfy the rule.

The evidence depends on the investment:

If the investment is held through a trust, the current regulation says only the settlor—the person making the investment—can use that investment for this subcategory. Ownership through a company, trust, or shared title should be reviewed before closing because the applicant must be able to prove the qualifying personal investment.

The applicant also needs the current general residence documents, such as identity and civil records, criminal-history evidence where required, government payments, and any entry-visa or in-country filing permission. Foreign public records may require an apostille or legalization and an official Spanish translation.

Qualifying dependents may apply with the principal investor under the current family rules and document requirements. The USD $150,000 is the principal investment threshold, but adding family members does not waive their identity, relationship, background, or documentation requirements.

What This Route Allows

An approved investor receives temporary residence for two years. The person can live in Costa Rica, obtain the immigration document after completing documentation, and seek renewal for further two-year periods while the qualifying investment remains continuously in place.

After three consecutive years of temporary residence, a person may apply to change to permanent residence under Article 78 of the Migration Law. The three-year point opens a separate application; it does not automatically convert the status or erase a renewal obligation.

The investor can own and manage the qualifying asset subject to Costa Rican corporate, property, securities, tax, labor, and licensing law. Temporary residence itself permits only the paid or profit-making activities authorized by DGME. Buying a property or shares should not be treated as automatic permission to take any local job.

Law 9996 reduced the investor amount and created time-limited customs and tax incentives for investors, rentistas, and pensionados. The residence category and USD $150,000 regulation continue independently. The incentives were expressly available only to people opting for them during the first five years after Law 9996 took effect on July 14, 2021. A new applicant after July 14, 2026 should not assume those incentives remain available without a later official extension or a written decision from the competent tax or customs authority.

What This Route Is Not

This is not a donation or government bond purchase that guarantees approval. The asset remains the investor's, but DGME still decides whether the investment type, value, ownership, and evidence meet the regulation.

It is not limited to residential real estate, and it is not accurately described as a special “golden visa.” It is one of Costa Rica's ordinary statutory temporary-residence subcategories.

It is not a USD $100,000 forestry exception under the current 2023 investor regulation. That regulation applies a USD $150,000 minimum to its listed investment forms. Older websites and checklists may reflect superseded amounts or categories.

It is not enough for a foreign company or trust to own a Costa Rican asset while the applicant cannot prove the required personal investment. Nor should a buyer rely only on a contract price where official valuation evidence controls.

It is not automatic permanent residence, citizenship, unrestricted employment, or a guaranteed tax result. Each of those has separate legal requirements.

Next Steps

  1. Choose the proposed investment form and read Article 4 of the current investor regulation before signing or transferring funds.
  2. Ask a Costa Rican notary or appropriately regulated professional to confirm how ownership and value will be proved to DGME in that category.
  3. For real estate, check the registered owner, liens, cadastral information, and official municipal or tax value. Resolve any gap between transaction price and accepted immigration value before closing.
  4. For shares, securities, funds, or projects, obtain the corporate, regulatory, accounting, beneficial-ownership, and project approvals required by the current rules.
  5. Preserve a clean source-and-transfer record for the funds. Immigration, banks, notaries, tax authorities, and regulated professionals may each apply source-of-funds checks.
  6. Assemble the current general residence documents and dependent records. Apostille or legalize and translate foreign documents where required.
  7. Submit through the DGME channel permitted for the applicant's nationality and location. Do not rely on a generic homepage as the document checklist.
  8. After approval, complete CCSS enrollment where required, pay the amounts stated in the decision, and obtain the DIMEX within the deadline.
  9. Keep the investment continuously in place and retain updated registry, municipal, tax, corporate, securities, and accounting evidence for renewal.
  10. Before claiming a Law 9996 customs or tax incentive, obtain current written guidance because the statute's five-year opt-in period has elapsed.
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