Humanitarian Conditions

Under extraordinary conditions, it may hear and resolve on an individual basis that case, for reasons of humanity, which due to its particular conditions involves a special situation of vulnerability of the foreigner derived from their age, gender, disability, among others, being their immigration regularization necessary to address such situation.

Requirements:

1. Form of filiation duly completed; with printed handwriting, legible and signed.

2. Letter indicating the reasons for requesting the special category. The applicant's full name, nationality, age, occupation, address where he/she lives and place or means of notification must be indicated.

3. The letter must be signed, you can do it in front of the Immigration officer or present the signature authenticated by a lawyer.

4. Receipt of payment for the amount of ¢ 125 and ¢ 2.50; for each sheet of paper presented with the residency application, where the name of the foreigner is indicated as depositor, in the account 242480-0 of the Bank of Costa Rica. For this payment you must go through the appraisal process, so click here to know the process: Payment of the fiscal species.pdf Link of the Bank of Costa Rica: Appraisal Fixed Amounts.

5. Two passport size photographs, front view and recent date of the foreigner.

6. Proof of fingerprint registration, issued by the Ministry of Public Security.

7. Proof of consular registration. The requirements for such inscription will be determined at the corresponding Consulate.

8. Birth certificate of the foreigner; issued in the country of origin, duly legalized or apostilled.

9. Photocopy of all the pages of the valid passport of the foreigner. The photocopy must be certified, either confronted with the original before the official who receives them, or by means of a notary public.

10. Submit suitable proof according to the situation described and as required by the Directorate General. The Directorate General may request, for a better resolution, to the competent public institutions a technical assessment of those circumstances essential for the analysis of the case.

11. In case the person is going to perform paid work, he/she must submit a duly authenticated job offer indicating the functions, schedule, salary to be earned, signed by the employer.

More information, here.

IMPORTANT

Foreigners whose country of origin does not have diplomatic representation in Costa Rica, should not submit the consular registration.

In the case of foreigners who cannot present the requirements due to the disappearance of the country of which they were citizens, they must present the passport that identified them as nationals of said country, and submit a sworn statement; in addition, a certification from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifying the political problem that occurred.

Those persons in whose country of origin there is no diplomatic representation of Costa Rica and by reciprocity there is no representation of their country in Costa Rica, must present a birth certificate, criminal record or marriage certificate, as the case may be, issued in their country of origin, as well as a sworn statement duly notarized on the information contained in those documents.

HOW TO APPLY: TEMPORARY RESIDENCY: COSTA RICA

What this condition allows me (access to work leave, medical assistance...):

All applications for residency must be made when the foreigner is legally in the country; that is, his or her visa has not expired.

Permanent Residence 

1. Completed affiliation form; printed, legible and signed.

2. Letter indicating the reasons for applying for the special category. The full name of the applicant, nationality, age, occupation, address of the place where you live, and place or means of notification must be indicated. The letter must be signed, you can do it in front of the Immigration officer or present the signature authenticated by a lawyer.

3. Receipt of payment for the sum of ¢ 125 and ¢ 2,50; for each sheet submitted with the application for residence, indicating the name of the foreign person as depositor.

4. Two passport size photographs, front and recent date of the foreign person.

Requirements:

1. Proof of registration of fingerprints, issued by the Ministry of Public Security. Proof of consular registration. The requirements for such registration will be determined at the corresponding Consulate.

2. Birth certificate of the foreign person; issued in the country of origin, duly legalized or apostilled.

3. Criminal record certification of the foreign person from the country of origin or the place where he or she has resided legally for the last three years, duly legalized or apostilled. In order to do so, they must also demonstrate the legality of their stay in that country by means of a certified copy of the migratory document obtained within the period indicated.

4. Photocopy of all the pages of the valid passport of the foreign person. The photocopy must be certified, either against the original before the official who receives them, or through a notary public.

5. To present suitable proof according to the exposed situation and as it is required by the General Direction. The General Directorate may request, in order to better resolve the case, from the competent public institutions a technical assessment of those circumstances essential for the analysis of the case.

6. In the event that the person is going to perform remunerated work, he/she must present a duly authenticated job offer indicating the functions, the schedule, the adevengar salary, signed by the employer.

Conditions:

• All applications for residency must be made when the foreigner is legal in the country, i.e. the visa period has not expired. If the person enters Costa Rica as a tourist and wishes to apply for a residence, he must additionally deposit the sum of US$200.00 in the account 242480-0 of the Bank of Costa Rica for concept of change of category. This money must be deposited in colones.
• Foreigners whose country of origin does not have diplomatic representation in Costa Rica should not present the consular inscription.
• In the case of foreign persons who cannot present the requirements due to the disappearance of the country of which they were a citizen, they must present the passport that identified them as a national of that country, and submit a sworn statement, as well as a certification from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifying the political problem that occurred.
• Those persons in whose country of origin there is no diplomatic representation of Costa Rica and by reciprocity there is no representation of their country in Costa Rica, must submit birth certificate, criminal record or marriage, as the case may be, issued in their country of origin, as well as a sworn statement duly notarized on the information contained in those documents.

More information, here.

Temporary Residence: Temporary Resident Relationship

 

1. Target Subjects

   Mothers and Fathers

   Minor sons and daughters, and adults up to 25 years of age.

   In the case of adults, they must demonstrate dependency on the temporary resident.

   Requirements:

   Application for legal permanence where the qualities of the interested party are indicated, pretension, current address and the means to attend notifications, which must be signed by the foreign person in the presence of a public official of the Service Platform or of the respective regional administrative office or duly authenticated by a Lawyer, the full name of the foreign person with whom he/she has the relationship and registration file number must be indicated, therefore it will not be necessary to include a copy of the document of migratory accreditation.

   When it is alleged to be the father of a resident, this information may be verified in the birth certificate included in the child's registration file. However, it will be obligatory to present a birth certificate for children under or over 25 years of age who demonstrate economic dependence on their parents or guardians, as well as the marriage certificate with a term of issue not exceeding six months, when the bond has been established outside the national territory.

   The spouse of a temporary resident whose marriage has taken place outside the national territory, must carry the marriage certificate duly legalized and authenticated or apostilled, with an issue date not exceeding two months at the moment of the presentation of the application.

   In the case of unmarried children up to 25 years of age, they must demonstrate their economic dependence on the holder, by means of the presentation of a sworn statement, certification of an authorized public accountant.

   In addition they must fulfill the following general migratory requirements:

   Proof of payment in favor of the Government for fiscal species (¢ 125 + ¢ 2.50 for each folio) in accordance with the Law for the Financial Balance of the Public Sector, which must be deposited in account #242476-2 of the Bank of Costa Rica. For this payment you must go through the APPRAISAL process, so click here to know the process: Payment of the fiscal species.pdf Link of Banco de Costa Rica: Appraisal of Fixed Amounts

   Two passport size photographs, front view and recent date of the foreign person.

   Birth certificate of the foreigner issued in the country of origin, duly legalized and authenticated or apostilled. The birth certificate of the applicant will be considered valid if it is duly translated into Spanish by an official Costa Rican translator and apostilled or legalized before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, even if it has an issue date of more than six months, as long as the information contained in said document matches the information contained in the passport of the foreigner and it is in perfect condition, without erasures, erasures, overwriting, nor is it torn, pasted with adhesive tape or any other alteration that makes its legitimacy doubtful. In case of discrepancy between the passport data and the birth certificate, the foreigner must be warned to clarify the divergence, by means of the corresponding documents that justify the reason for the difference, or by presenting duly corrected documents (according to resolution DJUR-0180-10-2021-JM).

   Certification of criminal record of the foreigner from his/her country of origin or the place where he/she has legally resided for the last three years, duly legalized and authenticated or apostilled. For these purposes, the legality of his/her stay in that country must be additionally demonstrated by means of a certified copy of the migratory document obtained within the indicated period.

   Note: In the case of requests for legal permanence of nationals of:

   Mexico, Brazil, United States, Canada or other countries that have criminal systems comprised of a local and a federal jurisdiction.

   Certifications including criminal background checks should be required:

   By name, identification number and fingerprint (when issued by the country), to definitively ensure that the person does not have a criminal record throughout the territory of his or her country of origin or where he or she has resided legally for the past three years.

   In the event that the federal criminal record certification indicates arrests or pending proceedings, the user must also provide a criminal record certification from the locality where the court case is being processed, indicating the outcome of the proceedings.

   6. Photocopy of the pages of his/her passport where the foreigner's qualifications, the entry stamp to Costa Rica and the entry visa are found, in case that due to his/her nationality he/she requires it, which must certify the following

 (The previous section was thus amended by article 2 of executive decree No. 42389 of January 17, 2022).

7. In the case of the categories in which financial solvency must be demonstrated, any of the following documents may be considered valid:

Current employer order or letters from employers on company letterhead and seal indicating gross and net salary, years of service and position.

Retired persons, receipts, or certification issued by a competent authority indicating the amount and time of retirement.

Students:

1. Certification issued by an authorized public accountant, indicating the origin of the financial solvency. If you are a scholarship student, you must provide certification from the institution that offers the scholarship indicating the amount, term and expenses included.

2. Certification of an Authorized Public Accountant detailing the income and expenses of an individual or financial statements through duly audited balance sheets of legal entities, both from the last fiscal year. If necessary, the Immigration Management may request the complete file of the information with which the public accountant generated the certification.

3. Photocopy of the volunteer program detailing the financing.

** In the event that the financing of the studies or volunteering is by means other than those mentioned, you must provide the corresponding documents. **

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Important note:

If it is impossible to present any of these documents, an affidavit will be accepted, in which you must indicate the reasons why you cannot provide any of the above documents, that you have the necessary resources for this and detail the origin of the documents. income. However, this General Directorate reserves the right to verify the data contained in the declaration. In the cases of minors and economically dependent adults, the sworn declaration must be made by the person who will be responsible for assuming the expenses of the foreign person.

8. Proof of consular registration

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Important notes:

Proof of fingerprinting must be presented at the time of documentation. Temporary workers and indigenous people are exempt from this requirement. The above in accordance with article 61 bis of the Immigration Regulations.

Any request for legal permanence that implies a change of non-resident category to any of the categories established by the Law, must be accompanied by proof of payment for the sum of two hundred dollars (US$200.00) or its equivalent in colones at the rate BCCR reference exchange rate, which must be deposited in account #242480-0 of the Bank of Costa Rica. This deposit must be made in the name of the foreign applicant. The foregoing in accordance with article 89 of the General Law on Migration and Immigration and 40 of the Immigration Regulation.

Any document that has not been issued in the Spanish language must provide the corresponding literal translation into this language, which must be prepared by an official translator or translation by a notary knowledgeable in the language.

Any public document that comes from abroad must be presented duly apostilled or legalized by the Consul of Costa Rica in your country and authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship of Costa Rica, this last option in case the document comes from a State that is not a contracting party to the Convention for the Elimination of the Legalization Requirement for Foreign Public Documents.

In the case of countries that issue a birth certificate for the foreign person concerned, without indicating the name of the parents, they must provide, together with this certification, a notarized sworn statement on this point.

Every photocopy of an original document presented to an official must be accompanied by a tax stamp of ₡20 colones and a file stamp of ₡5 colones.

More details here.

 

 IMPORTANT

• Those foreigners whose country of origin does not have diplomatic representation in Costa Rica, will not have to present the consular registration.

• In the case of foreigners who cannot present the requirements due to the disappearance of the country of which they will be a citizen, they must present the passport that identified them as a national of that country, and submit a sworn statement, as well as a certification from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifying the political problem that occurred.

• Those persons in whose country of origin there is no diplomatic representation of Costa Rica and by reciprocity there is no representation of their country in Costa Rica, must present a birth certificate, criminal record or marriage certificate, as the case may be, issued in their country of origin, as well as a sworn statement duly notarised on the information contained in those documents.

Remember that the General Directorate of Migration and Aliens does NOT notify by phone call, ONLY by email.

To apply for the Temporary Special Category, the person from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela must present the following requirements click here.

More information here.