Costa Rica Confirms New Immigration Procedures

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, New York

25 September 2002

As expected, Costa Rica has tightened up on its procedures for would-be permanent residents, and is applying the letter of the law - in this case Article 41 of Immigration Law of 1986, which says that applicants for residency must be outside the country when their application is filed.

Immigration Director Marco Badilla confirmed that as of August 28, no foreign residency applications can be filed in Costa Rica - they have to be filed through a Costa Rican consulate in the applicant's native country. A lawyer or legal representative may file applications with consulates on behalf of their client.

Applicants can, however, return to Costa Rica on 90-day tourist visas while their residency paperwork is being processed, said the Director.

The Department of Immigration announced this week however that it is currently working on a decree that would allow foreigners to travel to neighboring Nicaragua or Panama and apply for residency in Costa Rican consulates there.

Mr Badilla reminded tourists that if they are caught in the country after their 90-day visas expire, they can be deported - and won't be allowed back for 10 years, although their property interests in the country won't be affected. In the past it has been quite normal for a visitor to buy land or a home, and then to apply for residency.

The Association of Residents of Costa Rica says it has appealed the decision to the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV), and hope that Immigration's decision will be overturned.

Marco Badilla says that the appeals will not be granted, but confirmed that the 7,000 applications already in the pipeline will be processed, and that residencies granted 'illegally' over the last 16 years will be honoured.

The immigration department says that applicants must present Costa Rican consulates with the following documentation:

• clean police record;
• birth certificate with the names of the applicant's parents;
• notarized written request for residency (in Spanish);
• contact information for a Costa Rican sponsor;
• certificate of marriage (if applicable);
• income and investment information (in the case of pensionados and rentistas);
• and four recent passport photos.

If all documentation is in order, the Immigration office in Costa Rica then has just 45 days from the date on which the application to process the paperwork.

The Tico Times says it tried to contact several of the 10 Costa Rican consulates in the US this week, and only the staff at the Denver, Colorado office answered phone calls. They said they are completely prepared to handle residency applications.

Apart from standard applications for residency, there are two special methods of obtaining residency:

• Under Law No 6982 of 1984 (known as "the Retirement Law") a foreigner may acquire residence in Costa Rica if he can show a sufficient income whether from investments or from a pension and irrespective of whether the income is sourced locally or abroad. Residence obtained under this law allows an individual to work in Costa Rica but does not allow him to work in areas which would have the effect of displacing indigenous workers. A resident under this law is expected to reside in Costa Rica for at least 4 months in each calendar year.
• Residence permits obtained under Law 1155 of 1950 (known as "the Residence Law 1950") carry no restrictions on the sorts of economic activity that a resident permit holder can engage in. However permits under this law are granted on a very selective basis and only to businessmen and professionals.

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