To live in Costa Rica you need an immigration category granted by the Directorate General of Migration and Foreign Nationals (DGME) for the reason you are staying: family, a pension, income, investment, work, study or remote work. On a Cuban passport the process has two hurdles most nationalities do not face. You first have to be able to enter, and Cuba is in the restricted-visa group. Then you have to gather legalised Cuban documents, and Costa Rica no longer has an embassy in Havana.
First: the visa to get in
Cubans need a restricted visa for Costa Rica, authorised by the Restricted Visa Commission. It is valid for one entry and allows a stay of up to 30 days, extendable to 90. You do not need it if you hold a US or Canadian visa or residence permit allowing multiple entries and valid on the day you arrive (US transit visas C1, C2 and C3 do not count), or a multiple-entry Schengen C or D visa. The details and passport conditions are on the Cuba to Costa Rica page.
The visa matters later too. For the digital nomad category the DGME explicitly asks for a valid consular or restricted visa according to your nationality’s group, unless one of those exemptions covers you.
The embassy in Havana has closed
On 18 March 2026 Costa Rica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the closure of its embassy in Cuba. According to the statement, Costa Rica will serve its own citizens living in Cuba from its Consulate in Panama City, and Cuban consular staff may stay in San José to serve Cubans living in Costa Rica.
The closure complicates the paperwork. Cuba is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so its documents cannot be apostilled. For documents from countries outside the convention, the DGME requires legalisation by the Costa Rican consul in that country, followed by authentication at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in San José. With no Costa Rican consulate in Cuba, we have not been able to confirm from an official source where Cuban documents are legalised now. Ask the DGME (phone 1311) or the Ministry before requesting anything in Cuba.
Documents almost every route asks for
The DGME has a list of general requirements that repeats across nearly all categories:
- The application, signed before a Migration officer or authenticated by a lawyer, with a way to receive notifications.
- Two passport-size photographs.
- Your birth certificate, legalised.
- A criminal record certificate from your country of origin or from the country where you lived legally for the last three years, legalised. If it is from a third country, also a certified copy of the document proving you lived there legally.
- A certified copy of your passport showing the data page, the Costa Rican entry stamp and the visa.
- Proof of fingerprinting and of consular registration.
Any document not in Spanish needs an official translation. If you are already in Costa Rica as a tourist and apply for residence, you also pay 200 dollars for the change of category. The application for temporary or permanent residence costs 50 dollars. Payments go to account 242480-0 at Banco de Costa Rica, in dollars or in colones at the Central Bank’s exchange rate.
Residence routes
Costa Rican family
If your father, mother, a child under 18 or a sibling under 18 is Costa Rican, you can apply straight for permanent residence. Adult children and siblings only count if they have a declared disability. You need a certificate from Costa Rica’s Civil Registry proving the relationship, issued within the previous two months.
If you are married to a Costa Rican, the route is temporary residence through marriage. A marriage celebrated abroad must first be registered with the Civil Registry, and a de facto union needs the court ruling that recognises it. Both spouses attend an interview with Migration’s social work team and must show proof that they knew each other. After three years of renewals, proving cohabitation every year, you can move to permanent residence.
Pensioner, rentier or investor
These are the three temporary residences based on money:
| Category | What you must show |
|---|---|
| Pensioner | A lifetime pension of at least 1,000 dollars a month |
| Rentier | Stable income of at least 2,500 dollars a month for at least two years |
| Investor | An investment in Costa Rica of at least 150,000 dollars (property, shares, productive projects or projects of national interest, among others) |
All three let you include your spouse and minor children as dependants. If the document proving the income is issued outside Costa Rica, it must also be legalised.
Work
Costa Rica has no residence for job seekers. The work routes are special categories granted for a specific job and almost always with an employer behind them: specific-occupation worker for a company or an individual, temporary worker, self-employed worker with an established business, and staff of companies registered under the COMEX regime. They are granted for one renewable year and require, among other things, a sworn statement from the employer on the worker’s experience and legalised qualifications.
Student
Anyone enrolled at a Costa Rican educational institution can apply for the special student category with a certificate from the institution and proof of means: a certificate from an authorised public accountant or, for scholarship holders, from the body that pays the scholarship.
Digital nomad
The stay for remote workers and service providers (Law 10008) is for people who work remotely for a foreign company or client and are paid from abroad. You must show income of at least 3,000 dollars a month over the last year, or 4,000 if family members come too, with bank statements or a certificate from an accountant or notary.
The application costs 100 dollars per person and is filed online through Trámite Ya or in person by appointment. Migration has 15 calendar days to decide. Then the identity document (DIMEX) costs 90 dollars plus the guarantee deposit, and each person needs medical insurance of at least 50,000 dollars covering the whole stay. To renew you must have spent at least 180 days in the country.
Asylum
The DGME states that refugee status is international protection and not a way to regularise your stay: it is for people with a well-founded fear of persecution in their country on grounds such as their political opinions. You apply at the border post when entering or, once inside the country, by appointment at the Refugee Unit in La Uruca. While the claim is pending, Migration issues a provisional document valid for up to two years that allows you to work. Recognised refugees can apply for permanent residence after three years.
From temporary to permanent
After three consecutive years of renewed temporary residence you can apply for permanent residence, which lets you work in any activity. The change of category costs 200 dollars. A rentier moving to permanent residence must also ask for the income deposit to be released, if it was made at a state bank.
Frequently asked questions
Can I enter as a tourist and apply for residence from inside Costa Rica? The DGME accepts a change from non-resident status, with a 200-dollar change-of-category fee. To enter as a tourist, Cubans first need the restricted visa, apart from the US, Canadian and Schengen exemptions.
Can I use a criminal record from the United States or another country instead of the Cuban one? Yes, if you have lived legally in that country for the last three years and prove it with a certified copy of your immigration document there.
Do I have to apostille my Cuban documents? You cannot, because Cuba is not in the Apostille Convention. They are legalised through consular channels and authenticated by the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Where they are legalised since the embassy closed is something we have not been able to confirm from an official source.
How much does it cost in total? It depends on the route. As a reference, a temporary residence applied for from inside the country adds up to 50 dollars for the application and 200 for the change of category, not counting the DIMEX, translations, legalisations or the guarantee deposit.
Guide checked on 29 October 2026. Sources: Costa Rica’s Directorate General of Migration and Foreign Nationals (migracion.go.cr): “Regularización” (general requirements, permanent residence, temporary residences, special categories and change of category), “Nómadas Digitales” (Law 10008), “Refugio” and “Directrices Generales de Visas de Ingreso y Permanencia para No Residentes” (La Gaceta, Supplement 148, 17 November 2025); Costa Rica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, statement 076-2026 “Cierre de la Embajada de Costa Rica en Cuba y retiro de personal diplomático de Cuba en Costa Rica” (18 March 2026); Hague Conference on Private International Law, status table of the Apostille Convention. Fees and requirements are set by the DGME and may change: check the list for your category on migracion.go.cr before paying.