Costa Rica Immigration Services

COMPANY RECOGNITION in costa rica:

Companies wishing the registration in the immigration department in order to receive the benefit of the company’s recognition shall meet the following requirements:

    1) That required a flow volume of immigration in its plan of operation of active employees or executive level.
    2) that come under one of the following circumstances:
    a) are operating or will start operations under special schemes for export promotion, administered by the Ministry of Foreign Trade (hereinafter COMEX) and Promotora del Comercio Exterior de Costa Rica (hereinafter PROCOMER).
    b) To have the support of COMEX, by virtue of explicit references to organizations with proven track record, nationally or internationally.
    c) To have the tourist recognition issued by the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (hereafter ICT).
    d) that are registered in one of the following institutions: Superintendent of Financial Institutions (hereinafter SUGEF), Superintendencia de Pensiones (hereinafter SUPEN), Superintendency of Securities (hereinafter SUGEVAL), Superintendency of Telecommunications (hereinafter SUTEL ) Superintendent of Insurance (hereinafter SUGESE) or Airline Association (hereinafter ALA).

PROFILE OF WORKERS: Applications to be made by Companies are bounded to the following profiles of workers:

    1) Managers, Executives, Specific or Specialized Technical Professionals who have a high national and international business knowledge with specialized technical knowledge of equipment and / or markets, with university and / or working and executive history (expertise) within the company to justify the confidence levels awarded.
    2) Qualified professionals with proven business criteria are subject to a policy of international job rotation within the companies that are part of the corporation and who execute qualified tasks that are essential to its operation, such as logistics, project management, production, and business. Also, to perform a labor of human resource training.
    3) Scientists, professionals, and skilled technical personnel with proven experience by evidence or labor certifications. Workers in this group must have the experience to perform the job or position, have knowledge of related methodologies, procedures, and processes required, which allow the practical implementation of the techniques, equipment, instruments, tools and machinery specialist, among others. Work experience is qualified according to the years of service in the occupational activity required.
    4) Managers, executives, and specific professionals who are in charge of planning, directing, controlling, and coordinating the operations of the company, which will allow consolidation in the domestic and international markets.

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPANIES:
The companies subject to recognition by the immigration authorities in Costa Rica for processing requests of foreign employees should be part of any of the following categories:

    a) CLASSIFICATION A. Companies under the category A are those that are operating or will start operations under special schemes for export promotion. These corporations are registered at  COMEX and PROCOMER.
    b) CLASSIFICATION B. Companies under the category B are those that are exporting goods or services not included in special schemes for export promotion or carrying out research and development.
    c) CLASSIFICATION C. Companies under the category C are those that are operating in the tourism sector in Costa Rica, specifically in the areas of tourist accommodation, must have the Tourism Declaration and a four star declaration at least, in accordance with Executive Order No. 25226-MEIC-TUR of March 15th, 1996. It also authorized the inscription of airlines registered in the Association of Airlines, both passenger and freight, but the latter is allowed only for those who have the status of operators.
    d) CLASSIFICATION D. Companies under the category D are those that are operating in the financial area in Costa Rica, and are supervised or registered in the SUGEF as banking institution or financial institutions, registered in the SUPEN or SUGEVAL and those that are being installed or are operating in the area of ​​insurance in Costa Rica, and are supervised or registered in the SUGESE.
    e) CLASSIFICATION E. Companies under the category E are those that are being installed or are operating in the telecommunications sector in Costa Rica, and are supervised or registered in the SUTEL.
    f) CLASSIFICATION F. Companies under the classification F, are those that are not located in any of the classifications described above, characterized for being multinational whose holding company has decided to install a subsidiary in Costa Rica, in the of areas of goods and services. It is understood by a multinational company those ones that have operations in at least 3 countries, not including Costa Rica.
    g) CLASSIFICATION G. Companies under the classification G are those domestic or foreign corporations that are operating or will start operations in Costa Rica and are awarded a contract (grant) with an institution of the public administration for at least one calendar year. Also companies that are contractually linked to public institutions.

Updated 06/10/2017

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