Costa Rica Immigration Services

Permanent Residency: Direct Family Relationship with a Costa Rican Citizen

This type of residency in Costa Rica was created to achieve family reunification among foreigners and Costa Ricans and those foreigners who live in Costa Rica.
People that can apply for this kind of Residency in Costa Rica:

• Relatives of Costa Rican Citizens. For effects of this immigration application it should be understood by relatives the spouse, children, parents and unmarried brothers and sisters. Co-habiting couples may apply as long as they are judicially recognized.
• The relatives of foreign residents residing legally in the country. It should be understood by relatives the spouse, children, and parents. Co-habiting couples may apply as long as they are judicially recognized.

To apply for this residency it is important that applicants have a valid tourist visa. It will be inadmissible petitions made with an expired visa.
It is not included into this category people living in union.
To apply for this type of category it is necessary to submit the following documentation:

• Application: This application is made by our staff and contains the requirements of law. It must be signed by the applicant and certified by a Costa Rican lawyer. Besides, in this application it is issued a special Power of Attorney (POA) to one of our attorneys, so that s/he can handle the whole process without the direct presence of the applicant. Finally, in this initial written application for residency it must be stated a Fax number in order to receive notifications, service which is provided by our office.
• Affiliation Form.
• Certification that proves the Family Relationship: Birth certificate or marital status, issued by the Civil Registry of Costa Rica. If the document comes from abroad it must be registered in Costa Rica as a requirement of validity. In case of residency because of marriage with a Costa Rican citizen or a Legal Resident, coexistence must be proved by any necessary evidence. Furthermore, both spouses are to be called to an interview in the Immigration Department where they must sign an affidavit.
• Birth certificate of the foreign person: This certificate must be issued by the country of origin stating the names of parents, place and date of birth. This document should be duly Apostilled or legalized by corresponding country authorities or the nearest Costa Rican consulate in that country. In the case of notary legalization, this document must be legalized by the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Apostilles do not require Foreign Affairs Ministry's Legalizatoin.

This requirement may be waived if there is sufficient reason of impossibility of presentation. This impossibility must be proved.  COST OF THE LEGALIZATION IN THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY USD $42 in stamps.

• Certification of criminal records: in which no conviction is recorded in issued by the country of origin or the country in which the applicant has resided for the past three years, duly Apostilled or legalized by corresponding country authorities or the nearest Costa Rican consulate in that country. In the case of notary legalization, this document must be legalized by the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Apostilles do not require Foreign Affairs Ministry's Legalization. COST OF THE LEGALIZATION IN THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY USD $42 in stamps.
• Fingerprinting:  personally processed in Costa Rica before the Costa Rican police record.
• 4 passport-sized photographs.
• A certified copy of all pages of the passport, the page containing the last entry must be photocopied in full color to demonstrate it is up-to-date. This certification is done by our lawyers.
• Consular Registration Receipt: which should be conducted before the consular representation of the country of origin in Costa Rica, this document has a different cost in each consulate, consult our professional the schedules, requirements and cost of each of them.
• Proof of banking payment to the Immigration Department for US$50, this deposit can be made by the client to the bank account 242480-0 of the Banco de Costa Rica; our staff can make the deposit in the name of the client. It is very important that the receipt issued by the Bank clearly states the name of the applicant.
• If the residence is processed in Costa Rica it must be paid in the same bank account the sum of USD$200 by concept of change of the immigration status.
• Translation of all documents that come in a language other than Spanish, if the foreign language is English our staff makes the translation without charge. Documents in other languages must pay an additional fee for the translator.

Do you qualify?