The Estoy de Paso visa is the route built for you
Costa Rica created a single product aimed squarely at remote workers, and for most nomads it is the obvious starting point. The Estoy de Paso digital nomad visa came in under Law 10,008, the Law to Attract Workers and Remote Providers of International Services, and it is designed for people who earn abroad and want to live in Costa Rica without entering the local labor market or the local tax base. It asks for a moderate income, grants a year that renews to a second, and bundles in the practical benefits a settler needs: the right to open a local bank account, recognition of your home-country driver's license, and a tax exemption on the work equipment you bring with you. Most importantly, it makes explicit that your foreign income is not taxed in Costa Rica, removing the one ambiguity that catches nomads elsewhere.
What it is not is a path to staying forever. The Estoy de Paso visa does not count toward permanent residency or citizenship, so it is best understood as a clean, low-friction base for up to two years rather than the first rung of a settlement ladder. Anyone who wants roots should read the residency routes below and the residency page carefully, because the route you start on determines whether your years here count.
Who qualifies, and the income bar
The core requirement is straightforward: you must earn a stable remote income from work performed for an employer or clients based outside Costa Rica. The income bar is USD 3,000 a month for an individual applicant, rising to USD 4,000 a month if you are bringing family members on the same application, and you prove it with the last twelve months of bank statements. This is a higher absolute figure than some Latin American nomad visas, but it is consistent with Costa Rica positioning itself as a quality destination rather than a budget one.
Around the income test sit a few standard conditions. You need health insurance with at least USD 50,000 of coverage, which can be an international policy or one bought locally, and a clean criminal and police record, which the immigration authority, the DGME, checks against national and international databases. There is a USD 100 government fee. Gather a valid passport, the bank statements, the insurance proof, and the record check, and the file is not complex, though the apostilles and translations add time and cost.
How the application actually runs
The mechanics are more forgiving than the European systems but still demand patience. You lodge the application with the DGME, the initial review typically takes around fifteen working days, and once approved you have up to ninety days to enter Costa Rica and finalize your documentation. The visa is granted for one year. To renew it for a second year, you must show that you spent at least 180 days physically in Costa Rica during the first year, which is the one residency-style condition attached to an otherwise flexible permit.
Two practical notes. First, budget beyond the headline fee: document translation, apostilles, and a year of qualifying health insurance add up, and most applicants use a local immigration lawyer to assemble and submit the file, which is money well spent given how slowly anything official moves here. Second, because the visa explicitly exempts your foreign income from Costa Rican tax, it is worth getting the paperwork clean so that your tax position is unambiguous, a point the tax page covers in full.
The Rentista route, for income without a pension
If you want a path that actually leads to permanent residency, the Rentista is the workhorse, and it suits self-employed people, business owners, and anyone with reliable income who is not yet a pensioner. It requires either a guaranteed income of USD 2,500 a month for two years, evidenced by a letter from a bank confirming the arrangement, or a deposit of USD 60,000 into an approved Costa Rican bank, which the bank then disburses to you at USD 2,500 a month over the two years. It covers your dependent family, it is renewable, and importantly it counts toward permanent residency after three years.
The Rentista carries an obligation the nomad visa does not: holders must enroll in and pay into the CCSS, the national social-security and healthcare system, with the monthly contribution scaled to income. That is a real cost but it also buys access to the public healthcare system. For a nomad who has decided Costa Rica is home, the Rentista is usually the right move once the two-year nomad-visa window is up, because the years finally start to count.
The Pensionado route, for those with a pension
The Pensionado is the classic Costa Rican residency route and the reason the country has long been a retirement destination, though there is no minimum age to use it. It requires proof of a lifetime pension of at least USD 1,000 a month from a government scheme or a qualifying private fund, and it can include a spouse and dependent children. Like the Rentista it is renewable, counts toward permanent residency after three years, and requires CCSS enrollment.
The Pensionado has one extra residency condition: to renew, you must show the pension is being received in Costa Rica and that you spend at least four months a year in the country. For a pensioned remote worker, or anyone with a qualifying pension income, it is the cheapest income bar of the residency routes and the most direct path to settling.
The tourist-entry reality
For years, some foreigners lived in Costa Rica on rolling tourist entries, leaving and re-entering every few months to reset the clock, the so-called border run. It is worth being clear that this is the wrong approach now. Visa-free nationals, including those of the US, Canada, the UK, and the EU, are commonly admitted for up to 180 days, but the length is at the immigration officer's discretion rather than a guarantee, and immigration has grown less tolerant of perpetual tourists. A tourist has no legal right to work and none of the benefits the Estoy de Paso visa provides, from the local bank account to the driver's-license recognition. Use a tourist entry to scope the country, then apply for the digital nomad visa if you are staying, which also puts your tax exemption beyond doubt.
How to approach it in practice
Decide first what you want from Costa Rica. If you want a clean, flexible base for a year or two with no tax friction, the Estoy de Paso visa is the right and easiest choice: gather twelve months of bank statements showing USD 3,000 a month, a health policy covering USD 50,000, a clean record check, and the USD 100 fee, and lodge the file with a local lawyer's help. If you already know you want to settle, consider going straight to the Rentista or Pensionado instead, since those count toward permanent residency from the start while the nomad visa does not. Whichever you choose, budget for apostilles, translations, and the slow pace of Costa Rican bureaucracy, and read the tax page to understand why your foreign income stays untaxed and the residency page for how the long game works.