Costa Rica: New Immigration Law Takes Effect
Costa Rica: New Immigration Law Takes Effect
Costa Rica adopted a new immigration law that went into effect on March 1, 2010. In addition to significant changes to the business visitor and temporary residence categories (reported here), the new law introduces a new social security registration requirement for residence and work permit applicants, imposes heightened penalties on foreign nationals who remain in Costa Rica beyond their authorized period of stay and significantly increases filing fees for residence applications.
New Social Security Registration Requirement
Foreign applicants for residence and work authorization, including intracompany transferees and seconded employees who remain on their home country employer’s payroll, must now provide proof that they have registered with the Costa Rican Social Security Administration (CCSS) prior to submitting their applications, including change-of-status and renewal applications. Applications submitted by unregistered foreign nationals will be denied. Previously, while foreign nationals were subject to the social security registration requirement, they were not required to provide proof of their registration with the CCSS prior to applying for residence or work authorization.
New Penalties for Noncompliance
Foreign nationals who remain in Costa Rica beyond their authorized period of stay are now subject to fines of US$ 100 per month of overstay. Foreign nationals who do not pay their fines for overstaying are now barred from re-entering Costa Rica for a period equal to three times the period of their overstay. For example, if a foreign national remains in Costa Rica illegally for two months and fails to pay the corresponding fine, he or she will be barred from reentering Costa Rica for six months from the date of his or her last departure.
Heightened Filing Fees for Residence Applications
Under the new law, filing fees for initial and renewal residence applications increased to US$ 250 (up from US$ 30), and US$ 123 (up from US$ 58) respectively.
The Costa Rican authorities have not yet issued implementing regulations for the new law. Fragomen is monitoring the situation and will provide updates as they become available.
The content of this alert is provided for information purposes only.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen Global Immigration Services or send an email to lar@fragomen.com.
Source: Fragomen
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