Costa Rica Citizenship: How Residency Leads to Naturalization

Is there Costa Rica citizenship by investment?

No. Article 14 of the Constitution (opens in a new tab) names the ways a foreigner becomes Costa Rican by naturalization: official residence for five or seven years, marriage to a Costa Rican, or honorary nationality granted by the Legislative Assembly. None of them is an investment.

The USD 150,000 in the video’s title is the investor route to residency, not to citizenship. Rafael Cintron, who founded Wealthy Expat, says as much in the video: after the residency you still have to live in Costa Rica for seven years or more, so “this is not really a citizenship play”.

That is why he pairs two steps: a citizenship from another country, for example through a citizenship by investment program such as Vanuatu’s or São Tomé and Príncipe’s, and Costa Rican residency as the place you live. One gives you a second nationality; the other, a home.

The residency that starts the clock

Costa Rica residency has three main routes, and each begins as temporary residency:

• Inversionista: an investment from USD 150,000 in shares of an active Costa Rican company or in real estate registered in your personal name.
• Rentista: at least USD 2,500 a month of permanent, stable income for at least two years.
• Pensionado: a lifetime pension of at least USD 1,000 a month.

Your spouse and children can be included in all three. Law 9996 set the USD 150,000 for the law’s own term and the regulation in force still states it, so Wealthy Expat asks the immigration authority (DGME) to confirm the amount in writing before any capital is committed. Wealthy Expat estimates about 12 months to approval for Inversionista and about 7 months for the other two; these are not official processing times.

After three years you can apply for permanent residency, with no minimum time in the country. Temporary residency is cancelled after more than two consecutive years abroad, and permanent residency after more than four, unless the absence is justified. Temporary residency under these routes does not include permission to work in Costa Rica.

How to get Costa Rica citizenship: the requirements

The Civil Registry of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), not the immigration authority, decides naturalization. Under articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution and the TSE’s requirements (opens in a new tab), you must:

• have resided officially in Costa Rica for seven years, or five if you are Central American, Spanish or Ibero-American by birth;
• show good conduct and a known trade or means of support, and provide a criminal record certificate from a national authority of your country of origin or last country of residence, issued within the last three months;
• pass the Ministry of Public Education’s Spanish and social studies examinations, from which applicants aged 65 and over are exempt;
• promise to keep residing in Costa Rica and swear to respect its constitutional order.

The years are counted closely. The TSE’s regulation (opens in a new tab) starts the count on the date your residency is granted, and as a rule an absence of more than three months interrupts it, so the count restarts on your next entry; each case is assessed on its facts. Residency can be kept while you live mostly elsewhere; citizenship cannot be earned that way. The TSE’s fact sheet sets 285 working days for a decision.

Birth, marriage and keeping your other citizenship

Under article 13 of the Constitution, a child born in Costa Rica to foreign parents is Costa Rican by birth once registered as such, by either parent while the child is a minor or by the child up to age 25. A child born abroad to a parent who is Costa Rican by birth can be registered too, by that parent while a minor or by the child up to 25. Marriage shortens the route: after two years married to a Costa Rican, with two years of residence in the country over the same period, you can apply (article 14).

Article 16 says Costa Rican nationality cannot be lost or renounced. For people who naturalize by residence, the TSE’s regulation asks the written application to include a statement renouncing the previous nationality, unless the applicant’s country has a dual nationality treaty. Whether that statement affects your current citizenship is a matter for your own country’s law, so check it before you apply.

How Costa Rica taxes your income

The video’s title speaks of 0% tax; the law is narrower. Article 1 of the Income Tax Law (opens in a new tab) taxes Costa Rican-source income: income generated exclusively in Costa Rica from services provided, property located, capital invested and rights used there, whatever the nationality or residence of the people involved. Since a 2023 amendment, certain foreign passive income is also taxed, but only when a non-qualifying entity of a multinational group earns it.

That may change. On 22 September 2026 the Executive filed bill 25.796, which would tax the foreign dividends, interest, royalties, rents and capital gains of Costa Rican residents in general, individuals included, at a general rate of 15%, after deducting similar tax paid abroad. Its explanatory statement says the general territorial rule of the tax on business profits stays unchanged. On 11 November 2026 the bill was still before the Legislative Assembly’s tax affairs committee and was not law.

Law 9996 (opens in a new tab) says investors, rentistas and pensionados are not automatically tax residents; the Income Tax Law’s own test decides. The law looks at where services are provided, not where the client is, so ask how it treats work you do from Costa Rica for clients abroad. If you are a US citizen, the IRS (opens in a new tab) taxes your worldwide income wherever you live. This article is not tax or legal advice: confirm your position with a licensed adviser in each country involved.

Where Costa Rica fits in your plan

Rafael’s advice in the video is to visit the countries you are considering before you choose. Costa Rica suits someone who wants a home built on capital, income or a pension, and accepts that citizenship comes later, if at all, through years of real residence. A second nationality needed sooner is a separate decision; our strategy assessment sets out the routes that fit your situation.