Digital nomad visa and life in Costa Rica

The inbox full of “can I work remotely from Costa Rica?”

Since we started publishing this site, no question arrives more reliably than variations on this one: “I work remotely — can I just move to Costa Rica?” The short answer is yes, and it became easier after 2021 when Costa Rica formally launched its digital nomad visa program. The longer answer involves income requirements, bureaucratic patience, and a realistic look at what the remote work life in Costa Rica actually costs in 2022 and beyond.

This post is our attempt at that longer answer, based on conversations with people who have done it, a close read of the immigration law, and the kind of honest accounting that “paradise lifestyle” blog posts tend to omit.

The legal framework: three relevant visas

Before 2021, remote workers who wanted to stay in Costa Rica for more than 90 days had essentially two legal paths: the rentista visa (for passive income) or the pensionado visa (for retirees with pension income). Both existed but required income thresholds that priced out many remote workers.

In 2021, Costa Rica passed Law 9996 — the Law to Attract Remote Workers and International Service Providers — creating a dedicated digital nomad visa. It is technically called the “Rentista Digital Nomad” visa, and it occupies a separate category from the traditional rentista.

The key requirements as of 2022:

• Proof of monthly income of at least $3,000 per month from a foreign employer or foreign clients (or $4,000 if bringing a spouse or dependents)
• Valid health insurance with Costa Rica coverage
• Clean criminal record from your home country (apostilled)
• Valid passport (minimum 12 months remaining validity)
• Completed DGME (immigration authority) application

The visa is granted for one year, renewable for a second year. After two years, you can apply for temporary residence under different categories if you want to stay longer. Critically, the digital nomad visa does not allow you to work for Costa Rican companies or collect local wages — it is specifically for income sourced outside Costa Rica.

The traditional rentista: still relevant

The traditional rentista visa — which predates the digital nomad law — remains available and is, in some ways, simpler to process for people with documented passive income (investments, rental income, dividends). The income requirement is $2,500 per month in certified passive income, demonstrable through bank statements or certified letters from financial institutions.

Several people in our extended network have used the rentista rather than the digital nomad visa because their income sources — investment returns, real estate rental income from properties back home — fit the traditional category more cleanly.

The practical difference: the rentista application tends to be processed through notarized and apostilled documents, while the digital nomad visa can be initiated through the DGME portal online. Both are processed at immigration offices in San José and both require in-person appointments that can take several weeks to schedule.

We would strongly recommend using a Costa Rican immigration lawyer for either application. The documentation requirements are specific and the cost of a rejected application — due to a missing apostille or an incorrectly certified bank letter — in wasted time and professional fees makes the $500-800 legal fee look like a bargain.

What life actually costs for a remote worker

This is where many “digital nomad Costa Rica” posts go soft. Here is our honest accounting based on conversations with people living this life in 2022.

Housing: A one-bedroom furnished apartment in Escazú or Santa Ana — the San José suburbs preferred by most English-speaking expats for their proximity to services and English-speaking infrastructure — runs $800-1,400 per month. In Tamarindo or Santa Teresa, similar quality runs $900-1,600, with a strong seasonal premium in high season (December through April). San José’s Barrio Escalante or Rohrmoser runs $700-1,100 for a good one-bedroom.

If you are comfortable with Spanish and less concerned with proximity to expat services, central valley towns like Alajuela, Heredia, or Cartago offer good apartments for $500-800 per month. The tradeoff is a less walkable environment for non-Spanish speakers and a longer commute to San José.

Food: Cooking at home from local markets is genuinely affordable — your weekly groceries from a mercado (traditional market) for two people run $40-60. Restaurant eating splits sharply: a casado lunch at a soda (local diner) costs $4-6 and is often excellent. A meal at a mid-range restaurant in Escazú or San José costs $15-25 per person. The expat restaurant scene runs $25-40 per person at the upper end.

Transport: If you do not have a car, you depend on Uber (functioning in San José and the central valley, though legally contested), the TUASA bus network (effective but slow), or taxis. Monthly transport costs for a carless person in San José run $60-120. A rental car adds $600-900 per month if you want consistent access. Buying a used car is possible — a reliable 2015-era SUV runs $12,000-18,000 — but requires navigating the costa rican vehicle registration system, which is another layer of bureaucratic patience.

Health insurance: The digital nomad visa requires private health insurance with Costa Rica coverage. A plan through a provider like CAJA-approved private insurers or international policies covering Costa Rica costs $80-200 per month depending on age, coverage level, and whether the policy includes dental and vision. This is not optional.

Total realistic monthly cost: A single remote worker living comfortably but not extravagantly in San José or the central valley typically spends $2,000-2,800 per month including housing, food, transport, health insurance, and incidentals. In beach towns during high season, budget $2,500-3,500.

San José: guided city tour with National Theater visit

The quality of life realities

Costa Rica offers things that are genuinely hard to put a dollar value on: proximity to extraordinary nature, a stable democracy, relatively low violent crime compared to Central American neighbors, and a political culture that takes environmental commitments seriously.

Internet connectivity has improved dramatically since 2018. Fiber is available in San José and the major beach towns through providers like Tigo and COOPELESCA. Speeds of 100-200 Mbps are achievable in Escazú, Heredia, and Santa Ana. In more remote areas — Uvita, Drake Bay, Montezuma — satellite or mobile data is the reality, and speeds are less reliable.

Co-working spaces have proliferated since 2021. WeWork opened in San José. Local options like Selina (Tamarindo, Manuel Antonio, San José) offer hot desk and private office options at $15-30 per day or monthly memberships at $150-350. This is where the remote work community tends to form.

The social scene for English-speaking remote workers is more developed than you might expect, particularly in Escazú, Santa Teresa, and Tamarindo. Facebook groups, Meetup events, and the informal networks at co-working spaces provide the community that remote work otherwise removes.

What we’d say honestly

Costa Rica is an excellent place for remote work for specific people: those with stable income above the visa threshold, who value outdoor access and environmental quality, who have the patience for bureaucratic processes, and who are comfortable navigating a bilingual daily life.

It is not an obvious choice for those prioritizing cost minimization above all else. Southeast Asia and parts of Latin America — Colombia, Mexico — offer lower costs. It is not ideal for those who want to stay beyond two years without engaging the more complex permanent residency process.

But for a one-to-two year experience that offers daily access to national parks, a stable and civilized country, and a functioning quality of life — Costa Rica is, in our view, among the top five remote work destinations in the world.

Shuttle services San José to La Fortuna

The practical first steps

If you are serious about this, the sequence is:

1. Get your income documentation in order — bank statements showing consistent income over 12 months are the core of any application.
2. Contact two or three Costa Rican immigration lawyers for quotes. The price difference between them is not large; the difference in their responsiveness and document-tracking ability matters more.
3. Get your criminal background check early — the US FBI check, for example, takes 12-16 weeks and must be apostilled.
4. Sort health insurance before you apply — the policy documentation is part of the visa packet.
5. Plan your housing search from within Costa Rica if at all possible — photos are often misleading and a personal visit before signing a lease is strongly advisable.

For more on the financial landscape — exchange rates, ATMs, and managing money as a longer-term resident — see our money and currency guide.

The dream of working remotely from a porch with an ocean view and howler monkeys in the distance is achievable in Costa Rica. It just requires more advance planning than the Instagram version suggests.