By Laura Gutierrez of Immigration Help Costa Rica

With the impending March 2 visa expiry looming, people are understandably getting very stressed out.

Due to fear of COVID, many do not wish to move about unnecessarily, let alone leave Costa Rica to get a renewed visa stamp. Understandably, the idea seems preposterous and counter to so-called COVID safety initiatives. Foreigners also wish to avoid the inconvenience and expense of travel for a new visa stamp as a means to remain in Costa Rica legally and, equally important, to maintain the validity of their foreign drivers’ license.

Petitions for visa and foreign drivers’ license extensions have been delivered to the powers that be. No cogent response thus far.

Throughout 2020, the Costa Rica government automatically extended visa durations, and the final extension was up to March 2, 2021. They have announced that there will be no further extensions because the DGME (Immigration) is now open again and accepting applications for legal residency, albeit at a diminished capacity (20%).

Many thought that the way around this was to do the good old land border runs after the announcement that those would be open effective February 1, 2021. That was delayed out to March 1, 2021.

As I cautioned in my previous article, that has changed yet again.

Costa Rica land borders will remain closed to anyone without legal residency in Costa Rica until April 1 – and likely longer.

That means the only way to obtain a fresh visa stamp to remain in Costa Rica legally for another 90 days and to drive legally for another 90 days is to FLY out and back in again. Panama and Mexico seem to be the most popular options. There is no 72-hour minimum stay rule. It can be a same-day U-turn. But please be aware of the stringent Costa Rica re-entry requirements as outlined here https://www.visitcostarica.com/en/costa-rica/planning-your-trip/entry-requirements – or here – https://cr.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/
Note that the visa durations will not automatically be for 90 days. It will be for the number of days for which you purchased COVID insurance. (If you think Costa Rica is bad, you might wish to check out the insanity of entry into Canada.)

Legal Residency (Best Option)
The only other option is to pursue legal residency. In doing so, it would have to include a formal appointment with the DGME for submission of an application for legal residency. Proof of that appointment will override visa expiries, so long as the visa expiry does not occur before booking of the appointment. Think fast. March 2 is next Tuesday.

This visa override benefit does not extend to the validity of any foreign drivers’ license. For those, you will still have to fly out of Costa Rica and back again. The howls of protest over this infuriating rule have become deafening, and there are initiatives underway to get this changed. But as of now, the law remains in place.

The message from the Costa Rica government (of many) is clear. They do not want you here as a perpetual tourist. Get your legal residency. You are ill-advised to pursue the residency process on your own despite a lot of online how-to blogs. Five minutes as a fly on the wall in the DGME would serve well to set off alarm bells against such an idea. The process was complicated enough before COVID. Currently, it is even more onerous. With the diminished workflows and accessibility to the DGME, you can reasonably expect 24 to 30 months to pass from the start of the process to the day you have the DIMEX (residency card) in hand.

So if you are serious about a quality and convenience of life in Costa Rica, at the very least, begin to inquire now about what is involved for you to pursue residency. You might be pleasantly surprised by what you learn.

If you are in need of immigration assistance Laura can be reached by clicking here, Toll free at 1-833-733-6337, Locally at or by sending an email to [email protected].