Costa Rica — services for living and doing business
An official digital nomad visa, tax breaks and Central America's most stable democracy
- Population:
- ≈5.2m people
- Capital:
- San José
- Currency:
- Costa Rican colón (CRC)
- Time zone:
- UTC-6 (no daylight saving since 1992)
- Languages:
- Spanish
- 1 service
- 0% markup on the expert's price
- licensed experts
Services in Costa Rica
1 service from vetted local experts. Pick a category — every option is inside.
Business in Costa Rica
Company and sole-trader registration, liquidation, accounting and tax.
Immigration in Costa Rica
Residence permit
Finance in Costa Rica
Crypto exchange
Legal services in Costa Rica
Lawyers, contracts, licences and deal support.
Life and travel in Costa Rica
Flights · Short-term stays · VPN abroad
Healthcare in Costa Rica
Health insurance
Property in Costa Rica
Buying · Selling · Long-term rental and 1 more
Education in Costa Rica
School and university admission, student visas and diploma recognition.
Prices are indicative — the expert quotes the final figure.
About the country
Costa Rica is Latin America's oldest continuous democracy: the army was abolished in 1948 (written into the 1949 Constitution) and the money went into the environment, tourism and healthcare instead of defence. Over 98% of electricity comes from renewables - hydro, wind and geothermal (98.6% in 2025). Roughly a quarter of the territory is national parks and reserves. Since 2021 remote workers and freelancers have had an immigration category of their own (Ley No. 10008).
Worth knowing
- !Living costs are higher than in neighbouring countries - expat favourites (Escazú, Santa Ana) run close to southern Europe on price
- !Bureaucracy and trámites take time: in the last published Ease of Doing Business ranking (World Bank, 2020 data) Costa Rica sat 74th of 190 - the ranking itself was discontinued in 2021 after a data scandal, and no direct replacement gives the country an exact position
- !Pockets of rising drug-related crime - in the Global Peace Index 2026 the country fell 8 places to 62nd of 163 (54th the year before), though it remains the safest in Central America and targeted violence against foreigners is rare
- !The digital nomad visa is a temporary stay (estancia) of 1+1 years, not a residence permit and not a route to residency
Costa Rica: scores by area
An expert estimate to get you oriented — we'll go through the details on the consultation.
Common questions
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