Visiting
Canadian citizens need no visa as tourists. Costa Rica's visa guidelines put Canada in the first group: the immigration officer at entry decides how long you can stay, up to 180 days. Only a stay granted for under 90 days can be extended, by up to 90 days. We found no source saying a visitor may work remotely.
- At entry you can be asked for a return or onward ticket and proof of more than US$200 for each month of your stay.
- The Government of Canada says overstaying can lead to deportation and a re-entry ban of 5 to 10 years.
Sources: Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca). Checked 10 October 2026.
Staying a year or longer
The digital nomad stay is for people paid from abroad by a person or company outside Costa Rica. It lasts up to one year and can be renewed once if you spent at least 180 days in the country. The income test is more than US$3,100 a month, and it has to keep arriving while you are outside your home country. You cannot take paid work in Costa Rica beyond that remote work.
- With family members, plan for more than US$4,100 a month. The figure can combine your income with a spouse's or another family member's.
- Pensioner residence asks for a lifelong pension of more than US$1,100 a month. Rentista residence asks for stable income of more than US$2,600 a month for at least two years, certified by a bank.
- Both are written for pensions and passive income, so check whether salary or freelance fees would count.
More detail
The test is set in US dollars, so its Canadian dollar value moves with the exchange rate. Before the nomad stay ends you may apply to change category.
The investor category lists a minimum of more than US$160,000 under Law 9996. That law's benefits are limited to people who opted in within five years of it taking effect, a window that closed in July 2026. We found no text that ends the minimum with the window.
Confirm the current requirements, fees and filing method with the immigration authority (DGME) before you apply.
Sources: Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME), Procuraduría General de la República. Checked 15 October 2026.
Documents, fees and timing
You show your income with a year of bank statements and a sworn statement, or a certificate from a public accountant or notary. You also need health insurance for your whole stay with at least US$50,000 of medical cover. The law gives immigration 15 calendar days to decide, and the application fee is US$100.
- You also send a signed application form and informed-consent form, and a copy of your passport photo page. Documents not in Spanish need an official translation.
- Only the accountant's or notary's certificate needs an apostille. Immigration runs the criminal and police record checks itself.
- The pensioner and rentista routes ask for an apostilled birth certificate and criminal record certificate. In Canada, a certified criminal record check is fingerprint-based, through a local police service or an RCMP-accredited company.
More detail
Global Affairs Canada apostilles federal documents. Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan apostille documents issued in their province.
The 15 days pause if immigration asks you once for missing documents. You then have eight working days to send them.
The US$100 fee must arrive net of bank charges, and the receiving bank charges US$15. Once approved, you have three months to get your identity document (DIMEX), which costs US$90 plus a guarantee deposit. The deposit amount is set in a separate decree and we did not find it, so it is unknown.
Global Affairs Canada does not charge for authentication. On 10 October 2026 it was working on requests received 25 business days earlier, plus mailing time.
The latest immigration page we could read, from August 2025, said digital filing was disabled until further notice and applications were made in person by appointment. We could not confirm the current filing method, so check it with DGME. We found no processing times for residence in Costa Rica, so they are unknown.
Sources: Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME), Procuraduría General de la República, Global Affairs Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Checked 15 October 2026.
Tax
Costa Rica taxes income earned in Costa Rica, whatever your nationality or residence. Digital nomad beneficiaries are fully exempt: they are never treated as tax resident and their income from abroad is not Costa Rican-source. Outside that status, whether remote work done from Costa Rica for a foreign payer is taxable is an open question for a Costa Rican adviser. A year away does not by itself end Canadian tax residence.
- In Costa Rica you are tax resident if you spend more than 183 days there in the tax year, counting arrival and departure days.
- The CRA looks at residential ties. A home, a spouse or partner, or dependants in Canada are significant ties. If you keep them, you are usually still a factual resident.
- If you emigrate, you are treated as having sold most property at fair market value on the day you leave. Canadian real estate, RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs and pensions are among the exceptions.
More detail
Secondary ties can include a car, bank accounts, a driver's licence and provincial health insurance. You usually become a non-resident on the latest of your leaving, your spouse or dependants leaving, or your becoming resident in your new country. Form NR73 asks the CRA for its opinion.
Form T1161 applies if your property is worth more than $25,000. Form T1244 lets you defer the tax until you sell, with security needed if the federal tax owing is more than $16,500.
Costa Rica is not on Finance Canada's list of tax treaties in force. A separate agreement, in force since 14 August 2012, lets the two tax authorities exchange information. Costa Rica is not on Canada's list of social security agreements.
A Canadian employer must deduct CPP for an employee abroad who usually reports to its Canadian workplace, or who is a Canadian resident paid from it. Otherwise forms CPT8 or CPT20 may apply. CPP is payable abroad, and OAS abroad needs 20 years in Canada after age 18.
We found no confirmation of how CPP applies to freelancers abroad, so that is unknown. We found no official source for Costa Rica's current personal income tax rates, so they are not covered here.
Sources: Procuraduría General de la República, Canada Revenue Agency, Department of Finance Canada, Government of Canada. Checked 15 October 2026.
Setting up
As a digital nomad you need private health insurance for your whole stay with at least US$50,000 of medical cover. Residents must enrol with the CCSS, the public health and pension fund, once residence is approved. After approval you have three months to get your DIMEX, the identity document for foreigners, by appointment through the immigration call centre (1311) or the Banco de Costa Rica.
- Ontario can keep OHIP for up to two years away if Ontario stays your primary home, with emergency payments abroad capped at up to $400 a day for intensive care. British Columbia ends MSP at the end of the month you leave permanently.
- The Government of Canada says private clinics are mainly in San José and usually want payment upfront.
- Digital nomads can open savings accounts at Costa Rican banks, subject to anti-money-laundering checks, so expect to explain the source of your income.
- A valid home-country licence can be used while you hold the status. Otherwise a Canadian licence works for up to 180 days or the length of your entry stamp.
More detail
Renewing your DIMEX for a second year needs fresh bank statements, proof of 180 days in the country, the fees and insurance covering the new period. Residents renewing must show continuous CCSS enrolment.
If you emigrate, tell the CRA your departure date and tell Canadian banks and payers that you are no longer resident.
The Government of Canada reports that burglars sometimes target rental accommodation, so check how a building is secured.
Sources: Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME), Procuraduría General de la República, Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca), Government of Ontario, Government of British Columbia (Health Insurance BC), Canada Revenue Agency. Checked 15 October 2026.
Living in Heredia
Heredia is in the Central Valley, where the national weather service describes a temperate climate. The dry season runs from December to March and the rainy season from May to October. The Government of Canada advises a high degree of caution across Costa Rica and does not name Heredia among the provinces most affected by violent crime. We found no official source for rents or other living costs there, so they are unknown here.
- The provinces most affected by violent crime are San José, Alajuela, Limón and Puntarenas, mostly linked to gangs and drugs. Pickpocketing is frequent and car break-ins are very common throughout the country.
- Costa Rica is in an active seismic zone, and Poás is among several active or potentially active volcanoes.
- Driving can be hazardous, especially in the rainy season, and public buses are unreliable.
More detail
The weather service's 1961 to 1990 normals give the western valley average highs of 26.7°C and around 148 rain days a year, against 163 in the eastern valley.
Sources: Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca). Checked 10 October 2026.
Other places we looked at
The research also looked at Escazú and Tamarindo, for contrast. The Escazú hills mark the southern edge of the Central Valley, and Escazú is in San José province. Tamarindo is a beach town in Guanacaste. We found no official source for rents in either place, so they are unknown here.
- Escazú: the Government of Canada names San José province among the provinces most affected by violent crime.
- Tamarindo: the Pacific hurricane season runs from mid-May to the end of November, riptides are common and very few beaches have lifeguards. Coastal visitors should know the local tsunami evacuation plans.
Sources: Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca). Checked 10 October 2026.
Canada
Costa Rica