Visa policy of Costa Rica

Visitors to Costa Rica require a visa unless they are citizens of one of the eligible countries who are visa exempt up to 90 days. Costa Rican visas are documents issued by the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, dependent on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica, with the stated goal of regulating and facilitating migratory flows. Visitors must hold passports that are valid for at least 6 months from the date of arrival.

Entry and exit stamps.

Visa policy map

Visa policy of Costa Rica

  Costa Rica

  Visa not required

  Restricted visa

Visa exemption

Holders of passports of the following 97 jurisdictions do not require a visa to visit Costa Rica:[1][2][3]

All European Union citizens [4][5] ^1 ^3  Andorra^1  Antigua and Barbuda^2  Argentina^1  Australia^1 ^3  Bahamas^1  Barbados^1  Belize^2  Bolivia^2  Brazil^1  Brunei^2  Canada^1  Chile^1  Dominica^2  El Salvador^2  Fiji^2  Grenada^2  Guatemala^2  Guyana^2  Honduras^2  Iceland^1  Israel^1  Japan^1  Kazakhstan^2  Kiribati^2  Liechtenstein^1  Malaysia^2  Maldives^2  Marshall Islands^2  Mauritius^2  Mexico^1  Micronesia^2  Monaco^1  Montenegro^1  Nauru^2  New Zealand^1 ^3  Norway^1 ^3  Palau^2  Panama^1  Paraguay^1  Peru^1  Philippines^2  Qatar^1  Russia^2  Saint Kitts and Nevis^2  Saint Lucia^2  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines^2  Samoa^2  San Marino^1  Sao Tome and Principe^2  Serbia^1  Seychelles^2  Singapore^1  Solomon Islands^2  South Africa^1  South Korea^1  Suriname^2   Switzerland^1  Taiwan^2  Tonga^2  Trinidad and Tobago^1  Turkey^2  Tuvalu^2  Ukraine^2  United Arab Emirates^1  United Kingdom^1 ^3  United States^1 ^3  Vanuatu^2   Vatican City^1  Venezuela^2  Uruguay^1

_{1 — passport must be valid for at least one day on arrival.
2 — passport must be valid for at least three months on arrival.
3 — including overseas territories of Australia, Denmark, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom, United States.}

Nationals of  China holding passports for public affairs do not require a visa for a maximum stay of 30 days.

Date of visa changes
30 May 1966: Spain[6] 5 July 1968: Israel[7] 13 September 1968: Austria[8] 1 September 1971: France[9] October 1971: Yugoslavia (applies today to Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia)[10] 16 September 1974: Japan[11] 6 December 1996: Brazil[12] 24 November 2003: Latvia[13] 12 April 2014: Russia[14] (resumed) 13 December 2015: Peru[15] 14 December 2016: Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Qatar, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates[16] Cancelled: Russia: 1 February 2008[17] (was resumed in 2014)

Visa is not required for holders of diplomatic or service/official passports of China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Indonesia, Morocco, Thailand and Vietnam.

Substitute visas

Nationals who would normally require visas may enter Costa Rica for a maximum of 30 days if they are holding a valid, multiple-entry visa or residence permit issued by the following countries. When utilizing a residence permit, it must be valid for more than six months on arrival.[2]

European Union All European Union citizens ^1  Canada  United States^2

_{1 - for holders of residence permits only.
2 - Green Cards or U.S. visas must be valid for more than six months on arrival except for holders of B or D visas. Not applicable to holders of C1 visas.}

Visa required countries

A tourist visa for Costa Rica

Holders of passports of the following jurisdictions require a visa to visit Costa Rica:[1]

Visa issued at a consulate and a passport valid for six months

Albania  Algeria  Angola  Armenia  Azerbaijan  Bahrain  Benin  Belarus  Bhutan  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Botswana  Burkina Faso  Burundi  Cambodia  Cameroon  Cape Verde  Central African Republic  China  Colombia  Comoros  Republic of the Congo  Democratic Republic of the Congo  Djibouti  Dominican Republic  Chad  Ecuador  Egypt  Equatorial Guinea  Eswatini

Gabon  Gambia  Georgia  Ghana  Guinea  Guinea Bissau  India  Indonesia  Ivory Coast  Jordan  Kenya  Kosovo  Kuwait  Kyrgyzstan  Laos  Lebanon  Lesotho  Liberia  Libya  Madagascar  Malawi  Mali  Mauritania  Moldova  Mongolia  Morocco  Mozambique  Namibia    Nepal

Nicaragua  Niger  Nigeria  North Macedonia  Oman  Pakistan  Papua New Guinea  Rwanda  Saudi Arabia  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic  Senegal  Sierra Leone  Sudan  South Sudan  Tajikistan  Tanzania  Thailand  Timor-Leste  Togo  Tunisia  Turkmenistan  Uganda  Uzbekistan  Vietnam  Yemen  Zambia  Zimbabwe

Restricted visa approved by the Commission for Restricted Visas and a passport valid for six months

Afghanistan  Bangladesh  Cuba  Eritrea  Ethiopia  Haiti  Iran  Iraq

Jamaica  Myanmar  North Korea  Palestine  Syria  Somalia  Sri Lanka

Visitor statistics

Most visitors arriving to Costa Rica were from the following countries of nationality:[18]

Country	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013
United States	1,199,241	1,233,277	1,077,044	997,262	929,402
Nicaragua	429,990	440,049	446,870	463,959	476,678
Canada	201,921	188,104	175,771	172,730	160,398
Mexico	106,783	94,499	84,940	75,045	72,568
Panama	104,795	99,917	97,135	68,340	98,275
El Salvador	81,091	78,273	69,427	63,214	64,552
Guatemala	78,032	65,063	57,600	55,677	56,756
United Kingdom	76,173	71,392	47,499	39,545	35,198
Germany	70,960	67,939	66,450	63,916	54,754
France	69,803	61,503	54,773	49,681	39,728
Spain	69,782	67,453	65,188	64,303	52,950
Total	2,959,869	2,925,128	2,660,257	2,526,817	2,427,941

See also

• Visa requirements for Costa Rican citizens

References

1. "Circular DG-0042-11-2016" (PDF) (in Spanish). Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
2. "Country information (visa section)". Timatic. International Air Transport Association (IATA) through Olympic Air. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
3. "ALCANCE N° 272" (PDF). La Gaceta Diario Oficial (in Spanish). Imprenta Nacional. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
4. "REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on cases where visa waiver non-reciprocity is maintained by certain third countries in accordance with Article 1(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 851/2005 as regards the reciprocity mechanism - COM(2006) 568 final". European Commission. 3 October 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
5. "THIRD REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on certain third countries' maintenance of visa requirements in breach of the principle of reciprocity in accordance with Article 1(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 851/2005 as regards the reciprocity mechanism - COM(2007) 533 final". European Commission. 13 September 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
6. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/Monthly%20Statement/1982/01/monstate.pdf
7. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/Monthly%20Statement/1968/12/monstate.pdf
8. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/Monthly%20Statement/1968/11/monstate.pdf
9. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/Monthly%20Statement/1971/11/monstate.pdf
10. "PDF.js viewer". www.pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
11. "一部査証及び査証料の相互免除に関する日本国政府とコスタ・リカ共和国政府との間の取極（口上書）" (PDF). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 2 October 1974. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
12. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/Monthly%20Statement/1996/12/monstate.pdf
13. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/Monthly%20Statement/2005/05/monstate.pdf
14. p.25-26
15. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/Monthly%20Statement/2017/06/monstate.pdf
16. p.9-14
18. "Informes Estadísticos - Anuarios" (in Spanish). Instituto Costarricense de Turismo. Retrieved 11 December 2017.