Costa Rica student permit (special category)

The DGME groups students, researchers, teachers and volunteers in one special category. Students and staff must belong to an educational centre recognised in Costa Rica; teachers and researchers also need an authenticated job offer stating duties, hours and salary, and researchers a description of the project. Volunteers need a certificate from the institution running the programme describing the project, their tasks, the length of stay and how it is financed.

Because the passport copy must show the Costa Rican entry stamp and the entry visa where the nationality requires one, you should check the current General Visa Directives for your nationality before travelling.

File an application with your details, purpose, current address and a means for notifications, signed in front of a public official or authenticated by a lawyer; two recent passport photos; a legalised or apostilled birth certificate; a legalised or apostilled criminal record from your country of origin or of legal residence during the last three years, with proof of legal stay there; and certified copies of the passport pages with your details, entry stamp and visa if applicable.

Add the certificate from the educational institution, signed by its legal representative or director, confirming that you are a student of that recognised centre. Prove your means with a certification by an authorised public accountant stating where the money comes from or, for scholarship holders, a certificate from the scholarship body giving the amount, the period and the expenses covered. Foreign documents need an official Spanish translation.

Files can be opened online through the Trámite Ya platform (a one-off USD 11 charge) or at a DGME office. A request for an unaccompanied minor filed by a third person needs a special power of attorney from those exercising parental authority, granted before the competent authority in the country of origin and legalised by the Costa Rican consulate and Ministry of Foreign Affairs or apostilled, which must also authorise the third person to request the minor's exit permit. If you are already in the country as a non-resident, a change of category costs USD 200.

The father, mother, spouse, minor children or adult children with a disability of a foreign student can request the dependant category with the general documents. A spouse proves the link with a legalised or apostilled marriage certificate; parents file for minor children; an adult child's disability is shown with a medical report and, where relevant, a court guardianship certificate.