Behind the Scenes of the Costa Rican Immigration Reform — These Are Outlier Legal’s Contributions

Power is always prone to abuse — sometimes in a subtle way and, other times, in a blatant and ugly way.

The lines of this article are an attempt to express —perhaps with unnecessary obsession— the same idea repeatedly: migration has multiple faces. For some, the migratory process is a noble sign of justice and truth; for others, it is more of an instrument of preservation of the social order, and even of the status quo; and for others, it is an exciting adventure, a dream they persevere and seek to make come true.

As a result, there’s no migratory process! Instead, there are purposes. Some of them are small, others are larger, but just like every other human institution in this world all of them are transient, fleeting, and fragile, just like the wings of a dragonfly. That vulnerability of the purposes each has to migrate is what we at Outlier Legal try to fight against.

Based on this premise, in September 2019 this law firm started a process with the Public Administration of Costa Rica that proved to be unpopular with the authorities. To put it as simply and plainly as possible, we raised a series of consultations before the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce, an entity with competence to formulate public policies of the State regarding the promotion of private initiatives.

Our aim was to streamline and direct the migration process, of which depends one of the minorities most susceptible and prone to mishandling of the power of the State: migrants.

This article is just the start of a journey with no beginning, since the Costa Rican Immigration Department never gave much importance to these details until we started the consultations with other institutions.

A long-overdue reform

In 2002, Costa Rica passed a law (Ley 8220) to protect citizens from excessive administrative requirements and procedures. Its regulation framework has been in force since 2012. Broadly speaking, its purpose is to simplify administrative procedures, as well as to streamline the procedures carried out by individuals before the Public Administration.

Due to the changes that the migratory flow has experienced in recent years, a regulation in line with the current national reality was urgent in order to respect the guarantees offered by the system to its users. In this regard, the country passed a reform to the immigration regulation in February 2022, via the Executive Order No. 42389-MGP signed by President Carlos Alvarado. This reform further regulates the entry, stay and exit of foreigners in the Costa Rican territory.

This reform came as a result of the work carried out by Outlier Legal. Particularly, as a result of a consultation we did regarding a possible non-compliance with the Law No. 8220 by the Immigration Department. More specifically, the consultation was about the process of changing the name or surname of a foreigner. As with many other processes before Immigration, we thought that this one had way too many administrative requirements.

The Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce answered our consultation in a document named ‘Report of the Direction of Regulatory Improvement DMR-DAR-INF-112-2019.’ This report, which by the way is binding for the Public Administration, contains the criteria regarding the existing procedures covered by the Law No. 8220, as well as the issuance of new regulations or reforms to the existing ones that involve procedures required to citizens.

As we will see next, the changes that were made after our series of consultations not only affect foreigners seeking to change their names or surnames. In reality, the modifications will allow the integration of migrants in the Costa Rican society but without leaving aside the legal security of all users. Above you’ll find the most relevant changes made to the mentioned immigration regulations after said consultations.

General modifications

As of February 2022, because of the aforementioned modifications, it is not necessary to provide the following documents for immigration procedures:

1. Birth certificates issued in Costa Rica. This is because the Immigration Department has had the means to review such information online for many years. It is important to emphasize that for this, in the request letter (requirement to present the file), it is necessary to indicate that the birth is registered in the Supreme Court of Elections.

2. Marriage certificates issued in Costa Rica. Likewise, the Immigration Department has the means to corroborate this information. As with birth certificates, the previous indication must be made in the application letter.

3. Investment documents corresponding to taxation. In the same line of the above, the Immigration Department can corroborate this information in the system of the Ministry of Finance.

Fingerprint voucher

The fingerprint voucher issued by the Ministry of Public Security will no longer be requested at the time of filing with the Immigration Department. This means that it is no longer a requirement for your application to be “approved”. However, this proof will eventually be requested at the time of documentation for the processing of the DIMEX card.

This modification applies to the following categories:

• Temporary Residency by:
  • Marriage (TRMR)
  • Religious (TRWR)
  • Investor (TRIN)
  • Rentista (TRRE)
  • Pensioner (TRPE)
• Permanent Residence for:
  • Parent of Costa Rican (PRPT)
• Special Categories:
  • Dependent of Permanent Resident (SCDP)
  • Student (SCST)
  • Volunteer (SCVL)

Modifications to particular categories

Some general requirements were also modified as to particular immigration categories. These are detailed below.

Investors

1. Regarding Real Estate, the following documents must be provided:

• Literal certification of Real Estate issued by the registry.
• Document of the Municipality where the real value of the Real Estate is reflected and that demonstrates it is up to date with the tax payment.
• The person must be registered in the taxation system. Regarding this modification, it is not indicated if it is only applied to corporations, so for now we must work under the assumption that individuals must also be registered with the Ministry of Finance.
• The company must be up to date with the corporate tax.

2. Regarding Movable Goods, the following must be provided:

• In the case of vehicles, a copy of the label must be presented, where the fiscal value of the good is indicated.

Religious

For foreigners who apply for residence via the religious category, the following documents must be provided:

• Document indicating that the congregation is duly registered with the Ministry of Finance.
• Document that demonstrates that the congregation is up to date with the payment of municipal taxes.

Observations

Some of the general observations that are extracted from the Reform to the immigration regulations are the following:

Certification of passports

• Only the sheet with the biographical information and the last stamp of entry to the Costa Rican territory must be provided.
• In case of having a consular visa, a certified copy of the same must be submitted.

DIMEX application for the first time

It is no longer necessary to present the following information:

• Proof of validation of rights (CCSS).

Regarding the above, it is necessary to specify that the person must be registered in the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) and has its payments up to date. However, it is no longer necessary to provide physical proof of the registration at the time of applying for the DIMEX card, since there are digital means for the Administration to corroborate the insurance status online.

DIMEX renewals

• It is no longer necessary to provide a certified copy of the passport.
• Only the previous DIMEX must be provided.

The fight goes on

As it is evident throughout this article, the purpose of the Law No. 8220 is to regulate the formalities, requirements, and procedures that the Public Administration imposes in its work with the citizens, with the aim that such relationship is developed in harmony with the principles of clear and objective rules, efficiency, effectiveness, legal certainty, legality, and coordination.

In this regard, Outlier Legal Services will continue to work on behalf of the migratory collective under the premise that has marked the path of the organization, which is fighting against the spirit of domesticating the irrational.