Investor Residency at US$150,000, on a Footing That Is No Longer Simple
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Russia on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Russia to Costa Rica · Residency through investment
Costa Rica's investor route asks for US$150,000 in Costa Rican real estate, registrable movable property, shares, securities, productive projects, projects of national interest, venture capital funds or sustainable tourism infrastructure. That figure replaced the US$200,000 the Reglamento de Extranjería had set since 2012. The replacement was done by Ley 9996 and its regulation, which repealed the regulation's investor articles outright and put the new requirements in their place. Ley 9996 also attached tax exemptions to the category, and article 12 of that law let them be claimed only during its first five years - a window that closed on 14 July 2026. The migration threshold sits in the regulation rather than in the repealed articles, and the directorate was still publishing US$150,000 in October 2026; the tax package that used to come with it is no longer open to new applicants.
At a glance
- Minimum investment
- US$150,000as of 2023-02-23
Article 4 of Decreto 43926-MGP-H-TUR writes the figure as US$150 000, 00 with a space rather than a separator, and article 8 of Ley 9996 writes it out in words as ciento cincuenta mil dólares estadounidenses.
- Previous minimum investment
- US$200.000.00
Article 87 of the Reglamento de Extranjería, repealed in February 2023
- Status granted
- Temporary residency for 2 years, renewable for equal periods
- Condition on renewal
- The investment must have been held continuously and without interruption since the grant
- May the investor work?
- No - no paid manual or intellectual work, for the investor or for dependants
- Tax exemptions attached to the category
- Closed to new claims since July 2026
Article 12 of Ley 9996 allows the article 5 benefits to be taken only during the law's first five years, counted from its publication on 14 July 2021
- First application fee
- US$50
- Change of category from a non-resident status
- US$200
Requirements
- A signed application stating your particulars, the type of investment, your address and a means for service, with the signature authenticated by a lawyer or notary
- Proof of payment of US$50 to the government under article 255 of the migration law
- Proof of payment of US$200 under article 89 of the migration law where a change of category is involved
- A birth certificate issued in the country of origin, legalised and authenticated or apostilled
- A recent passport-size photograph
- A criminal record certificate from your country of origin or from where you have legally resided for the last three years, legalised and authenticated or apostilled
- A certified copy of the biographical page of a valid passport
- Documentary proof of the investment, in the form set out for the particular asset class
- Where registered as an employer with the social security fund, proof of being current with employer contributions
- Where registered with the tax administration, proof of being current with national taxes
In detail
Why the number moved, and where it now lives
Until February 2023 the investor threshold was US$200,000 and it sat in article 87 of the Reglamento de Extranjería. Ley 9996 announced a new band of US$150,000, and the regulation that implemented it repealed articles 87 to 93 of the Reglamento de Extranjería and rewrote the requirements from scratch. That is why reading the Reglamento de Extranjería today tells you nothing about investors, and why a copy of it that predates 2023 - including the consolidated copy the directorate itself hosts - still shows a figure that is three years out of date.
The open question nobody answers on a web page
Article 8 of Ley 9996 sets the US$150,000 band for the period established by this law. Article 12 limits the law's tax benefits to five years. The two do not obviously refer to the same period, and the regulation carries no expiry of its own. On 4 October 2026, nearly three months after the five-year window closed, the migration directorate was still publishing US$150,000 as the requirement. That is how the category is being administered. It is not the same as a statement that the band is permanent, and anyone planning around it should expect the point to be tested.
What has definitely ended
The part of Ley 9996 that is unambiguous is the tax package: one duty-free household shipment, up to two vehicles free of import, tariff and value added tax, twenty per cent off the property transfer tax, income tax exemption on the sums declared to qualify, and duty-free professional or scientific instruments. Article 12 allows these to be taken only in the law's first five years. Applications made after 14 July 2026 do not get them. Those who claimed them inside the window keep them for ten years, and must keep the goods for at least ten years before transferring them.
An investor who may not work
Article 13 of the regulation is blunter than the migration law behind it: neither the investor nor any dependant may do any paid manual or intellectual work. The investment can be in a productive project, but drawing a salary from it is not part of the status. This is a sharper line than most of the region draws, and it is the reason investors who want to run the business usually end up in the executive or manager subcategory instead, with its own salary floor and its own labour-ministry filter.
Country-level policy
Costa Rica attaches a running obligation to residency that most countries leave to the health system to enforce. Affiliation to the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social is compulsory for permanent and temporary residents, it must run without interruption from the day residency was granted, and the proof is demanded at every renewal of the residency card. A lapse in contributions is therefore not only a loss of cover but a defect in the migration file. The rule cuts across every residency category: the retiree with a US$1000 pension, the rentista, the investor who may not work, the spouse of a Costa Rican and the employee of a Costa Rican company are all inside it, and the only exceptions are whatever the executive sets by regulation.
Ley 9996 attached a package of tax and customs benefits to the investor, rentista and pensioner categories: a once-only duty-free household shipment, up to two vehicles free of import, tariff and value added tax, duty-free professional and scientific instruments, twenty per cent off the property transfer tax, and exemption from income tax on the sums declared to qualify. Article 12 allowed those benefits to be taken only during the law's first five years. The law was published on 14 July 2021 and took effect on publication, so the window closed on 14 July 2026. The migration categories themselves are untouched, and the directorate was still publishing the US$150,000 investment band afterwards, but nothing in the law's article 5 is open to a new applicant.
Costa Rica measures absence in three different ways depending on what is at stake, and the numbers do not agree with one another. A permanent resident who is out of the country for more than four consecutive years loses the status; a temporary resident loses it after more than two consecutive years. Separately, anyone who has been away for more than a year has to justify it in writing and produce a criminal record certificate from where they were before the residency card can be renewed. And for naturalisation, a single absence of more than three months interrupts the qualifying period and the count restarts on the next entry. A person can therefore keep their residency comfortably while quietly resetting their path to citizenship.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Russia
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«Podrá optar por la permanencia legal en el país bajo la subcategoría migratoria de Inversionista, la persona extranjera que realice una inversión en Costa Rica, por un monto no menor a ciento cincuenta mil dólares, moneda de los Estados Unidos de América (US$150 000, 00) según el tipo de cambio oficial de venta que determine el Banco Central de Costa Rica, ya sea en bienes inmuebles o muebles inscribibles, acciones, valores, proyectos productivos, proyectos de interés nacional, fondos de capital de riesgo o en proyectos de infraestructura turística sostenible.»Our translation - not official
A foreign person who makes an investment in Costa Rica of not less than one hundred and fifty thousand United States dollars (US$150,000.00), at the official selling rate determined by the Central Bank of Costa Rica, whether in real estate or registrable movable property, shares, securities, productive projects, projects of national interest, venture capital funds or sustainable tourism infrastructure projects, may apply for legal stay in the country under the Investor migration subcategory.
The asset list is wider than the one in article 8 of Ley 9996, which does not mention registrable movable property. The investment has to be made in national territory: the regulation's definitions section says expressly that investments generated abroad do not count.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state printing house, which publishes La Gaceta and its Alcances. A Costa Rican instrument is law from the day it appears here, and for this project it turned out to be the only route to Costa Rican primary text that the fetcher can actually store.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Every issue is the text as enacted on that date, and nothing in it says it has since been superseded - the same trap as citing a decree's original text when a consolidated one exists, in another form. An issue also never changes, so re-reading one is pointless; what changes is that a later issue carries an amendment. And an issue is a whole-day compilation of hundreds of unrelated acts, so a citation to the issue alone identifies nothing: it must name the act and the article.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Dicha subcategoría se otorgará por dos años prorrogables por períodos iguales, para lo cual, previo a la renovación, la persona extranjera deberá demostrar que ha mantenido su inversión de manera continua e ininterrumpida, desde el momento en que le fue otorgada su permanencia regular en el país.»Our translation - not official
That subcategory shall be granted for two years, renewable for equal periods, for which, prior to renewal, the foreign person must show that they have maintained their investment continuously and without interruption, from the moment their regular stay in the country was granted.
Selling the asset and replacing it with another is not expressly provided for. The test is continuity of the investment that was accepted, which makes a renewal a re-proof rather than a formality.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state printing house, which publishes La Gaceta and its Alcances. A Costa Rican instrument is law from the day it appears here, and for this project it turned out to be the only route to Costa Rican primary text that the fetcher can actually store.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Every issue is the text as enacted on that date, and nothing in it says it has since been superseded - the same trap as citing a decree's original text when a consolidated one exists, in another form. An issue also never changes, so re-reading one is pointless; what changes is that a later issue carries an amendment. And an issue is a whole-day compilation of hundreds of unrelated acts, so a citation to the issue alone identifies nothing: it must name the act and the article.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Deróguense los artículos 87, 88, 89, 90, 91 92, 93, 179, 223 y 228 incisos f) del Reglamento de Extranjería y Crea Día del Costarricense en el Exterior, cuya fecha de conmemoración será el 11 de abril de cada año, Decreto Ejecutivo N.º 37112 del 21 de marzo de 2012.»Our translation - not official
Articles 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 179, 223 and 228 item f) of the Regulation on Foreign Nationals and Creating the Day of the Costa Rican Abroad, whose commemoration date shall be 11 April each year, Executive Decree No. 37112 of 21 March 2012, are hereby repealed.
Quoted with the publisher's missing comma between 91 and 92. This repeal is why the investor requirements can no longer be read in the Reglamento de Extranjería at all, and why the consolidated copy the directorate hosts - annotated as containing only the 2022 reform - still shows articles that no longer exist.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state printing house, which publishes La Gaceta and its Alcances. A Costa Rican instrument is law from the day it appears here, and for this project it turned out to be the only route to Costa Rican primary text that the fetcher can actually store.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Every issue is the text as enacted on that date, and nothing in it says it has since been superseded - the same trap as citing a decree's original text when a consolidated one exists, in another form. An issue also never changes, so re-reading one is pointless; what changes is that a later issue carries an amendment. And an issue is a whole-day compilation of hundreds of unrelated acts, so a citation to the issue alone identifies nothing: it must name the act and the article.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Para la solicitud de residencia temporal como inversionista, la persona extranjera interesada deberá demostrar su inversión con un capital no inferior a US$200.000.00 (doscientos mil dólares) según el tipo de cambio oficial de venta que determine el BCCR»Our translation - not official
For an application for temporary residency as an investor, the interested foreign person must prove their investment with capital of not less than US$200,000.00 (two hundred thousand dollars) at the official selling rate determined by the Central Bank
Quoted because the US$200,000 figure is still widely repeated for Costa Rica. It was the rule from May 2012 until February 2023 and is not the rule now.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state printing house, which publishes La Gaceta and its Alcances. A Costa Rican instrument is law from the day it appears here, and for this project it turned out to be the only route to Costa Rican primary text that the fetcher can actually store.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Every issue is the text as enacted on that date, and nothing in it says it has since been superseded - the same trap as citing a decree's original text when a consolidated one exists, in another form. An issue also never changes, so re-reading one is pointless; what changes is that a later issue carries an amendment. And an issue is a whole-day compilation of hundreds of unrelated acts, so a citation to the issue alone identifies nothing: it must name the act and the article.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Para la categoría de inversionistas, por el plazo que establece la presente ley, se establece un nuevo rango de inversión, con un capital no inferior a ciento cincuenta mil dólares estadounidenses (US$150 000, 00), según el tipo de cambio oficial de venta que determine el Banco Central de Costa Rica»Our translation - not official
For the investor category, for the period established by this law, a new investment band is established, with capital of not less than one hundred and fifty thousand United States dollars (US$150,000.00), at the official selling rate determined by the Central Bank of Costa Rica
The opening words - for the period established by this law - are the awkward ones. Article 12 limits only the article 5 tax benefits to five years and says nothing about the investment band, while this article suggests the band itself is time-limited. The regulation that implements it carries no sunset, and the directorate continues to publish US$150,000.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state printing house, which publishes La Gaceta and its Alcances. A Costa Rican instrument is law from the day it appears here, and for this project it turned out to be the only route to Costa Rican primary text that the fetcher can actually store.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Every issue is the text as enacted on that date, and nothing in it says it has since been superseded - the same trap as citing a decree's original text when a consolidated one exists, in another form. An issue also never changes, so re-reading one is pointless; what changes is that a later issue carries an amendment. And an issue is a whole-day compilation of hundreds of unrelated acts, so a citation to the issue alone identifies nothing: it must name the act and the article.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Los inversionistas, rentistas o pensionados que opten por los beneficios otorgados en el artículo 5 de la presente ley podrán hacerlo únicamente durante los primeros cinco años a partir de su entrada en vigencia.»Our translation - not official
Investors, rentistas or pensioners who wish to take the benefits granted in article 5 of this law may do so only during the first five years from its entry into force.
The law took effect on publication, 14 July 2021, so the window closed on 14 July 2026. The second paragraph of the same article keeps the benefits for ten years for those who claimed them inside the window.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state printing house, which publishes La Gaceta and its Alcances. A Costa Rican instrument is law from the day it appears here, and for this project it turned out to be the only route to Costa Rican primary text that the fetcher can actually store.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Every issue is the text as enacted on that date, and nothing in it says it has since been superseded - the same trap as citing a decree's original text when a consolidated one exists, in another form. An issue also never changes, so re-reading one is pointless; what changes is that a later issue carries an amendment. And an issue is a whole-day compilation of hundreds of unrelated acts, so a citation to the issue alone identifies nothing: it must name the act and the article.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«La persona extranjera a la que se le otorgue la residencia temporal como inversionista y sus dependientes, no podrán realizar ninguna labor manual o intelectual remunerada.»Our translation - not official
The foreign person granted temporary residency as an investor, and their dependants, may not carry out any paid manual or intellectual work.
Flatly stated and wider than article 80 of the migration law, which lets the directorate authorise an activity. Managing one's own Costa Rican business on this status is not provided for.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state printing house, which publishes La Gaceta and its Alcances. A Costa Rican instrument is law from the day it appears here, and for this project it turned out to be the only route to Costa Rican primary text that the fetcher can actually store.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Every issue is the text as enacted on that date, and nothing in it says it has since been superseded - the same trap as citing a decree's original text when a consolidated one exists, in another form. An issue also never changes, so re-reading one is pointless; what changes is that a later issue carries an amendment. And an issue is a whole-day compilation of hundreds of unrelated acts, so a citation to the issue alone identifies nothing: it must name the act and the article.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«La persona extranjera que realice una inversión en Costa Rica, por un monto no menor a ciento cincuenta mil dólares (US$150 000, 00), ya sea en bienes inmuebles o muebles inscribibles, acciones, valores, proyectos productivos, proyectos de interés nacional, fondos de capital de riesgo o en proyectos de infraestructura turística sostenible, podrá solicitar la permanencia legal en el país bajo la»Our translation - not official
A foreign person who makes an investment in Costa Rica of not less than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars (US$150,000.00), whether in real estate or registrable movable property, shares, securities, productive projects, projects of national interest, venture capital funds or sustainable tourism infrastructure projects, may apply for legal stay in the country under the
Read on 4 October 2026, after the five-year window in article 12 of Ley 9996 had closed. The directorate is still publishing the US$150,000 band, which is the best available evidence that it treats the migration threshold as surviving the end of the tax incentives.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Costa Rica's migration directorate. It decides applications, publishes the requirement lists applicants work from, and issues the Directrices Generales de Visas, which are a real instrument published in La Gaceta rather than guidance.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its procedure pages are excellent evidence of what the agency asks for and unreliable evidence of what the law requires, and on 4 October 2026 the two diverged in writing: its rentista requirement list still reproduced wording superseded in February 2023. It must also not be cited for the current text of the Reglamento de Extranjería - the copy it hosts is annotated as carrying only the 2022 reform and predates the 2023 repeal of articles 87 to 93. Access note: Cloudflare returns 403 to ordinary clients and Firecrawl gets through, so an empty reading from here is a block rather than a change.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«deberá cancelar a favor del Estado la suma de cincuenta dólares en moneda de los Estados Unidos de América (US $50,00)»Our translation - not official
must pay the State the sum of fifty dollars in United States currency (US $50.00)
The same first-application fee applies to every temporary and permanent residency category, and without proof of it the file is not opened at all.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state printing house, which publishes La Gaceta and its Alcances. A Costa Rican instrument is law from the day it appears here, and for this project it turned out to be the only route to Costa Rican primary text that the fetcher can actually store.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Every issue is the text as enacted on that date, and nothing in it says it has since been superseded - the same trap as citing a decree's original text when a consolidated one exists, in another form. An issue also never changes, so re-reading one is pointless; what changes is that a later issue carries an amendment. And an issue is a whole-day compilation of hundreds of unrelated acts, so a citation to the issue alone identifies nothing: it must name the act and the article.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The proof required differs by asset. The regulation sets out separate evidence for real estate, registrable movable property, shares, securities, productive projects, projects of national interest, venture capital funds and sustainable tourism infrastructure. Where the investment is held through a trust, only the settlor may use it to qualify.
The claim that the Reglamento de Extranjería no longer contains the investor requirements rests on article 31 of Decreto 43926, which repeals articles 87 to 93 by number, and on reading both instruments. It is not an inference from the directorate's pages.
We did not find any instrument extending the five-year window in article 12 of Ley 9996, and we looked in the law itself, in its regulation and on the migration directorate's published pages. We did not search the legislative record for a bill, so a later extension may exist that has not reached these sources.
- issuesDecreto Ejecutivo N° 43926-MGP-H-TUR, Reglamento a la Ley N° 9996, Alcance N° 28 a La Gaceta N° 34 de 23 de febrero de 2023
Imprenta Nacional (Costa Rica)
About this source
The state printing house, which publishes La Gaceta and its Alcances. A Costa Rican instrument is law from the day it appears here, and for this project it turned out to be the only route to Costa Rican primary text that the fetcher can actually store.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Every issue is the text as enacted on that date, and nothing in it says it has since been superseded - the same trap as citing a decree's original text when a consolidated one exists, in another form. An issue also never changes, so re-reading one is pointless; what changes is that a later issue carries an amendment. And an issue is a whole-day compilation of hundreds of unrelated acts, so a citation to the issue alone identifies nothing: it must name the act and the article.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- issuesLey N° 9996, Ley para la atracción de inversionistas, rentistas y pensionados, La Gaceta N° 135 de 14 de julio de 2021
Imprenta Nacional (Costa Rica)
About this source
The state printing house, which publishes La Gaceta and its Alcances. A Costa Rican instrument is law from the day it appears here, and for this project it turned out to be the only route to Costa Rican primary text that the fetcher can actually store.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Every issue is the text as enacted on that date, and nothing in it says it has since been superseded - the same trap as citing a decree's original text when a consolidated one exists, in another form. An issue also never changes, so re-reading one is pointless; what changes is that a later issue carries an amendment. And an issue is a whole-day compilation of hundreds of unrelated acts, so a citation to the issue alone identifies nothing: it must name the act and the article.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- issuesReglamento de Extranjería, Decreto Ejecutivo N° 37112-GOB, Alcance N° 64 a La Gaceta N° 95 de 17 de mayo de 2012
Imprenta Nacional (Costa Rica)
About this source
The state printing house, which publishes La Gaceta and its Alcances. A Costa Rican instrument is law from the day it appears here, and for this project it turned out to be the only route to Costa Rican primary text that the fetcher can actually store.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Every issue is the text as enacted on that date, and nothing in it says it has since been superseded - the same trap as citing a decree's original text when a consolidated one exists, in another form. An issue also never changes, so re-reading one is pointless; what changes is that a later issue carries an amendment. And an issue is a whole-day compilation of hundreds of unrelated acts, so a citation to the issue alone identifies nothing: it must name the act and the article.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- administersRegularización - Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería
Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (Costa Rica)
About this source
Costa Rica's migration directorate. It decides applications, publishes the requirement lists applicants work from, and issues the Directrices Generales de Visas, which are a real instrument published in La Gaceta rather than guidance.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its procedure pages are excellent evidence of what the agency asks for and unreliable evidence of what the law requires, and on 4 October 2026 the two diverged in writing: its rentista requirement list still reproduced wording superseded in February 2023. It must also not be cited for the current text of the Reglamento de Extranjería - the copy it hosts is annotated as carrying only the 2022 reform and predates the 2023 repeal of articles 87 to 93. Access note: Cloudflare returns 403 to ordinary clients and Firecrawl gets through, so an empty reading from here is a block rather than a change.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source