Costa Rica
Inversionista residency
Repriced upward two months ago and most of the internet has not noticed. Ley 9996 cut the investor threshold from USD 200,000 to USD 150,000 in 2021 with a five year window. That window closed on 14 July 2026 and the floor reverted to USD 200,000.
Inversionista residency
USD 200,000Reverted from USD 150,000 on 15 July 2026
The date that matters
Eligibility was set by filing date, not approval date. Applications submitted on or before 14 July 2026 stay on the USD 150,000 floor and keep the Ley 9996 tax and import exemptions. Everything filed after sits at USD 200,000 under the pre existing decree.
Check the byline before you trust the number
Pages published as recently as August 2026 still present USD 150,000 as current, including some otherwise careful ones. A bill to restore the lower figure could pass, but none has. This is the clearest live example of why a threshold without a verification date is worthless.
Temporary is not permanent
Even at USD 200,000 this buys a renewable temporary permit, with permanent residence available after three years. Panama at USD 300,000 grants permanence on day one. Comparison tables that show only price hide the entire difference.
Personal name only
The qualifying property must be registered directly in the applicant's personal name in the National Registry. Corporate holding structures that work elsewhere in the region generally do not qualify here.
The facts, in one place
| Status | Repriced |
| Threshold | USD 200,000, Reverted from USD 150,000 on 15 July 2026 |
| What it grants | Temporary, renewable, permanent at year 3 |
| Stay requirement | Real presence expected at renewal |
| Citizenship | 7 years of legal residence |
| Governing instrument | Ley 8764 and Decreto Ejecutivo 37112-GOB, after the sunset of Ley 9996 on 14 July 2026 Primary source |
| Last verified | 17 September 2026 |
Other programs:
Compare this against the two programs closest to it
Tell us the budget, the goal and the timeline. If Colombia fits, we introduce you to an immigration lawyer and a broker who has closed for foreign buyers before. If it does not fit, we say so and point you at the program that does.