Working in Costa Rica as a French National: Authorisation, Minimum Wage, Tax, Contributions, Self-Employed and Remote Work

The right to work depends on the residence status. The general law on migration and foreigners (No. 8764) provides that temporary residents carry out only the paid or income-generating activities, on their own account or as employees, that the DGME authorises them to carry out, taking into account the advisory opinions of the Ministry of Labour (MTSS). Dependants of a temporary resident may study or work after authorisation (article 80). Foreigners admitted as non-residents do not work, apart from limited exceptions (article 92): a tourist therefore has no right to work.

The subcategories of temporary residence include managers, representatives, directors and technical staff of companies established in the country, specialised employees required for their activities, scientists, professionals, trainees and specialised technicians (article 79). A manager or technician of an established company cannot show income below the legal minimum wage increased by 25% for the same post, and must be affiliated to the CCSS (the Costa Rican social security fund) to renew their foreigner’s card (article 83). Permanent residence, which opens after three consecutive years of temporary residence, is indefinite (articles 77 and 78).

Remote work for foreign clients falls under a separate regime, detailed below. Before any local job plan, the step is to have the residence status validated by the DGME; the page on living in Costa Rica presents the residences one by one, and the guide to working abroad sums up the general logic.

The National Wage Council (CNS), attached to the Ministry of Labour, sets private-sector minimum wages by decree: decree No. 45303-MTSS applies a general adjustment of 1.63% since 1 January 2026. The official list of minimum wages, drawn up by qualification category (unskilled, skilled, specialised, technician, graduate, bachelor or university licenciado), gives the following benchmarks.

• Unskilled worker: CRC 12,436.41 per ordinary working day, for example for a parking attendant or a school bus escort.
• Accounting profile (private accountant), monthly minimums from the list: CRC 496,838.17 for a mid-level technician, 585,484.58 for a graduate, 664,078.07 for a university bachelor and 796,921.00 for a university licenciado.

The MTSS specifies that its list of occupations is an illustrative guide, drawn up from occupational profiles approved by the National Wage Council: the applicable wage should be checked occupation by occupation. Amounts are expressed in colones, the country’s currency; the “Economic benchmarks” block above gives the up-to-date exchange rate for converting into euros. Pay levels actually applied above the minimum vary by sector and employer, and the official sources consulted do not publish them occupation by occupation.

The founding law of the CCSS (No. 17), which governs the social security fund, provides that the compulsory seguro social (social insurance) covers the risks of sickness, maternity, disability, old age and involuntary unemployment. It is compulsory for all manual or intellectual workers who receive a wage, and contributions are calculated on all remuneration paid within the employment relationship (articles 2 and 3). Employee and employer contribution rates are published by the CCSS; its website could not be consulted when this page was written, so the rates are not reproduced here and should be read directly on the fund’s website.

For a French employee on a local contract, the Costa Rican employer registers the employee with the CCSS from hiring and deducts the employee share. For an employee seconded by a French company, CLEISS explains that, in a country with no agreement with France, the secondment lasts three years, renewable once; an employee already seconded for the maximum period can be seconded again to the same country only after two years. They remain affiliated to the French scheme while being subject to the local scheme, and the employer pays the local contributions where that scheme is compulsory. Healthcare reimbursements remain limited to the French level and, for the family, only the benefits of children living in France apply. See the guide to secondment versus expatriation and the glossary entry on the local contract.

Article 1 of the income tax law (No. 7092) taxes income from Costa Rican sources, that is, income generated within the national territory, whatever the nationality or domicile of those concerned. For 2026, the Ministry of Finance (Hacienda) publishes the following scales.

• Employees, retirees and pensioners (gross monthly income): exemption up to CRC 918,000; 10% from 918,000 to 1,347,000; 15% up to 2,364,000; 20% up to 4,727,000; 25% above. Monthly credits of CRC 1,710 per child and CRC 2,590 for the spouse.
• Individuals with an income-generating activity (annual income): exemption up to CRC 6,244,000; 10% up to 8,329,000; 15% up to 10,414,000; 20% up to 20,872,000; 25% above. Annual credits of CRC 20,520 per child and CRC 31,080 for the spouse.

No double taxation treaty currently appears for Costa Rica in the list of agreements concluded by France published in the BOFiP (the French tax doctrine database; position at 1 January 2018); the list of tax information exchange agreements mentions only the agreement of 16 December 2010, in force since 14 December 2011. A French national who settles must therefore examine both their French tax residence (the tax authority points out that you can remain a French tax resident even with your home abroad) and their Costa Rican situation. Law No. 9996 also specifies that investors, pensionados and rentistas do not automatically become Costa Rican tax residents. Tax advice confirms the treatment before departure.

The founding law of the CCSS allows self-employed workers to insure themselves, with an exemption from the employer contribution; for those whose net income is below the legal minimum wage and who request affiliation to the disability-old-age-death scheme, the State’s share is increased (article 3). On tax, the self-employed fall under the scale for individuals with an income-generating activity presented above.

Law No. 10008 organises the stay of the remote worker or service provider (digital nomad): a non-resident stay, with stable monthly income, or average income over the past year, of at least USD 3,000 (USD 4,000 for a family, spouse’s income included), a medical policy for the whole length of the stay, a single payment and a DGME decision within fifteen calendar days. The tax benefits of the law are reserved for the worker personally, not for their family group, and loss of beneficiary status (for example in the event of services other than those authorised) triggers the obligation to pay the taxes on goods imported tax-free. The guide to digital nomad visas and the page on digital nomad insurance complete these benchmarks.

The country’s currency is the Costa Rican colón: wage and tax scales are published in colones, while the migration thresholds of the law (USD 1,000, USD 2,500, USD 3,000, USD 150,000) are denominated in United States dollars, which exposes a euro budget to exchange-rate movements. The growth, inflation, unemployment and GDP per capita indicators, updated continuously, appear in the “Economic benchmarks” block above.

The official texts consulted reveal the direction of the attractiveness policy: Law No. 9996 aims to stimulate the economy by welcoming investors, rentiers and pensioners, with a five-year window to apply for its tax benefits, and Law No. 10008 seeks to develop long stays and spending from foreign sources through remote work. The official statistics consulted do not break down employment by sector; for a specific professional project, the French embassy publishes information on employment, business and French associations in the country.

On health protection, employers and employees will find benchmarks in the guide to the Costa Rican healthcare system and the page on healthcare reimbursement in Costa Rica; Expavy helps you compare contracts once the work situation is clear.