Living in Costa Rica as a French National: Stay, Residence, Schooling, Safety, Climate and Daily Life

France Diplomatie indicates that holders of a French passport do not need a visa for a stay of 180 days at most. The passport must be in perfect condition and remain valid for at least one day after the planned departure date. On arrival, the authorities ask for a return ticket or a ticket to another destination, proof of accommodation and sufficient financial resources. Those who wish to stay more than 90 days obtain the corresponding authorisation from the Costa Rican embassy in Paris or from the local immigration services (Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, DGME, the immigration directorate).

Two practical points appear in the travel advice. At a land border, the passport must bear the entry stamps of the country of departure and of Costa Rica, failing which the entry is considered irregular. On exit, a child born in Costa Rica or holding official residence travels with a DGME authorisation issued with the consent of both parents. The immigration law also provides, for a tourist authorised for less than 90 days, an extension on proof of sufficient means, for USD 100.

A tourist stay suits a first reconnaissance trip of a few weeks. The guide to the first 90 days checklist helps you put the settling-in steps in order, and the Costa Rica country page brings together the health insurance benchmarks.

The general law on migration and foreigners (No. 8764, consolidated text of the Procuraduría General de la República, the state attorney general’s office) organises long-term stays on two levels. Temporary residence is granted by the DGME for more than 90 days and up to two years, renewable for an equivalent period (article 79). Its subcategories include the spouse of a Costa Rican, managers and technical staff of companies established in the country, investors, scientists and professionals, rentistas and pensionados. Applications are filed with Costa Rican consulates abroad or, failing that, with the DGME (article 84).

• Pensionado: a monthly, permanent and stable pension from abroad of at least USD 1,000 (article 81).
• Rentista: monthly, permanent and stable income from abroad or from the banks of the national system of at least USD 2,500 a month; this amount allows the spouse and children under 25 or with disabilities to be included (article 82).
• Remote worker: non-resident stay, “estancia” subcategory, of one year renewable for the same length, provided for by Law No. 10008: stable monthly income of at least USD 3,000, USD 4,000 for a family, a medical policy covering the whole length of the stay, and a DGME decision within fifteen calendar days. The benefits of this law apply to activities carried out for clients or employers established abroad.

Renewal of residence requires the holder to keep meeting the conditions of their status and to be affiliated to the CCSS insurance schemes, without interruption since the grant (articles 80 and 86). Permanent residence, which is indefinite, opens in particular after three consecutive years of temporary residence for the person, their spouse and their first-degree parents (articles 77 and 78). A temporary resident carries out only the paid activities that the DGME authorises (article 80), a point to check before planning local employment. See the page on working in Costa Rica and the guide to digital nomad visas.

The official sources consulted do not rank cities by their appeal to expats; they do, however, give benchmarks on services and risks. San José and its Central Valley are home to the French embassy, which offers registration on the register of French nationals living abroad, identity papers, civil status and electoral procedures, as well as the Franco-Costa Rican lycée. For the capital, France Diplomatie flags neighbourhoods under reinforced vigilance (the districts of Merced, Catedral, Hospital and El Carmen) and the proximity of active volcanoes: Turrialba about 35 km to the east, Poás about 30 km to the north.

On the northern Pacific coast, the embassy attaches a consular agency to Tamarindo, which holds periodic office hours; this can matter for administrative procedures far from the capital. The coastline calls for particular care: France Diplomatie points out that supervised beaches are few, that currents are dangerous and that drownings are frequent. The Rincón de la Vieja volcano is under a level 3 alert from the OVSICORI observatory (the volcanological and seismological observatory) at the date of the latest update of the travel advice (10 September 2026).

To choose where to live, the criteria that count are distance to a full-service healthcare facility, exposure to flooding during the rainy season, proximity to a school and the state of the roads, which France Diplomatie describes as winding, often poorly signposted, with a very high accident rate. The guide to the Costa Rican healthcare system details the care facilities.

The official sources consulted do not publish a comparison of rents or monthly budgets by city; the “Economic benchmarks” block above gives the up-to-date macroeconomic indicators. The Ministry of Labour (MTSS) provides a reference scale: the minimum wage of an unskilled private-sector worker is CRC 12,436.41 a day since 1 January 2026, after a general adjustment of 1.63% decided by the National Wage Council. A university licenciado has a monthly minimum of CRC 796,921 in the example from the official list of occupations.

On tax, Costa Rica taxes income from Costa Rican sources (article 1 of the income tax law). For employees, the Ministry of Finance (Hacienda) sets in 2026 an exemption threshold of CRC 918,000 a month, then rates of 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% by band. The detail is in the page on working in Costa Rica. To budget for health, the guide to budgeting for health abroad offers a method.

The Franco-Costa Rican lycée, a binational school located in the San José region, is the French school of the country: it had 1,087 pupils at the start of the February 2023 school year according to France Diplomatie. According to the same source, Costa Rica is also the only Latin American country where learning French is compulsory in public education (lower secondary), which makes it easier for a French-speaking pupil to join a local school.

For a child, three points to prepare: health cover (see children’s health cover abroad and expat family insurance), the proof of kinship required by the DGME for dependants, and the exit authorisation for a child born or resident in Costa Rica. Enrolment and fees should be confirmed with the school.

France Diplomatie places Costa Rica under reinforced vigilance (yellow) on its safety map and notes a significant increase in crime with a high homicide rate. Petty crime dominates in tourist areas, while armed robberies and assaults are reported across the whole territory. The practical advice is simple and applicable day to day:

• avoid travelling alone at night and leave valuables in the accommodation’s safe;
• preferably use official taxis, red with a large yellow triangle on the front doors;
• call 911 for the police, the fire brigade and rescue services; the National Emergency Commission (CNE) answers on +506 2220 2020 for natural hazards;
• take out an assistance or insurance contract covering all medical costs, surgery, hospitalisation and repatriation, which France Diplomatie considers essential.

Natural hazards complete the picture: frequent earthquakes, generally of limited magnitude, regular eruptions of several volcanoes (Turrialba, Poás, Rincón de la Vieja), floods and landslides during the rainy season. The French embassy keeps an on-call line for serious emergencies (accident, death, arrest) outside opening hours.

The tropical climate is felt mainly through the rainy season: France Diplomatie places it from May to November, with frequent floods and landslides, and notes that dengue, which is endemic, peaks over the same period in the tourist provinces. Chikungunya and Zika also circulate; protection against mosquitoes is part of daily routine, as are safe water and food to limit typhoid fever. French vaccines should be kept up to date; yellow fever has been required since 11 May 2025 for travellers coming from certain at-risk African or American countries, with a paper certificate.

The language of administration is Spanish: the immigration law, the wage scales and the DGME forms are written in that language, and the embassy offers its website in French and Spanish. Fluent Spanish makes it easier to open a bank account, sign a lease and deal with the CCSS. For health, the page on healthcare reimbursement in Costa Rica explains who pays in each situation, and Expavy helps you compare contracts once the residence status has been chosen.