{"schemaVersion":1,"passportCode":"CR","passportUrl":"https://multipassrank.com/passport/costa-rica","scope":"Selected country-topic summaries; not a complete account of citizenship law or personal tax liability. These facts do not change mobility scores.","review":{"decision":"approved","reviewer":"/root/top20_korea_finland","reviewedAt":"2026-09-22","recheckBy":"2026-12-21","candidateSha256":"81393c104eaafb634456e980cd650ba4790271543a0b2e03a3f4a3cd8385f2dc","notes":"Independently read all 21 registered official authorities and relevant operative clauses for six topics and 35 facts. Approved after the author corrected the Mexican SRE requirement locators and restored Uruguay's rebuttable, non-separated-spouse family presumption and permanent-establishment exclusion from the general IRNR statement. Verified current Costa Rican SINALEVI law version 83 of 83, Uruguay's operative 2026 foreign-income expansion and separate arrival-cohort election, and the scoped nationality/renunciation distinctions. Exact-byte approval; see the matching review-notes for source editions, access methods, limitations and monitoring. No publication or deployment."},"reviewScope":"A common review is provided only when all topics share one approval. Otherwise consult each topic's review; no collection means no review.","reviews":[{"decision":"approved","reviewer":"/root/top20_korea_finland","reviewedAt":"2026-09-22","recheckBy":"2026-12-21","candidateSha256":"81393c104eaafb634456e980cd650ba4790271543a0b2e03a3f4a3cd8385f2dc","notes":"Independently read all 21 registered official authorities and relevant operative clauses for six topics and 35 facts. Approved after the author corrected the Mexican SRE requirement locators and restored Uruguay's rebuttable, non-separated-spouse family presumption and permanent-establishment exclusion from the general IRNR statement. Verified current Costa Rican SINALEVI law version 83 of 83, Uruguay's operative 2026 foreign-income expansion and separate arrival-cohort election, and the scoped nationality/renunciation distinctions. Exact-byte approval; see the matching review-notes for source editions, access methods, limitations and monitoring. No publication or deployment."}],"coverage":{"citizenship":"reviewed_scope","taxes":"reviewed_scope"},"topics":[{"code":"CR","topic":"citizenship","title":"Ordinary naturalisation by official residence","summary":"The ordinary residence route generally requires seven official years, reduced to five for specified birth-nationality cohorts. Spanish and civic knowledge, conduct, means of life and declarations remain distinct requirements with documented test exemptions.","scope":"Adult ordinary naturalisation by residence under Law 1155 and TSE regulation, excluding marriage, birth-registration and honorary routes.","jurisdiction":"Costa Rica — Constitution, TSE and Registro Civil","routeId":"ordinary-official-residence","routeType":"naturalisation","facts":[{"id":"cr-cit-residence","label":"Seven years, or five for specified origins","text":"Ordinary applicants need seven years of official residence. The period is five for nationals by birth of other Central American countries, Spain or Ibero-American countries; naturalised nationals of those countries remain in the seven-year cohort.","state":"conditional","sourceIds":["ranks2140-cr-constitution","ranks2140-cr-naturalisation-regulation"],"locator":"Constitution Article 14(2)–(3), printed p.5; Regulation Article 9(b.1)–(b.2), printed p.9.","constraint":{"value":7,"unit":"years","basis":"legal_residence","cohort":"Ordinary residence applicants other than the specified Central American, Spanish and Ibero-American nationals by birth, who have a five-year period."}},{"id":"cr-cit-continuity","label":"Status and actual residence are checked","text":"The calculation begins with grant of the relevant immigration status; migration records and supplementary evidence establish residence. In principle, an absence exceeding three months interrupts the count and it restarts on re-entry, but the regulation requires consideration of the particular case.","state":"conditional","sourceIds":["ranks2140-cr-naturalisation-regulation"],"locator":"Articles 11 and 115(a), (b), (i), printed pp.10, 54–55."},{"id":"cr-cit-tests","label":"Spanish, history and values with exemptions","text":"Applicants normally demonstrate speaking, reading and writing Spanish and knowledge of Costa Rican history and values through Ministry of Education exams or recognised Costa Rican studies. TSE lists exemptions for older adults and medically certified permanent health or cognitive impediments that prevent testing. No CEFR level is specified.","state":"conditional","sourceIds":["ranks2140-cr-residence-requirements"],"locator":"Naturalisation by residence requirements, item 7, printed p.3."},{"id":"cr-cit-conduct-means","label":"Conduct, means and background evidence","text":"Good conduct and a known occupation or means of support are required. The procedure calls for two witnesses and documentary means-of-life evidence, together with the applicable foreign criminal-record certificate and a declaration concerning repeated contraventions.","state":"conditional","sourceIds":["ranks2140-cr-constitution","ranks2140-cr-residence-requirements"],"locator":"Constitution Article 15, printed p.6; requirements items 5–6, 8 and 10, printed pp.2–4."},{"id":"cr-cit-declarations","label":"Renunciation wording and acquired nationality differ","text":"The application must promise continued regular, stable residence, swear respect for the constitutional order, and declare renunciation of former nationality unless a dual-nationality treaty applies. Separately, Costa Rican nationality is constitutionally non-losable and non-renounceable. The declaration's foreign-law effect is not established by those provisions.","state":"conditional","sourceIds":["ranks2140-cr-naturalisation-regulation","ranks2140-cr-constitution"],"locator":"Regulation Articles 7 and 8(h)–(j), printed pp.7–8; Constitution Articles 15–16, printed p.6."}],"limits":["Official residence and demonstrated continuity are not represented as merely holding a permanent permit or accumulating tourist visits.","The exam-exemption summary follows TSE's current requirements sheet; the regulation's Article 124 uses the wording mayor de 65 años, so an exact birthday boundary is not simplified here.","No CEFR level or universal waiver for all Spanish speakers is inferred.","The renunciation declaration is stated as the regulation's requirement, not as a conclusion that another nationality is automatically lost."],"review":{"decision":"approved","reviewer":"/root/top20_korea_finland","reviewedAt":"2026-09-22","recheckBy":"2026-12-21","candidateSha256":"81393c104eaafb634456e980cd650ba4790271543a0b2e03a3f4a3cd8385f2dc","notes":"Independently read all 21 registered official authorities and relevant operative clauses for six topics and 35 facts. Approved after the author corrected the Mexican SRE requirement locators and restored Uruguay's rebuttable, non-separated-spouse family presumption and permanent-establishment exclusion from the general IRNR statement. Verified current Costa Rican SINALEVI law version 83 of 83, Uruguay's operative 2026 foreign-income expansion and separate arrival-cohort election, and the scoped nationality/renunciation distinctions. Exact-byte approval; see the matching review-notes for source editions, access methods, limitations and monitoring. No publication or deployment."},"url":"https://multipassrank.com/passport/costa-rica/citizenship","disclaimer":"General information, not legal advice or a finding of eligibility. Requirements depend on the route, applicant and filing date. Verify the official instructions before applying."},{"code":"CR","topic":"taxes","title":"Tax domicile and Costa Rican-source income","summary":"Personal taxation is principally source-based rather than citizenship-based. Tax domicile includes a presence test, while foreign-source passive-income rules for certain multinational entities must not be misapplied as a general worldwide rule for individuals.","scope":"Ordinary individual income-tax domicile, source rules and treaty interaction; excludes company structures, special immigration tax incentives and rates.","jurisdiction":"Costa Rica — national income tax","facts":[{"id":"cr-tax-residence","label":"Domicile includes more than 183 days","text":"Individuals are domiciled for income tax when present for more than 183 days, continuously or not, in the relevant fiscal period, including entry and exit days. Sporadic absences up to 30 consecutive days count unless foreign tax residence is certified; longer absences do not.","state":"conditional","sourceIds":["ranks2140-cr-tax-regulation"],"locator":"Income Tax Regulation Article 10(1)(a), first five paragraphs."},{"id":"cr-tax-period-officials","label":"The period and official-service rules matter","text":"For income taxes other than the profits tax with nonannual assessment periods, the presence window is the twelve months before assessment. Individuals holding official posts or representations abroad paid by Costa Rica's state, public bodies or municipalities are also treated as domiciled.","state":"conditional","sourceIds":["ranks2140-cr-tax-regulation"],"locator":"Income Tax Regulation Article 10(1)(a), final paragraph, and Article 10(1)(b)."},{"id":"cr-tax-source","label":"Source, not nationality, is central","text":"The profits-tax baseline covers domestic-source activity. The law defines Costa Rican source by services performed, assets situated, capital invested and rights used in national territory, independently of nationality or domicile. Capital-income and realised-gain taxation also follows the statutory territorial definition.","state":"conditional","sourceIds":["ranks2140-cr-income-tax"],"locator":"Income Tax Law Articles 1 and 27–27-bis, version 83 of 83."},{"id":"cr-tax-foreign","label":"Foreign passive-income reform is limited","text":"The exception for listed foreign passive income applies to nonqualified entities belonging to multinational groups. Article 27 otherwise excludes the relevant capital income generated abroad, even with Costa Rican-source capital. This is not a general worldwide-income rule for resident individuals.","state":"conditional","sourceIds":["ranks2140-cr-income-tax"],"locator":"Income Tax Law Article 1, foreign passive-income paragraphs, and Article 27, third paragraph, incorporating Law 10381."},{"id":"cr-tax-nonresident","label":"Nonresidents can still owe source tax","text":"Costa Rican-source income paid, credited or made available to foreign-domiciled recipients can trigger outward-remittance tax and payer obligations. Capital gains of non-domiciled owners instead follow the capital-gains chapter, with applicable withholding, rather than automatically the remittance-tax rules.","state":"conditional","sourceIds":["ranks2140-cr-income-tax","ranks2140-cr-tax-regulation"],"locator":"Income Tax Law Articles 52–53 and 56–57; Income Tax Regulation Article 52."},{"id":"cr-tax-treaty","label":"Treaty relief is not automatic","text":"Hacienda's treaty guide requires an effective applicable convention, the appropriate income article and evidence of tax residence for the relevant period. A treaty does not mean total exemption; the taxpayer must establish entitlement and retain supporting evidence.","state":"conditional","sourceIds":["ranks2140-cr-tax-treaties"],"locator":"Guide sections 5.2.2–5.2.6, printed pp.5–7."}],"limits":["Tax domicile is not determined solely by citizenship or immigration residence status.","An overseas payer or bank account does not itself establish foreign source; income classification and special source provisions must be examined.","This summary does not model investment, corporate-substance, digital-nomad or other special regimes, nor promise a foreign-tax credit on untaxed income.","The treaty guide is explicitly the April 2022 edition; it is used for general application principles, not as a complete current treaty inventory."],"review":{"decision":"approved","reviewer":"/root/top20_korea_finland","reviewedAt":"2026-09-22","recheckBy":"2026-12-21","candidateSha256":"81393c104eaafb634456e980cd650ba4790271543a0b2e03a3f4a3cd8385f2dc","notes":"Independently read all 21 registered official authorities and relevant operative clauses for six topics and 35 facts. Approved after the author corrected the Mexican SRE requirement locators and restored Uruguay's rebuttable, non-separated-spouse family presumption and permanent-establishment exclusion from the general IRNR statement. Verified current Costa Rican SINALEVI law version 83 of 83, Uruguay's operative 2026 foreign-income expansion and separate arrival-cohort election, and the scoped nationality/renunciation distinctions. Exact-byte approval; see the matching review-notes for source editions, access methods, limitations and monitoring. No publication or deployment."},"url":"https://multipassrank.com/passport/costa-rica/taxes","disclaimer":"General information, not personal tax advice. Nationality, tax residence and source of income are different questions. Consult the tax authority or a qualified adviser for your circumstances."}],"sources":[{"id":"ranks2140-cr-constitution","publisher":"Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones","title":"Political Constitution — current TSE consolidation","url":"https://www.tse.go.cr/pdf/normativa/constitucion.pdf","language":"es","retrievedAt":"2026-09-22"},{"id":"ranks2140-cr-naturalisation-regulation","publisher":"Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones","title":"Naturalisation regulation — Decree 12-2012 and amendments","url":"https://www.tse.go.cr/pdf/normativa/reglamentorelativotramitesnaturalizacion.pdf","language":"es","retrievedAt":"2026-09-22"},{"id":"ranks2140-cr-residence-requirements","publisher":"Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones","title":"Naturalisation by residence — Law 1155 requirements","url":"https://tse.go.cr/infoconsuladostse/Requisitos/Naturalizaci%C3%B3n%20por%20residencia%20(Ley%201155).pdf","language":"es","retrievedAt":"2026-09-22"},{"id":"ranks2140-cr-income-tax","publisher":"Procuraduría General de la República — SINALEVI","title":"Income Tax Law 7092 — version 83 of 83, 13 November 2025","url":"https://sinalevi.go.cr/ResultadosNormativa/Informacion?param1=10969&param2=148972&param3=1","language":"es","retrievedAt":"2026-09-22"},{"id":"ranks2140-cr-tax-regulation","publisher":"Procuraduría General de la República — SINALEVI","title":"Income Tax Regulation 43198-H — version 5 of 5, 15 November 2023","url":"https://sinalevi.go.cr/ResultadosNormativa/Informacion?param1=95992&param2=139872&param3=1","language":"es","retrievedAt":"2026-09-22"},{"id":"ranks2140-cr-tax-treaties","publisher":"Ministerio de Hacienda — Dirección General de Tributación","title":"Guide to applying double-taxation conventions — April 2022, version 01","url":"https://www.hacienda.go.cr/docs/DGT-357-2022AnexoGuiaMH-DGT-PRO05-GUI-002.pdf","language":"es","retrievedAt":"2026-09-22"}],"indicators":{"scope":"These describe the publisher's statistical geography, not benefits acquired by holding its passport. Values from different years are not a like-for-like ranking. No combined quality-of-life score is calculated.","review":{"decision":"approved","reviewer":"/root/review_pass412","reviewedAt":"2026-09-22","recheckBy":"2026-12-21","candidateSha256":"39a387a50a2aabd1d22f731ee6cac6f5c5ca947272add45f874774511443a18c","notes":"Independently fetched the exact UNDP CSV, complete World Bank series and geography-registry responses, and parsed them using Ruby standard CSV/JSON rather than the author's parser. All 146 outcomes across 73 geographies match: 140 exact native values with provider names and years, and six explicit source-specific nulls (MC/MO HDI; VA/TW both). All ISO mappings and non-aggregate scopes checked, with absent registry entities explicitly qualified. Verified HDR2025/2023 latest HDI, WDI2024 observations and 2026-07-13 update, source licences, attribution, rounding disclosures and no endorsement. The initial candidate's decoded-text UNDP hash was held; this replacement preserves all independently checked observations, records explicit encodings and matches the independently downloaded original bytes: UNDP 61ed82e5b66c88dfca8ff9fac775c63981ecab6a254862af97acacc41c143117, WDI 19be3c9b22cbba7a453233aa0f98f86f0ca1437667a57e91e899d9d43e8a5784, registry d29d57f8adf954c5e2a1520a02fb2c7b45575d8db3bd327a9dff47d66914231c. Approval binds only these replacement candidate bytes; historic approvals remain unchanged."},"coverage":"reviewed_scope","observations":[{"code":"CR","providerEntityCode":"CRI","providerEntityName":"Costa Rica","geographicScope":"Publisher-reported national statistical geography; not every overseas territory or citizen abroad","metric":"hdi","sourceId":"undp-hdr2025","period":"2023","value":0.833,"availability":"available","definition":{"label":"Human Development Index","unit":"0–1","precision":3,"description":"UNDP's development measure; not a passport or relocation score."},"source":{"id":"undp-hdr2025","publisher":"UNDP","attribution":"UNDP Human Development Report 2025, composite indices time series. Selected observations; display rounded to three decimals. No endorsement implied.","title":"Human Development Index","url":"https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/documentation-and-downloads","dataUrl":"https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2025_HDR/HDR25_Composite_indices_complete_time_series.csv","licenceUrl":"https://hdr.undp.org/terms-use","licence":"CC BY 3.0 IGO","edition":"Human Development Report 2025","sourceSha256":"61ed82e5b66c88dfca8ff9fac775c63981ecab6a254862af97acacc41c143117","dataEncoding":"windows-1252"}},{"code":"CR","providerEntityCode":"CRI","providerEntityName":"Costa Rica","geographicScope":"Publisher-reported national statistical geography; not every overseas territory or citizen abroad","metric":"life_expectancy","sourceId":"wb-life","period":"2024","value":80.996,"availability":"available","definition":{"label":"Life expectancy at birth","unit":"years","precision":1,"description":"Population-level period estimate; not an individual prediction or healthcare-access rating."},"source":{"id":"wb-life","publisher":"World Bank","attribution":"World Bank: World Development Indicators, SP.DYN.LE00.IN; UN World Population Prospects, national statistical offices and Eurostat. Selected observations; display rounded to one decimal. No endorsement implied.","title":"Life expectancy at birth, total","url":"https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN","dataUrl":"https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/all/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?format=json&date=2020:2026&per_page=20000","licenceUrl":"https://data.worldbank.org/summary-terms-of-use","licence":"CC BY 4.0 with World Bank additional terms","edition":"World Development Indicators, updated 2026-07-13","sourceSha256":"19be3c9b22cbba7a453233aa0f98f86f0ca1437667a57e91e899d9d43e8a5784","dataEncoding":"utf-8","geographyUrl":"https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/all?format=json&per_page=400","geographySha256":"d29d57f8adf954c5e2a1520a02fb2c7b45575d8db3bd327a9dff47d66914231c"}}]}}