Costa Rica: Residence Card Appointments Suspended Until 2023

• Maintaining valid status. Since foreign nationals will not be able to obtain an initial or renewed DIMEX through the rest of 2022, they must instead book an appointment to obtain or renew their DIMEX with the General Immigration Directorate in 2023. The government will consider all foreign nationals with booked appointments in 2023 as holding valid status.

Foreign nationals without a valid DIMEX may face restrictions in traveling abroad; initiating certain government services, such as obtaining a driver’s license; and initiating financial processes, such as opening a bank account. Foreign nationals should contact their immigration professionals for further advice.

The cancellation of appointments is a result of the ongoing shortage of materials to create government identity documents in 2022. This results from an unprecedented increase in the number of DIMEX that have been issued, largely due to a high volume of refugees entering the country. This has also created a strain on government resources processing these applications.

It is expected that DIMEX issuance for both initial and renewal applicants will resume in 2023 but foreign nationals should expect significant processing delays due to a backlog of appointments at that time.