Costa Rica visas, from Pakistan.

The visitor route for Pakistani nationals, who sit in Costa Rica's restricted group. The consulate cannot decide alone — the file goes to the Visa Commission in San Jose. Approval normally means a single entry, with the immigration officer granting up to 30 days, extendable at DGME's discretion. The same visa covers business meetings, trade fairs and supplier audits; only the supporting documents change, and it never permits paid work for a Costa Rican employer.

• Passport valid at least 6 months beyond travel with two blank pages
• Consular application form plus prior authorisation from the Comision de Visas Restringidas y Refugio, San Jose
• Confirmed return or onward ticket and paid accommodation for every night of the stay
• Bank statements for the last 6 months — the legal floor is US$100 for each month of intended stay, but consulates expect a substantially healthier balance
• Pakistani employment or business proof: leave letter and salary slips, or company registration and tax returns
• Police character certificate, and for a hosted or business trip an invitation letter with the host's cedula or the company's personeria juridica

Needed by restricted nationalities passing through Costa Rican territory en route elsewhere, because most connections at San Jose require clearing immigration. It carries the same San Jose authorisation step as any restricted visa, so in practice many clients simply reroute through a hub where they already hold a visa.

• Confirmed onward ticket departing within the permitted transit window
• Valid visa or residence permit for the final destination country
• Passport valid at least 6 months with blank pages
• Prior authorisation from the Comision de Visas Restringidas y Refugio, as for any restricted nationality

Costa Rica's single study status, covering degree, postgraduate and doctoral students as well as enrolment at institutions recognised by CONESUP, CONARE or MEP, including accredited Spanish-language schools. Granted for one year at a time, renewable while you remain enrolled, and it carries no work rights.

• Acceptance letter and enrolment certificate from a CONESUP, CONARE or MEP-recognised institution, showing the programme and its duration
• Proof of funds for tuition and living costs — 6 months of bank statements or a scholarship award letter
• Birth certificate and Pakistani police character certificate, apostilled (or consular-legalised) and translated into Spanish by a translator accredited by Costa Rica's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Fingerprinting at the Ministerio de Seguridad Publica in San Jose and proof of medical insurance valid in Costa Rica
• Restricted-nationality consular visa obtained before travel

The employer-sponsored special category for a named job with a named employer. Costa Rica protects its labour market firmly, so the employer must show the post cannot be filled by a Costa Rican or an existing resident. Changing employer or role means a fresh application.

• Signed employment contract stating job title, salary and duration, filed with DGME sponsorship by the Costa Rican employer
• Labour-market recommendation from the Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social confirming no local candidate is available
• Employer's CCSS registration number and certificate showing contributions are current
• Degrees, diplomas and experience letters apostilled and officially translated into Spanish
• Pakistani police character certificate and birth certificate, apostilled and translated

Temporary residence for legal representatives, managers and technical staff of a company established in Costa Rica — the practical intra-company transfer route for a firm setting up or expanding there, free-zone operations included.

• Costa Rican company's personeria juridica and Registro Nacional extract, with proof of paid-in capital and real operating activity
• Board resolution or appointment letter naming you as representative, manager or technical specialist, with your salary
• Company certificate showing CCSS contributions and tax filings are current
• Pakistani police character certificate and birth certificate, apostilled and translated into Spanish
• Renewed in one- to two-year blocks; three continuous years qualifies you to apply for permanent residence

Temporary residence for specialists, researchers, academics and qualified professionals contracted by a Costa Rican company, university or public body. This is the closest Costa Rica comes to a skilled-worker route, and it still depends on a specific contract.

• Contract or formal invitation from the Costa Rican employer, university or institution setting out the role and pay
• Degrees apostilled and translated, with convalidacion by a Costa Rican university where the profession is regulated
• Registration or endorsement from the relevant colegio profesional for regulated professions
• Ministerio de Trabajo opinion confirming the specialised nature of the post
• Pakistani police character certificate plus CCSS enrolment once approved

Temporary residence for placing at least US$150,000 in Costa Rica, the threshold set by Law 9996. It is a residency programme, not a passport programme, the investment must still be in place at renewal, and the current minimum should be re-confirmed with DGME before funds move.

• At least US$150,000 in real estate, company shares, a registered business, securities or an approved productive project
• Public deed, Registro Nacional extract, share certificates or a certified public accountant's report evidencing the amount and the source of funds
• Pakistani police character certificate and birth certificate, apostilled and translated into Spanish
• CCSS enrolment on approval, and passport stamps showing at least one entry into Costa Rica during each year of the permit
• Marriage and birth certificates for a spouse and minor children joining as dependants

Two-year renewable residency for people with guaranteed unearned income rather than a pension. You may run your own company or work for yourself and draw dividends, but you cannot hold a job with a Costa Rican employer.

• Letter from a bank guaranteeing US$2,500 a month for 24 months, or evidence of a US$60,000 deposit in an approved Costa Rican bank
• Bank certification, legalised or apostilled, evidencing the source and stability of the funds
• Proof that US$2,500 is exchanged through a Costa Rican bank each month once resident
• Birth, marriage and police character certificates apostilled and translated into Spanish
• CCSS registration and passport evidence of presence in Costa Rica at each renewal

The most straightforward residency Costa Rica offers: a certified pension of US$1,000 a month payable for life secures two-year renewable status for you and your immediate family, and converts to permanent residence after three continuous years.

• Certification from a government or private pension provider confirming at least US$1,000 a month payable for life — lump-sum provident funds and fixed-term annuities do not qualify
• Pension certificate apostilled and translated into Spanish by an accredited translator
• Proof that US$1,000 a month is exchanged through a Costa Rican bank
• Pakistani police character certificate and birth certificate, apostilled and translated
• CCSS enrolment, with spouse and unmarried minor children included as dependants on the same file

A one-year stay permit, renewable once, for remote employees, freelancers and owners of foreign businesses earning entirely outside Costa Rica. Foreign income is not taxed locally and basic work equipment enters duty-free, but it is a stay permit, not residency: it builds no time towards permanent residence.

• Bank statements for the last 12 months showing stable income of at least US$3,000 a month, or US$4,000 if dependants come with you
• Employment contract, client contracts or invoices proving all income arises outside Costa Rica
• Medical insurance valid in Costa Rica for the whole stay with minimum cover of US$50,000
• Online application to DGME with a sworn statement, plus apostilled and translated supporting documents
• At least 180 days spent in Costa Rica during the first year in order to renew for a second
• Consular entry visa arranged with the mission covering Pakistan, as restricted nationality rules still apply

Temporary residence with full work rights for the spouse of a Costa Rican citizen. DGME examines these files closely and interviews both partners to screen out marriages of convenience.

• Marriage certificate registered with the Costa Rican Registro Civil — a Pakistani marriage must be apostilled, translated and inscribed there first
• Costa Rican spouse's cedula and birth certificate, plus both partners appearing together at DGME
• Pakistani police character certificate and birth certificate, apostilled and translated into Spanish
• Sworn declaration and evidence that the marriage subsists, repeated at each annual renewal
• Permanent residence available after three continuous years of this status

Spouses and minor children of an approved temporary or permanent resident apply as dependants under the principal's category — the normal way rentista, pensionado, investor and work-permit families relocate together.

• Principal applicant's approved or filed residence in a qualifying category
• Apostilled and translated marriage certificate for a spouse, or birth certificates for unmarried children under 18 — older children only exceptionally, with dependency proven
• Evidence the principal's income, pension or investment supports the whole family
• CCSS enrolment covering every dependant
• Dependants have no work rights unless they later qualify in their own category

Residence with unrestricted access to the labour market, reached either by holding any temporary residence for three continuous years or through a first-degree family link to a Costa Rican — which DGME applies to parents, children and siblings of a Costa Rican citizen.

• Three continuous years of temporary residence with every renewal kept current, or documented first-degree link to a Costa Rican
• CCSS statement proving unbroken contributions throughout the temporary period
• Costa Rican Registro Civil certificates for the family link, or apostilled and translated Pakistani civil documents
• Police clearance from both the Costa Rican Registro Judicial and Pakistan
• Free access to the labour market on approval; DIMEX card renewed periodically, commonly every two years