Costa Rica visa requirements · checked 13 October 2026

Visa & Entry Requirements for Costa Rica

Q: What documents do I need to enter Costa Rica?

Passport validity: It depends on nationality. Travel insurance: No official source we could read states a travel insurance requirement for entering Costa Rica. Return or onward ticket: Under article 42 of Costa Rica's General Migration Law, as set out in its visa directives, foreigners entering must provide a return ticket to their country of origin or an onward ticket, or a navigation plan showing the destination port. Proof of funds: Costa Rica's visa directives list proof of economic means as an entry requirement: at least USD 100 for each month or part of a month of legal stay.

Q: How long can I stay in Costa Rica without a visa?

Usually 180 days (61 passports); visa-free stays range from 30 to 180 days depending on your passport.

Most travellers need a visa for Costa Rica: 103 of 198 passports must apply at an embassy or consulate, while 95 passports enter visa-free.

Costa Rica's visa directives put nationals of countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, EU states, Australia and Japan in the first group, which enters without a visa for up to 180 days, and list as entry requirements proof of economic means of at least USD 100 per month or part of a month of stay and a return or onward ticket. Nationals of countries that need a consular visa may enter without it if they hold a multiple-entry visa or residence of the United States or Canada, a residence of the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland or an EU country, or a multiple-entry Schengen C or D visa.

Check your passport

Your passport

Destination

Passports visa-free

103

Embassy visa required

Do I need a visa for Costa Rica? Quick answers

Another passport? Use the checker or find it in the table below.

Visa for Costa Rica — requirements summary

Visa-free: 95 (48%)
Visa required: 103 (52%)

All travellers must meet the entry rules set by Costa Rica, and they depend on your nationality. Find your passport below — you may be able to enter visa-free, or need an eVisa, a visa on arrival or a visa from an embassy.

Passport	Requirement	Max stay	Details
Afghanistan	Visa required	—	Details →
Albania	Visa required	—	Details →
Algeria	Visa required	—	Details →
Andorra	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Angola	Visa required	—	Details →
Antigua and Barbuda	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Argentina	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Armenia	Visa required	—	Details →
Australia	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Austria	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Azerbaijan	Visa required	—	Details →
Bahamas	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Bahrain	Visa required	—	Details →
Bangladesh	Visa required	—	Details →
Barbados	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Belarus	Visa required	—	Details →
Belgium	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Belize	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Benin	Visa required	—	Details →
Bhutan	Visa required	—	Details →
Bolivia	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Visa required	—	Details →
Botswana	Visa required	—	Details →
Brazil	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Brunei	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Bulgaria	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Burkina Faso	Visa required	—	Details →
Burundi	Visa required	—	Details →
Cambodia	Visa required	—	Details →
Cameroon	Visa required	—	Details →
Canada	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Cape Verde	Visa required	—	Details →
Central African Republic	Visa required	—	Details →
Chad	Visa required	—	Details →
Chile	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
China	Visa required	—	Details →
Colombia	Visa required	—	Details →
Comoros	Visa required	—	Details →
Côte d'Ivoire	Visa required	—	Details →
Croatia	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Cuba	Visa required	—	Details →
Cyprus	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Czechia	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Denmark	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Djibouti	Visa required	—	Details →
Dominica	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Dominican Republic	Visa required	—	Details →
DR Congo	Visa required	—	Details →
Ecuador	Visa required	—	Details →
Egypt	Visa required	—	Details →
El Salvador	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Equatorial Guinea	Visa required	—	Details →
Eritrea	Visa required	—	Details →
Estonia	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Eswatini	Visa required	—	Details →
Ethiopia	Visa required	—	Details →
Fiji	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Finland	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
France	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Gabon	Visa required	—	Details →
Gambia	Visa required	—	Details →
Georgia	Visa required	—	Details →
Germany	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Ghana	Visa required	—	Details →
Greece	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Grenada	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Guatemala	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Guinea	Visa required	—	Details →
Guinea-Bissau	Visa required	—	Details →
Guyana	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Haiti	Visa required	—	Details →
Honduras	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Hong Kong	Visa required	—	Details →
Hungary	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Iceland	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
India	Visa required	—	Details →
Indonesia	Visa required	—	Details →
Iran	Visa required	—	Details →
Iraq	Visa required	—	Details →
Ireland	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Israel	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Italy	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Jamaica	Visa required	—	Details →
Japan	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Jordan	Visa required	—	Details →
Kazakhstan	Visa required	—	Details →
Kenya	Visa required	—	Details →
Kiribati	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Kosovo	Visa required	—	Details →
Kuwait	Visa required	—	Details →
Kyrgyzstan	Visa required	—	Details →
Laos	Visa required	—	Details →
Latvia	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Lebanon	Visa required	—	Details →
Lesotho	Visa required	—	Details →
Liberia	Visa required	—	Details →
Libya	Visa required	—	Details →
Liechtenstein	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Lithuania	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Luxembourg	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Macau	Visa required	—	Details →
Madagascar	Visa required	—	Details →
Malawi	Visa required	—	Details →
Malaysia	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Maldives	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Mali	Visa required	—	Details →
Malta	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Marshall Islands	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Mauritania	Visa required	—	Details →
Mauritius	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Mexico	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Micronesia	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Moldova	Visa required	—	Details →
Monaco	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Mongolia	Visa required	—	Details →
Montenegro	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Morocco	Visa required	—	Details →
Mozambique	Visa required	—	Details →
Myanmar	Visa required	—	Details →
Namibia	Visa required	—	Details →
Nauru	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Nepal	Visa required	—	Details →
Netherlands	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
New Zealand	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Nicaragua	Visa required	—	Details →
Niger	Visa required	—	Details →
Nigeria	Visa required	—	Details →
North Korea	Visa required	—	Details →
North Macedonia	Visa required	—	Details →
Norway	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Oman	Visa required	—	Details →
Pakistan	Visa required	—	Details →
Palau	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Palestine	Visa required	—	Details →
Panama	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Papua New Guinea	Visa required	—	Details →
Paraguay	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Peru	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Philippines	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Poland	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Portugal	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Qatar	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Republic of the Congo	Visa required	—	Details →
Romania	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Russia	Visa-free	90 days	Details →
Rwanda	Visa required	—	Details →
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Saint Lucia	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Samoa	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
San Marino	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Sao Tome and Principe	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Saudi Arabia	Visa required	—	Details →
Senegal	Visa required	—	Details →
Serbia	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Seychelles	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Sierra Leone	Visa required	—	Details →
Singapore	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Slovakia	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Slovenia	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Solomon Islands	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Somalia	Visa required	—	Details →
South Africa	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
South Korea	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
South Sudan	Visa required	—	Details →
Spain	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Sri Lanka	Visa required	—	Details →
Sudan	Visa required	—	Details →
Suriname	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Sweden	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Switzerland	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Syria	Visa required	—	Details →
Taiwan	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Tajikistan	Visa required	—	Details →
Tanzania	Visa required	—	Details →
Thailand	Visa required	—	Details →
Timor-Leste	Visa required	—	Details →
Togo	Visa required	—	Details →
Tonga	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Trinidad and Tobago	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Tunisia	Visa required	—	Details →
Türkiye	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Turkmenistan	Visa required	—	Details →
Tuvalu	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Uganda	Visa required	—	Details →
Ukraine	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
United Arab Emirates	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
United Kingdom	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
United States	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Uruguay	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Uzbekistan	Visa required	—	Details →
Vanuatu	Visa-free	30 days	Details →
Vatican City	Visa-free	180 days	Details →
Venezuela	Visa required	—	Details →
Vietnam	Visa required	—	Details →
Yemen	Visa required	—	Details →
Zambia	Visa required	—	Details →
Zimbabwe	Visa required	—	Details →

Costa Rica visa types, fees and processing times

Consular Tourist Visa

Embassy

Fee: 30 USD
Max stay: 30 days
Entries: Single
Extension: Possible

Consular tariff for granting a consular visa. Costa Rica's foreign ministry tariff sets USD 50 for a visa consulted with and authorized by the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, and USD 100 for a multiple-entry visa it authorizes.

Official application site →

Entry requirements for Costa Rica

Passport validity

90 days

It depends on nationality. Costa Rica's visa directives set a minimum passport validity of one day for the first group (including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, EU states, Australia and Japan), with the stay granted not running beyond the passport's validity; 90 days for the second group; and 180 days for nationalities that need a consular visa. Salvadoran nationals may enter with a passport valid up to its expiry date, and the stay granted will not run beyond the passport's validity.

Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería — Directrices Generales de Visas de Ingreso y Permanencia para No Residentes (November 2025)✓ Checked 2 Oct 2026

Vaccinations: Yellow fever

10 days

Costa Rica's health ministry makes yellow fever vaccination mandatory at least 10 days before entry for anyone coming from a country on its list of countries with active transmission: in the Americas Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, and in Africa countries including Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Ministerio de Salud de Costa Rica — Resolución DM-RC-2214-2024: list of yellow fever risk countries✓ Checked 3 Oct 2026

Travel insurance

No official source we could read states a travel insurance requirement for entering Costa Rica. The entry requirements in Costa Rica's visa directives are a valid passport, a visa where required, proof of economic means, a return or onward ticket, and no entry ban.

Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería — Directrices Generales de Visas de Ingreso y Permanencia para No Residentes (November 2025)✓ Checked 2 Oct 2026

Return or onward ticket

Under article 42 of Costa Rica's General Migration Law, as set out in its visa directives, foreigners entering must provide a return ticket to their country of origin or an onward ticket, or a navigation plan showing the destination port.

Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería — Directrices Generales de Visas de Ingreso y Permanencia para No Residentes (November 2025)✓ Checked 2 Oct 2026

Proof of funds

USD 100

Costa Rica's visa directives list proof of economic means as an entry requirement: at least USD 100 for each month or part of a month of legal stay.

Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería — Directrices Generales de Visas de Ingreso y Permanencia para No Residentes (November 2025)✓ Checked 2 Oct 2026

Overstay penalties

180-day

The UK government says Costa Rican immigration authorities can fine overstayers 100 US dollars for each month and refuse their future applications to enter Costa Rica. The Canadian government says overstaying the authorized 180-day period may lead to deportation, and deported persons are not allowed to re-enter for 5 to 10 years.

UK FCDO — Costa Rica travel advice: Entry requirements✓ Checked 13 Oct 2026

Customs allowances

The UK Foreign Office says cash, traveller's cheques or goods worth 10,000 US dollars or more must be declared, that you will get a certified declaration showing you brought them in, and that without it your money or goods could be seized when you leave.

UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office — Costa Rica travel advice: entry requirements✓ Checked 13 Oct 2026

Costa Rica visa requirements statistics

198

Passports covered

103

Most common: Visa required

Least common: Visa-free

48%

Visa-free access

Visa-free stays by length

180 days · 61 passports
90 days · 1 passport
30 days · 33 passports

Understanding Costa Rica visa requirements

We track the entry rules of Costa Rica for 198 passports. The most common situation is visa required, which applies to 103 passports (52%). 48% of passports can enter without a visa. The least common is visa-free (95 passports).

Entry categories for Costa Rica

Visa-free entry: 95 passports can enter without a visa, for stays from 30 to 180 days.
Visa required: 103 passports must apply at an embassy or consulate.

What else you need to enter Costa Rica

Passport validity: It depends on nationality.
Travel insurance: No official source we could read states a travel insurance requirement for entering Costa Rica.
Return or onward ticket: Under article 42 of Costa Rica's General Migration Law, as set out in its visa directives, foreigners entering must provide a return ticket to their country of origin or an onward ticket, or a navigation plan showing the destination port.
Proof of funds: Costa Rica's visa directives list proof of economic means as an entry requirement: at least USD 100 for each month or part of a month of legal stay.

Open your passport in the table for the exact rules — maximum stay, fees, how to apply and the official source. Entry rules change at short notice: confirm with the embassy of Costa Rica or its official immigration website before you travel.

Frequently asked questions about Costa Rica visas

Do I need a visa for Costa Rica?

Most travellers need a visa for Costa Rica: 103 of 198 passports must apply at an embassy or consulate, while 95 passports enter visa-free. It depends on your passport — check yours.

Do US citizens need a visa for Costa Rica?

No. Costa Rica's visa directives put the United States in the first group, which enters without a visa for up to 180 days, with a minimum passport validity of one day; the stay granted by the immigration officer will not run beyond the passport's validity. The entry requirements include proof of economic means of at least USD 100 per month or part of a month of stay and a return or onward ticket.

How long can tourists stay in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica's visa directives say first-group nationals (including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, EU states and Japan) can stay up to 180 days and second-group nationals up to 30 days, extendable to a total of 90 days; the immigration officer at entry decides the stay granted.

Can I enter Costa Rica with a US or Schengen visa instead of a Costa Rican visa?

Yes, if you hold one of the documents Costa Rica's visa directives accept: a multiple-entry visa or residence of the United States or Canada valid for at least 1 day (US C1, C2 and C3 transit visas are not accepted), a residence of the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland or an EU country that allows multiple entries or is valid for at least 90 days, or a multiple-entry Schengen C or D visa. With a US or Canadian visa or residence, the stay granted will not run beyond its validity.

Do I need a yellow fever vaccination for Costa Rica?

Only if you come from a country on Costa Rica's list of countries with active yellow fever transmission: in the Americas Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, plus the African countries on the same list. Costa Rica's health ministry says vaccination is mandatory at least 10 days before entry for anyone coming from those countries.

Do I have to pay a departure tax when leaving Costa Rica?

The UK government says that when leaving by air you may need to pay a departure tax of USD 29, that most airlines include it in the ticket price, and that if you have to pay it you can use cash or card. No official source we could read states the tax for leaving overland.

Do UK citizens need a visa for Costa Rica?

UK citizens can visit Costa Rica visa-free for 180 days. Full rules for United Kingdom passport holders.

Do German citizens need a visa for Costa Rica?

German citizens can visit Costa Rica visa-free for 180 days. Full rules for Germany passport holders.

What documents do I need to enter Costa Rica?

Passport validity: It depends on nationality. Travel insurance: No official source we could read states a travel insurance requirement for entering Costa Rica. Return or onward ticket: Under article 42 of Costa Rica's General Migration Law, as set out in its visa directives, foreigners entering must provide a return ticket to their country of origin or an onward ticket, or a navigation plan showing the destination port. Proof of funds: Costa Rica's visa directives list proof of economic means as an entry requirement: at least USD 100 for each month or part of a month of legal stay.

How long can I stay in Costa Rica without a visa?

Usually 180 days (61 passports); visa-free stays range from 30 to 180 days depending on your passport.

How many countries can visit Costa Rica without a visa?

95 of 198 passports can enter Costa Rica visa-free (48%). and 103 need a visa from an embassy.

Data: TravelRequirements.info — Entry Requirements Dataset, AXG Sp. z o.o. (CC BY 4.0) — official sources are linked on each passport page. Gaps filled from the Passport Index dataset (MIT).

Check other requirements

Travelling from Costa Rica?

Where can Costa Rica citizens travel visa-free?

Costa Rica passport holders can visit 91 countries without a visa. Open a country for the exact rules.

Map and full list →