How To Renew Your Costa Rica Residency On Your Own

If you too are an expat (like me) living in Costa Rica, you would relate when I say that we always have to be up to date with our documentation. Sometimes it’s your Driver’s license, your residency, or even your passport renewal. And if you fall under a “special category” like me, you must renew your residency yearly. Yes, you read it right, every 12 months! I will talk about the special category in detail later on in the blog.

For now, I have a question to ask you. Is the validity of your DIMEX ending soon? Then you must prepare to account for the hefty cost that it entails - the renewal cost plus the lawyer fee. But what if I told you that you can do it yourself, without hiring a lawyer!

Wouldn’t that be great? Not only will it save you money, but also time and effort. Lawyers sometimes take time to book appointments and you need to follow up with them quite a few times to ensure everything is on track.

Difference in the Cost of Costa Rica Residency Renewal - Lawyer vs Self

First, let’s see how you will save money if you renew the residency on your own. For this, let’s compare the quote that a lawyer will most likely give you versus what you will incur if you directly do it with BCR.

My residency was expiring in March 2024, so I had to book an appointment for its renewal. Above is a screenshot of the quote the lawyer gave me in January 2024. As you can see, they were charging me 389$ as lawyer fees, 119$ (98$ + 10$ + 11$) as the renewal charges by the bank, and 20$ for courier service charges. A total of 528$.

Upon some negotiation, the lawyers came down to 400$ something. I still thought it was very expensive so I decided to do some research. Upon speaking with a few people from the Indian community and reading some articles, I found out that the process of renewing the residency with the bank is quite simple!

So I sent the bank an email. They replied promptly and the cost that they mentioned was just 119$ (98$ + 10$ + 11$). That’s the difference in the cost between the 2 options, a whopping 389$!

How to Book an Appointment for Costa Rica Residency Renewal

You need to directly book an appointment with BCR (Banco de Costa Rica). For this, you have to send an email to CitasPuntoPais@bancobcr.com along with a copy of your DIMEX. They will then email you back asking for a few details like your full name, telephone number, type of residency, which office you want to visit, expiry date of DIMEX, etc.

Once you reply to the email, they will book an appointment for you and send you an email with the appointment information within a few hours. They also mention the documents that you need to bring and the cost of renewal. As of February 2025, your appointment date may be up to a month from the time you sent an email to the bank for the appointment.

The only documents that you need to present on the day of the appointment are your current DIMEX or passport (if you do not have a DIMEX), your CCSS (social security) number, and your parents’ names written on a piece of paper. Your CCSS should be up to date. Please note that the bank only accepts payment in cash or via a BCR card. You need to pay cash in colones only, and cannot pay in dollars or swipe any other bank card. You need to be present at the bank 15 minutes prior to your appointment.

Cost of Costa Rica Residency Renewal

As mentioned above, I have a “special category” status. You get a “special category” when you come to the country as a dependent of a Permanent Resident. And this category requires you to renew your DIMEX every year. Therefore, I had to renew my residency this year, too, in January 2025. The bank charged me 130$ as DIMEX fee, 15$ as commission, and 10$ as courier fee as your DIMEX arrives at the Correos of your choice (most likely the nearest one to your house).

Points to note

1. The process of renewing the Costa Rica Residency on your own is quite simple and hassle-free.

   
   

2. The 130$ DIMEX fee is specific to the special category and may vary for other categories like Temporary Resident, Permanent Resident, etc.

   
   

3. Even if you do not speak Spanish, the appointment is manageable using a translator.

   
   

4. Once your appointment at the BCR is done, the DIMEX will arrive at the correos in between 20-30 days.