How to Immigrate from Costa Rica to the United States

To immigrate from Costa Rica to the United States, you generally need a U.S.-based sponsor — a family member, an employer, or in some cases yourself as an investor or high-achieving professional — to file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), after which your case moves to the U.S. Embassy in San José for a consular interview and visa issuance.¹ A fourth route, the Diversity Visa lottery, needs no sponsor at all but depends on random selection. Every path has its own eligibility rules, waiting times, and fees, and the total process from petition to green card commonly runs between one year and many years depending on the category.

Family Sponsorship

Family-based immigration is the most common route for Costa Ricans. It begins when a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (LPR) files Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with USCIS to establish the qualifying relationship.² Filing the petition, and even having it approved, does not give the Costa Rican relative any status on its own. It puts them in line for a visa.

How long that line takes depends entirely on the family category. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens — spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of a citizen who is at least 21 — face no annual numerical cap, so a visa is always available and the case moves as fast as the paperwork.³

Everyone else falls into preference categories with annual quotas and often long waits. These cover adult married and unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, spouses and children of LPRs, and siblings of U.S. citizens. Each applicant is assigned a priority date and must wait for the Department of State’s monthly Visa Bulletin to show that date as current before they can proceed to the interview.⁴ For siblings of U.S. citizens, waits of 15 to 20 years are not unusual.

Employment and Investment

Permanent residency through work is organized into five preference categories. Most require a U.S. employer to sponsor you, though a few paths allow self-petitioning.

EB-1: Extraordinary Ability, Professors, and Executives

EB-1 is for people at the top of their fields — those with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, business, education, or athletics, along with outstanding professors and researchers and certain multinational executives. Applicants in the extraordinary ability track can self-petition without an employer.

EB-2 and EB-3: Advanced Degrees and Skilled Workers

EB-2 covers professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability. Most EB-2 filings need an employer sponsor, but the national interest waiver lets applicants self-petition by showing that their work benefits the United States broadly enough to justify skipping the employer step.⁵ EB-3 covers skilled workers with at least two years of training, professionals with bachelor’s degrees, and other workers in unskilled positions. Both employer-sponsored EB-2 and EB-3 require the employer to first obtain a permanent labor certification from the Department of Labor through the PERM process, proving that no qualified U.S. workers are available for the role.⁶

EB-4: Special Immigrants

EB-4 covers a narrower group, including religious workers active in their denomination for at least two years, certain employees of international organizations, and other special classifications. EB-4 applicants file Form I-360 and in many cases can petition on their own.

EB-5: Immigrant Investors

The EB-5 program offers permanent residency to foreign nationals who invest in a U.S. commercial enterprise that creates at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers. For petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022, the standard minimum investment is $1,050,000, dropping to $800,000 for investments in a Targeted Employment Area (a rural region or one with high unemployment) or in a qualifying infrastructure project.⁷ These amounts will receive their first inflation adjustment on January 1, 2027.

Costa Ricans also have a treaty-based option that is worth knowing about even though it is not a green card. Under a commerce treaty in place since 1852, Costa Rican citizens qualify for the E-2 treaty investor visa, which lets you live and work in the United States running a business you have invested substantial capital in.⁸ The E-2 does not lead directly to permanent residence, but it can be renewed indefinitely as long as the business keeps operating.

The Diversity Visa Lottery

Costa Rica is on the list of eligible countries for the annual Diversity Visa (DV) lottery, which makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available each year to people from countries with historically low immigration to the United States. Entry is free and selection is random. Winning does not by itself grant a visa — it makes you eligible to apply, and you must complete consular processing before the end of the fiscal year or the opportunity expires.

To be eligible, you need at least a high school diploma or its equivalent, or two years of qualifying work experience within the past five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training.⁹ Registration typically opens in early October for a roughly one-month window, with results announced the following spring.

How the Case Moves Through the San José Embassy

Once USCIS approves the underlying petition, the case transfers to the National Visa Center (NVC). The NVC collects fees and documents, including the electronically filed DS-260 immigrant visa application, and reviews everything for completeness. When the paperwork is in order and a visa number is available, the NVC schedules an interview at the U.S. Embassy in San José.

At the interview, a consular officer reviews your application, examines your original documents, and asks questions to verify your eligibility. Family-based applicants should expect questions about the relationship with the petitioner; employment-based applicants should expect questions about qualifications and the job. The officer may approve the visa on the spot, ask for more documentation, or deny the application with an explanation of the legal grounds. If approved, your passport is returned with the visa inside within a few business days.

Civil Documents You Will Need

Document gathering tends to be the most time-consuming stage. The Department of State requires original or certified copies of a defined set of civil documents.¹⁰

Birth certificates for you and every family member immigrating with you.
Marriage certificates for every marriage, not only the current one.
Proof that every prior marriage ended, whether a final divorce decree, death certificate, or annulment order.
Police certificates from every country where you have lived more than six months since age 16. Costa Rica’s Certificado de Antecedentes Penales is valid for only three months from issuance, so time it close to your interview.¹¹
Certified copies of any criminal conviction records, even after a pardon or amnesty.
Military records for service in any country.
A photocopy of the biographic data page of your passport, for you and each accompanying family member.

Any document not in English needs a certified English translation, including a signed translator’s statement of accuracy and competence. The U.S. Embassy in San José requires civil and financial documents to be uploaded electronically before the interview.¹

Medical Exam and Vaccinations

Every immigrant visa applicant must complete a medical examination with a physician accredited by the U.S. Embassy before the interview. The exam covers a physical evaluation, chest X-ray, blood tests, and a vaccination review, and typically costs between $100 and $500, paid directly to the physician’s office.

U.S. law requires vaccination against a specific list of diseases: mumps, measles, rubella, polio, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae type B, along with any others the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends for the general U.S. population that also address outbreak-prone or eliminated diseases.¹² Vaccines you have already received do not need to be repeated if you can show written proof, and any missing ones can be given at the exam.

The Financial Sponsor Requirement

Most family-based and some employment-based applicants need a financial sponsor in the United States. The sponsor, usually the petitioning relative, files Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, which is a legally binding contract with the U.S. government promising to support the immigrant so they do not rely on public benefits.¹³

The sponsor must show income of at least 125% of the federal poverty guidelines for their household size. For a household of two in 2026, that means at least $27,050 in annual income in the 48 contiguous states.¹⁴ Each additional household member raises the threshold. To prove income, the sponsor submits federal tax returns with W-2s for the most recent tax year, and may add up to three years of returns, recent pay stubs, and an employer letter to strengthen the case.

Some applicants are exempt from the affidavit entirely, including immigrants with 40 qualifying quarters of Social Security work credits and children of U.S. citizens who will automatically acquire citizenship on admission.¹⁵

What It Costs

Immigration involves multiple fees paid to different agencies at different stages. Plan on at least $1,000 to $2,000 per person in government fees alone, not counting any legal assistance.

Immigrant visa application processing through the DS-260: $325 per person, paid to the Department of State.¹⁶
USCIS immigrant fee: $235 per person, paid online after the visa is issued but before traveling. This covers green card production, and the card is not released until the fee is paid.¹⁷
Medical examination: typically $100 to $500, covering the physical, lab work, and any vaccinations.
USCIS petition filing fees: the I-130 family petition and I-140 employment petition each carry separate fees. Check the USCIS fee calculator for current amounts; fees were updated in April 2024 and may change again.

Beyond government fees, expect to spend on certified document copies, translations, and travel to the embassy.

After You Arrive: Conditional Residence and Citizenship

If you receive your green card through marriage and had been married less than two years at the time of approval, your residence is conditional for two years. To keep your status, you must file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, during the 90-day window immediately before the conditional card expires.¹⁸ Missing that window can cost you your status.

Most couples file jointly with evidence that the marriage is genuine: shared leases, joint accounts, insurance policies listing both spouses, photographs together. If the marriage has ended in divorce, if your spouse has died, or if you experienced abuse, you can file individually with a waiver of the joint requirement. Children who received conditional status through the same marriage go on the same petition.

Naturalization comes later. Most permanent residents must hold their green card for five years and be physically present in the United States for at least 30 of those 60 months before filing Form N-400. If you got the green card through marriage to a U.S. citizen and are still living together in a marital union, that requirement drops to three years. You can file up to 90 days early either way. The filing fee is $760 by paper or $710 online.¹⁹ The process includes an interview, an English test in reading, writing, and speaking, and a civics exam on U.S. history and government. Applicants 55 or older with at least 15 years as a permanent resident, or 50 or older with 20 years, may take the civics exam in Spanish. Active-duty military members and certain veterans pay no filing fee.

If You Are Not Ready to Immigrate Permanently

If your goal is a temporary stay for tourism, study, or short-term work rather than permanent residence, the paths above do not apply. Costa Ricans use separate non-immigrant visa categories for those purposes, each with its own requirements, and applicants must show strong ties to Costa Rica indicating they intend to return. Those categories are outside the scope of this guide.

1
U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica. Immigrant Visas
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual – Purpose and Background – Section: Visa Availability for Immediate Relatives and Family-Based Preference Immigrants
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Visa Availability and Priority Dates
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment-Based Immigration Second Preference EB-2 – Section: Labor Certification
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Permanent Labor Certification
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. About the EB-5 Visa Classification
8
U.S. Department of State. Treaty Countries
9
U.S. Department of State. Instructions for the 2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program
10
U.S. Department of State. Civil Documents
11
U.S. Department of State. U.S. Visa Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country – Costa Rica
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Vaccination Requirements
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-864P HHS Poverty Guidelines for Affidavit of Support
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Affidavit of Support
16
U.S. Department of State. Fees for Visa Services
17
U.S. Embassy and Consulates. USCIS Immigrant Fee
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. When to File Your Petition to Remove Conditions
19
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. N-400, Application for Naturalization