The DIMEX Card in Costa Rica: What It Is, What It Costs and How You Get It

What the DIMEX is

DIMEX stands for Documento de Identidad Migratorio para Extranjeros, the identity document for foreigners. For a pensionado, rentista or inversionista, it is the physical proof that your residency was approved. Costa Ricans often call it the cédula de residencia, and English-language guides call it the Costa Rica residency card.

Three points about it matter from the first day:

• It follows approval; it is not the approval. Your residency is granted by a resolution from Migración. The card is issued afterwards, at a separate stage called documentación.
• It is the document you carry. Law 8764 art. 33(2) obliges foreigners in Costa Rica to carry, keep and present, when an authority asks, the documents that prove their identity and their immigration status.
• It expires. A temporary resident's card is valid for two years (Reglamento art. 207), and letting it lapse has legal consequences set out below.

Your passport remains your travel document. The DIMEX does not replace it for entering or leaving the country.

When you get it: the documentation stage

Once the approval resolution is notified, you are documented. For rentistas and pensionados the Reglamento lists what you present, by appointment, at Migración's documentation office or another authorized office (arts. 183 and 184). Migración's 2024 procedural resolution added fingerprints to this stage, which used to be a filing requirement (D.JUR-220-05-2024).

Fees are paid by deposit to the Banco de Costa Rica account published by Migración, in the applicant's own name. A deposit made from someone else's account is refused.

What the card costs

There is no single "DIMEX price." The card is what the approval-stage fees pay for, plus two service charges when it is produced and delivered.

Why a range and not one number. The $25 Fondo Social contribution is not charged the same way to everyone. The Reglamento exempts minors, among others (art. 43), and it applies the contribution differently by category and by dependent status, which is why published guides quote totals anywhere from $95 to $133 without saying why. Guides written before 2025 also use the old $38 Article 251 fee and are $5 low. The cost guide explains the full fee structure.

The Correos fee rose to ₡8,203.50 plus VAT on 12 May 2025, its first increase since 2012. At ₡450 per dollar that is about $21.

CAJA comes before the card

Enrollment in the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social is mandatory for residents, and proof of it is one of the documents you present to be documented (Reglamento arts. 183 and 184). In practice this makes CAJA the first thing to do the day your approval arrives.

You enroll as a voluntary or independent contributor and pay a percentage of the income you declared to Migración. In 2026 a pensionado declaring $1,000 per month pays about $100, and a rentista at the $2,500 minimum about $344. The bands and examples are in the cost guide. Budget one to two months of premiums before the card is in your hand.

Enrollment has to stay continuous. At every renewal you prove it has been uninterrupted since your residency was granted (Reglamento art. 210), so a gap in payments today becomes a renewal problem two years from now.

The guarantee deposit

Article 133 of Law 8764 requires a cash deposit from every approved resident, used to cover deportation costs if the conditions of residency are breached. The law caps it at the price of a one-way ticket to your country in high season, and Migración sets the exact amount in your approval resolution. Budget $300 to $700. Costa Rica Immigration Experts, a local firm, cites about $361 for U.S. and Canadian applicants in 2026.

It is the only refundable payment in the process, and it is returned only on a separate claim, for example when you change category, naturalize or leave the country permanently.

Where the card is printed: same-day at Banco de Costa Rica

For years the card was produced by Migración and collected through Correos de Costa Rica, and the wait after the documentation appointment could be long. In early 2026 it became the bottleneck: on 17 February 2026 Migración reported 20,363 cards pending, according to Semanario Universidad.

Two changes followed:

• A temporary resolution, DJUR-0045-02-2026-JM, in force until 16 February 2027, cut the documents requested for first-time cards, renewals and duplicates to essentials. It is described in the renewal guide.
• Same-day printing at Banco de Costa Rica. Fragomen reported on 10 March 2026 that Migración signed an agreement under which BCR prints and delivers DIMEX cards for first-time applicants whose status has been granted, renewals and duplicates, when biometrics are recorded at an authorized BCR branch. Cards are expected the same day. The exact start date in March was not published.

By August 2026 Migración reported being current on card printing, with more than 2,600 cards uncollected at Correos. If your card was routed through Correos, check whether it is waiting for you.

Timeline from approval to card

The one-to-two-month total is the range practitioners reported in 2026, not an official deadline. The full sequence from filing is in how long residency takes.

What the card does, and what it does not

It proves your status. It is the document that shows an official, a bank or an employer that you are a legal resident, and the one you are legally required to carry (Law 8764 art. 33(2)).

It makes ordinary life easier. Banks open accounts for residents with a DIMEX far more quickly than for non-residents, and once you are a resident you have three months to convert your foreign driver's license at COSEVI, presenting the DIMEX. Both are covered in moving to Costa Rica.

It does not change your conditions. A pensionado, rentista or investor card still carries the work restriction of the category. The notation libre de condición, meaning no restriction on work, appears on permanent residents' cards (permanent residency).

It is not a passport. You travel on your own passport, and you should keep both valid. Fragomen noted in February 2026 that residents whose card has lapsed can keep legal status once a renewal appointment is booked or attended, but face practical restrictions on international travel, banking and government procedures until the new card is issued.

When the card expires

Temporary residents renew every two years (Reglamento art. 207); a spouse of a Costa Rican renews yearly. Permanent residents renew every two, three or five years depending on how long they have held legal status (art. 206).

Two legal deadlines apply to every renewal:

Each renewal repeats the $103 to $133 fee stack plus the Correos or bank charges, and requires proof of uninterrupted CAJA. The documents by category, the timing and the rentista transfer rule are in the residency renewal guide.

If the card is lost, stolen or damaged

The Reglamento allows a replacement (reposición) as long as the card is still valid.

Two cautions. Article 246 still prints the Article 251 fee as $38, the pre-2025 amount, and Article 253 of the Reglamento refers to a duplicate for $30 alone; confirm the fees that apply to your replacement before paying. And if the card is stolen, file the OIJ complaint first, since it replaces the notarized declaration. BCR branches handle duplicates under the March 2026 agreement reported by Fragomen.

A card that has already expired is not replaced; it is renewed, with the late-renewal rules above.

Sources and legal basis

1. Ley General de Migración y Extranjería, Ley 8764, arts. 33(2), 33(4), 129(10), 133, 251–254. Official text via the Poder Judicial.
2. Reglamento de Extranjería, Decreto Ejecutivo 37112-GOB, arts. 43, 48, 183–184, 206–207, 209–210, 213, 246–247, 253. Official text via the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones.
3. DGME Resolución D.JUR-220-05-2024-JM-ABM (fingerprints at the documentation stage), Alcance 109 to La Gaceta 106, 12 June 2024.
4. Article 251 increase to $43, resolution DJUR-0596-11-2024-JM, reported by La Prensa, December 2024.
5. Correos de Costa Rica, DIMEX service fee adjustment, May 2025.
6. Same-day printing at BCR: Fragomen, Costa Rica: Resident Card Issuance Expanded Through Bank Partnership, 10 March 2026. Status without a valid card: Fragomen, Costa Rica: Processing Delays for Residence Card Issuance, 24 February 2026.
7. DIMEX backlog and resolution DJUR-0045-02-2026-JM: Semanario Universidad, 18 February 2026. August 2026 printing status: Trivisión, 6 August 2026.
8. Guarantee deposit estimate for U.S. and Canadian applicants: Costa Rica Immigration Experts.