Working as a freelancer in Costa Rica

The following site lists the wages and salaries in Costa Rica:

mtss.go.cr/documentos-varios

Check the following box:

Lista 2º periodo 2015 (1).pdf

It will give you an idea of how much jobs pay here in Costa Rica.

The exhange rate today is about 534 colones to a dollar.

Best to know before you come.

To physically work here legally even in your own business you are legally required to be a Permanent resident which will take approx.  5 years, have a work visa that you potential employer applied for on your behalf, or work on-line.

I have been working as a freelancer for the past 9 years of the 10 I have lived in CR. 99%+ of my customers are everywhere but CR. if you are not a resident and you want to work as an employee, there are places that hire you but  risking a deportation or a fine if caught; nevertheless, I see everyday foreigners working different trades. You can have your own business but not work on it if you are not a resident (again, I know many expats that open a business and work in it as well). Wages are low for the base workers (drivers, waiters, etc). Social Security works fairly well  if you are willing to put up with the "banana republic" bureaucratic way of servicing, and it is cheap,

MauroN, can you clarify what you mean by 'Social Security works fairly well': there is no social security. If a Costa Rican citizen or Permanent resident does not work, there is no 'hand out' from the government. Did you mean the socialized medical system, CAJA, which would make more sense?

"eso,eso " said el Chavo del Ocho on TV. Caja is the social security equivalent, it doesn't work as in the US but it is a social security. If a child or a senior citizen gets sick, the Caja takes him in, no question asked, even if it is a foreigner. I have had friends in that position. The hospital may charge or assume the cost of the service. With my last child  born in Liberia, I paid for a private doctor and clinic because I wasn't a resident, only to find out later, through a pregnant foreigner friend, that she had her care and the baby delivered  in the Liberia hospital, free of charge.

If the foreigner is giving birth to a future Costa Rican citizen, yes, this is covered. It is written 'somewhere' on the CAJA website, that a pregnant mother & yet to be born baby, will be covered, although most foreigners will still choose to have their baby in a private facility, as do the more affluent Costa Rica women. But the after the birth, the mother is not covered if she has a separate condition.

But CAJA is providing medical care not social security. Years ago they would provide free service to foreigners, but this is no longer a common occurrence unless it is a life or death situation and this is at the discretion of the hospital administrator...

A amount of pension will depend on what the contributions have been made in the proceeding years.

Yes, a child or a senior will be attended too at a CAJA facility...but not a father or mother who is out of work, sick and can't/doesn't present a paid up receipt from CAJA.

You couldn't have said it better.

Hello again! Your first post was asking about the music here, and now you are asking about starting a business here! Unless your business is selling a product strictly to gringos you will not be able to earn a suitable living here. The gringos will pay for a quality product, but the Ticos cannot afford quality products! You won't be able to survive on what you would earn doing doing a typical job here. There is no market for good music here. Also, you may not have what it takes to be legally allowed to work here. You will have to jump through many complicated hoops to qualify. The government, and the people here, do not like foreigners here unless they are tourists spending lots of money. From what I can gather about you from your questions, you really need to look at a different country. What you are seeking is not here. Good Luck!

So is it possible or not to work as a freelancer on line in Costa Rica and what kind of visa would you need?

Thanks

Bernie

Hello. I have been working as a freelancer for the past 10 years, I have been a resident for the last 5. You do not need a permit to work as a freelancer if you do it from home. I am not sure if carpentry, mechanics,plumbing, all those trades can be under freelancing if you were to do that for a living. Web design, software, marketing do

While a work visa is not required to work as a freelancer you are legally required to apply for residency to live here.

Not all areas offer decent speed or reliably of the internet connection to work here efficiently. .

You are not required to apply for residency to live here.

If you want to be covered for thevmandatory health care system, that you may only choose to use in an emergency situation, you are required to be a legal resident. I know that many have lived here for years, like yourself, while still considered to be a 'tourist' but not everyone want to have to leave the country every 90 days...nor does everyone want to be a legal resident. I am just adding information.

Thank you all for the info. We currently live in Cambodia were it is totally legal to buy a business visa with no business and no questions asked. My husband is a translator and I'm a visual artist among other things. We are thinking of moving to another country in the next 2 years so just inquiring at the moment. So if we were to ask for a resident status, what kind of visa would we need in the meantime. And how easy/difficult is it to get a resident status?
Thank you also about the info concerning the internet because that is also a priority for us :-).

Costs could be approx $3000 or more depending on lawyer fees and it can take a year or more for you application for Temporary residencyto be approved. Unfortunately, you can't apply for Permanent residency which/may can take a full year until after you have been in the Temporary status for 3 years . After receiving a cedula that will state that you are now legally 'able to work'. So, from your initial application expect this to take 5 years.

You would need to read all the info regarding what status you would apply for, Pensionado, Rentista or Inversionista and what financial requirements are.

For a translator to work here, they must be on an the 'government approved list' for any official translations.

Until you are a legal resident, you will still be considered a tourist.

Thank you for the information again. My husband will not be translating for people in Costa Rica, he has his own clients already. And we won't be "investing" in the country and we won't have a business as such, no name, no employees. So basically, we would have to be there on a tourist visa for at least one year, does that mean that we would have to go out of the country every three months?

Yes, it does, although it is not guaranteed that you will be given a 90 day term as some people are given a 5, 25 or 85 days. It is solely  up to the border officials...and you must show a ticket out of the country.
As well as renewing your tourist visa, this allows to continue to drive on your 'home drivers license.

Thanks, I read all the info from the link you provided and it seems that I got my hopes up from some of the answers I saw earlier. But It will quite impossible for us to work as freelancers in Costa Rica after all…

Thanks again for your help.

B.

FREELANCE WHAT?  Photographer?

It is my understanding that you can run your own internet based business while living in CR as long as the income is deposited to a USA bank and the business is not directly related to Costa Rica (e.g., not tourism related, etc.)  Your clients need to be primarily outside CR.

bernieclown wrote:

Thank you for the information again. My husband will not be translating for people in Costa Rica, he has his own clients already. And we won't be "investing" in the country and we won't have a business as such, no name, no employees. So basically, we would have to be there on a tourist visa for at least one year, does that mean that we would have to go out of the country every three months?

If you are working over the Internet and not with the locals, I'm sure you could operate under the radar no problem.   LOTS of people I know do this, and I'd doubt that any Costa Rican official would ever know.  Of course, it's your risk.   

You would have to leave the country every 90 days to renew your visa and driver's license, that's not an option and is quite a pain in the neck.

Before I was a  permenant resident,  a crooked Lawyer forced us to apply for  residency +   when I would have been "automatic" since I was married to a Costa Rican  (in the USA who  brought me here )  AND I had  invested over the $200.000 in property which would make me  automatically  fall into the  "Investor status " which  makes it  much easier  to get residency !  so we spent a lot of miney needlessly.


As for the 72 hours outside  CR to renew  visa stamps ..I  did not find it a pain. I rather enjoyed my shopping spree in Panama or Nicaragua for 72 hours..Nica  was much easier..

NOW I know friends who have been in Nica only a few hours and were allowed to come back in CR for another 90 days..no problem ...so maybe the 72 hours no longer applies. BE SURE TO CHECK THIS FIRST,   ASK THE BORDER GUARD OR CALL THE EMBASSY They nay bit know believe io or not_

Now, it isn't automatic Permanent Residency when marrying a CR citizen or have a baby born here, and one must apply and pay out the $$$$'s like any other potential resident, so one will be a Temporary Resident for three years, then can apply for Permanent status or CR citizenship after two years.

Staying out for 72 hours is only required, when you are bringing in goods from another country, duty free.