Do you know about the Student Category?

Article 94 (4) of Law 8764 includes students, minor or adult, within the subcategories of the special category. On the other hand, article 124 of the Immigration Regulation details the requirements to obtain this subcategory.

It is important to know that, according to immigration terminology, Student Category is not a residency, but a special category.

It is important to know the advantages and disadvantages of this subcategory, especially when minors have applied or are going to apply for refugee status:

Advantages:

  • After having the DIMEX approved, for 5 years from having it in hand, the person can apply for naturalization (citizenship).
  • The government fees are very convenient: $200 at the beginning of the process and $98 after approval.
  • Any person, minor or adult, who can prove that he/she is studying in a recognized educational institution can apply for this category.
  • NO deposit of guarantee is required
  • Covers both parents as dependents
  • It takes a relatively short average time, compared to other categories, to be approved.
  • The minor can apply for this category even if he/she is in irregular status (with expired stay).
  • Renewal cost is convenient ($98)
  • Citizens of countries that need visa to enter Costa Rica, with this DIMEX will be exempted from presenting visa at the moment of entry.

Disadvantages:

  • Does NOT convert to permanent residency after holding the DIMEX for several years.
  • DOES NOT have a work permit. In the cédula (DIMEX) it is written “not authorized to work”. If at the time of renewal, the educational institution has been changed, the process would be “change of institute” instead of renewal process.

It is important to mention that the student subcategory has always existed in the Migration Law and its Regulations. In the recent years, with the effort of UNICEF and MEP and in order to help foreign minors in the country who are in an irregular migratory condition, a kind of student category was approved, normally executed by the school or college. The latter is different from the one mentioned in the lines of this text.  It is necessary to distinguish them.