All U.S. citizens must enter Costa Rica as tourists. When going through Immigrations and Customs, make sure to state tourism as your purpose of visit to Costa Rica. Your passport will then be stamped with a 90 day tourist visa.

If your academic program in Costa Rica is more than 90 days, you must do one of the following options:

Option 1:
Renew your tourist visa by leaving the country for 72 hours. Upon re-entry, your passport will be re-stamped with another 90 day tourist visa. If you do not feel comfortable traveling on your own, you may participate in the ISA optional excursions to Panama or Nicaragua. You will receive more information on this during your ISA Orientation upon arrival.

Option 2:
You may change your status from a tourist to a student upon arrival in Costa Rica. Please note that you still enter the country as a tourist. In order to complete this procedure, you must visit the Immigration Office in San Jose and present the necessary documents and fees (estimated at $350-500).

Before departure to Costa Rica, students must obtain the following:

1. Birth Certificate-Authenticated by Secretary of State
2. Police Records-Authenticated by Secretary of State

All documents must complete the authentication process as outlined on the Washington D.C. Consulate website.
http://www.costarica-embassy.org/consular/visa/Authentications.htm

If your academic program in Costa Rica is under 90 days, you can keep your tourist status.

Note: Embassy and consulate contact information is subject to change without notice. Please refer to the website of the embassy or consulate to verify information.

In order to find contact information for your specific consulate, please choose the state or region of your permanent residence from the dropdown box below, and click submit to continue.