If you apply for residency in Costa Rica, you will hear about the guarantee deposit (depósito de garantía), sometimes called the “deportation deposit.” Many people are surprised by it, and many never ask for it back. This guide explains in plain English what the Costa Rica guarantee deposit is, why the amount depends on your country, and how to get your money back.
Legal provisions checked 8 September 2026 against the current official regulation, including the 2023 amendment. Rules can change, so always confirm with Migración (DGME).
What is the Costa Rica guarantee deposit?
The guarantee deposit is money you place with Costa Rica’s immigration authority, the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME), when you are granted residency. It is held in a special fund created by the General Law of Migration (Law 8764). If a foreign resident is ever deported or expelled, the state can use that money to pay for the trip back to their home country.
It is not an application fee, it is not the Pensionado or Rentista income requirement, and it is not a charge you lose. In most cases it is your money, held on your behalf, and it can be returned.
How much is the guarantee deposit?
There is no single amount for everyone. Since a 2023 change to the regulation, the deposit equals the full price of an open, one-year travel ticket to your country of origin. That is why someone from a neighbouring country pays much less than someone from North America or Europe.
DGME states your exact amount in the resolution that approves your residency, together with the payment instructions. Use that figure. Do not rely on an amount quoted for another person, another country or an old table, and do not work it out yourself from a discounted airfare.
Why you will not find a price list anywhere
People search for a table of guarantee deposit amounts by country and never find one, because no such table exists. Article 10 of the Guarantee Deposit Fund Regulation sets the deposit at the full value of a travel ticket to your country of origin, priced as an open ticket valid for one year — and an open, fully flexible fare costs considerably more than the cheapest seat you could book today. Law 8764 gives the Dirección General the job of fixing the real amount, and your figure appears in the resolution that approves your category.
So the honest answer to “how much will it be?” is that it tracks the cost of flying you home on a flexible ticket. A Nicaraguan applicant and a Canadian applicant are not in the same position, and neither is someone whose country of origin has no direct route. Anyone quoting a single fixed figure for everybody is guessing.
Who has to pay it?
The regulation covers permanent residents, temporary residents and some other authorized categories. Certain groups have special rules or may be exempt, such as refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons and victims of trafficking. If you change category later, the obligation can change too. Ask DGME, or ask us, which rule applies to your case.
Yes, you can get your guarantee deposit back
“People are always surprised to hear this, but you really can get your guarantee deposit back. The money doesn’t come back on its own, though. You have to ask for it, and you have to do it the right way.”
— Glenn Tellier
The regulation lets the depositor, or an authorized representative, ask for the deposit back in these situations:
- You leave Costa Rica for good and cancel or give up your residency
- You become a Costa Rican citizen (naturalization)
- You change to a different immigration category
- A visa holder leaves the country or never enters
- The person the deposit was made for passes away
Be ready for it to take time. As Glenn puts it: “It’s definitely not easy, but it’s definitely doable. I know one man who did it. He said it was hard, but he got his deposit back. You just have to be patient and persistent.”
How to get your guarantee deposit back, step by step
- Know your reason. The documents you need depend on why you are asking: leaving the country, naturalization, a category change, or a death.
- Get the right DGME resolution. In most cases your residency must first be cancelled or released, or your naturalization confirmed, by an official resolution. Do not cancel your residency until you understand what that means for you.
- Find your payment record. Keep the deposit receipt with the deposit number, date and amount, the depositor’s and resident’s names, and your identity documents.
- Prepare your request. Use DGME’s current form, sign it as required, and include the bank account where you want the money sent. If someone is acting for you, they will need a proper power of attorney.
- Submit it and keep proof. File through DGME’s current official channel, keep your receipt, and answer any request for more information quickly.
- Wait for the payment. Once DGME issues the resolution ordering the refund, its finance office has up to 90 calendar days to pay, as long as everything is in order. Bank transfer costs may be deducted.
Asking from outside Costa Rica
You can request your deposit back after you have left the country, either yourself or through a representative. Documents signed abroad usually need to be authenticated or apostilled. Check the current requirements before sending originals, and use our embassy and consulate contact guide to find the right office.
The deadline that costs people their money
This is the part that catches people out. A deposit left unclaimed for more than a year after it falls due is transferred into the Fondo Especial de Migración under Article 238 of the General Law of Migration and Foreigners. At that point it is no longer sitting somewhere waiting for you.
People leave the country, get on with their lives, and remember the deposit years later. Diarise it the moment your residency ends or you leave for good, and start the claim while the paperwork is still easy to obtain.
Get the bank receipt right, or the refund stalls
The deposit is paid at a bank, and the receipt is what proves it. The regulation requires the bank to record on every deposit receipt the name of the person the deposit is being made for — whether or not that is the person paying — and the name of the guarantor, using the registered company name where the guarantor is a company.
In practice this is where refunds come unstuck. A receipt made out in the wrong name, or missing one of those names, is not easily matched to your file years later when you come to claim. Check the receipt at the counter before you leave, make sure the names match the passport exactly, and keep the original — it is the proof that matters, and a photograph of it is not the same thing.
The amounts are reviewed every five years
A 2023 amendment added a standing review: the Dirección General revisits the deposit amounts every five years and updates them where needed. So the figure that applied to a friend who went through the process some years ago is not a guide to yours, quite apart from the fact that airfares move on their own.
When a refund can be refused
A refund can be refused if the person was deported or expelled, overstayed, or left the deposit unclaimed for too long. Your departure also needs to appear correctly in Migración’s records; a flight booking alone is not proof. If something is missing, ask DGME how to correct it before you apply. Do not assume the deposit can be claimed forever: read your resolution and act promptly.
How CRIE can help
CRIE has helped clients with Costa Rica residency since 2008. We can help with your guarantee deposit, check which rules apply to you, prepare your documents and follow your request with DGME. Contact us to get started.
Official sources
- Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME), for current forms and instructions
- Guarantee Deposit Fund Regulation, Executive Decree 36539, as amended in 2023 (Articles 10, 16 bis, 19–22, 26–35, 43–54 and 60)
- General Law of Migration and Foreigners, Law 8764 (Articles 133–137)
This article is general information only. Immigration rules and procedures can change; confirm the current requirements with DGME or a qualified professional.
The amount rule (Article 10), the five grounds for a refund (Article 26), the receipt rule (Article 17), the five-yearly review (Article 16 bis) and the one-year forfeiture were checked against Executive Decree 36539 and Law 8764 (Articles 133–137 and 238) on the SCIJ/SINALEVI legal database on 30 September 2026. Rules change — confirm with Migración before acting.