They are not two versions of the same card. They are issued by two different institutions, to two different groups of people, under two different bodies of law — and mixing them up is one of the most common sources of confusion for foreigners settling in Costa Rica.
The short version: a cédula is for Costa Rican citizens. A DIMEX is for foreign nationals.
The cédula de identidad
The cédula de identidad is Costa Rica’s national identity card for its own citizens. It is issued by the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones — the Supreme Electoral Tribunal — through the Civil Registry, not by the immigration authority.
That institutional detail explains a lot. The body that maintains the country’s civil register and runs its elections is the same body that issues the identity card, because in Costa Rica the identity document and the voter roll are the same system. If you are not a citizen, that system has nothing to do with you.
The TSE has been modernising it: there is a new card design in circulation, and a Identidad Digital Costarricense — a digital version of the physical cédula used to identify yourself online.
The DIMEX
The DGME’s own definition is worth quoting exactly, because it is precise:
“El DIMEX es el Documento de Identidad Migratorio para Extranjeros que otorga la Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería a las personas extranjeras que les fue aprobada una categoría migratoria en Costa Rica.”
In English: the DIMEX is the Migratory Identity Document for Foreigners, granted by the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería to foreign nationals whose migratory category has been approved in Costa Rica.
Two things follow from that sentence, and both matter.
The DIMEX comes after approval, not before. It is not something you apply for alongside your residency — it is the document you are issued once your category has already been granted. Until then you have an application, not a status, and not a card.
It is tied to a category. Pensionado, rentista, inversionista, permanent residency, a special category — the DIMEX reflects whichever one you were approved under, and it expires and renews on that category’s cycle.
Why people mix them up
Mostly because of an old habit. The foreigner’s document used to be called a cédula de residencia, and a great many residents, lawyers and even officials still say “cédula” when they mean DIMEX. You will hear it constantly.
It rarely causes a problem in conversation. It causes real problems in paperwork, where a form asking for a número de cédula and a form asking for a número de DIMEX are asking about different documents, and where instructions written for citizens do not apply to you.
If you are a foreign resident and someone asks for “your cédula”, they almost always mean your DIMEX. If a government form distinguishes between them, take the distinction seriously.
Getting your first DIMEX
Once your category is approved you must document yourself for the first time, and there is a deadline attached.
The DGME states that the process must be completed within 90 days of being notified of the approval. It is done by appointment, and what you must bring is set out in your own approval resolution — that document, not a generic checklist, is the authoritative list for your case.
That 90-day window is shorter than it sounds once appointment availability is factored in, which is why it is worth having the documentation step planned before the approval arrives rather than after.
Collection matters too. If you have had your photograph taken but have not collected the card within two months of being notified that it is ready, it comes off the normal route and onto an uncollected list — and retrieving it after that is a separate errand of its own.
A current warning worth reading twice
This one is live right now, and it is severe.
Under Resolución DJUR-0198-04-2026-JM, the DGME has announced that where a person received a telegram more than six months ago regarding a renewal, duplicate or first-time documentation and did not do what it instructed, their migratory category may have been cancelled. The affected names are on a published list.
The resolution states that only those holding permanent residency may continue with the documentation process. For everybody else, an unanswered telegram followed by six months of silence is not a delay — it is a cancelled status.
If you received any communication from Migración that you did not act on, this is worth checking immediately rather than at your next renewal.
Renewing
The DGME separates renewals into distinct tracks, and the requirements differ between them:
- Renewal of a DIMEX for permanent residency
- Renewal of a DIMEX for special categories
- Renewal of a DIMEX for temporary residencies
- Duplicates, where a card is lost or damaged
Check which of those you are in before assembling documents. A requirement list for permanent residency is not the list for a temporary category, and turning up with the wrong set is a wasted appointment.
The practical difference
Day to day, the DIMEX is the document you will be asked for in place of your passport once you are a resident. It identifies you, it carries your migratory category, and it has an expiry date that is yours to keep track of — nobody chases you helpfully as it approaches.
The cédula, meanwhile, is not something a foreign resident obtains by living here long enough. It comes with citizenship, and citizenship is a separate process with its own requirements.
Working out which document — and which status — you need?
CRIE — Costa Rica Immigration Experts handles residency applications, renewals, documentation and citizenship for people relocating to Costa Rica, including keeping track of the deadlines that quietly cancel a status when they pass.
Start with our guide to the types of residency in Costa Rica, or get in touch about your own case.
Information here follows the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería and the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. Requirements and resolutions change; confirm current details with the DGME before acting.