Costa Rica or Peru
Two countries side by side across the same rows as the full comparison. A dash means the value is missing: fields are not filled with guesses. about the data
| Costa Rica | Peru | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | 7 years | 2 years |
| Partner can work | yes | — |
| Parents | — | — |
| Pets | no trouble | no trouble |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | no | no |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 1 244 · estimate | $ 846 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 42,6 | $ 25,9 |
| Life expectancy | 81 | 77.94 |
| Homicides/100k | 17.12 | 8.6 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 5.4 | 6.4 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Costa Rica — 56, Peru — 41. Types present in both: work, study, family, investment, talent and retirement. Costa Rica adds: remote work and repatriation. Peru adds: working holiday.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Costa Rica: fees range from 50 to 200 USD. Routes stating an income threshold: 5; the lowest is 1,000 USD a month. Routes with a published decision deadline: 55; the shortest is 15 days. Peru: fees range from 19.1 to 162.5 PEN. Routes with no fee: 2. Routes stating an income threshold: 4; the lowest is 1,000 USD a month. Routes with a published decision deadline: 29; the shortest is 5 days.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: both after 3 years. Citizenship: Costa Rica after 7 years, Peru after 2 years. Both allow a second citizenship.
Costa Rica in brief
Residence in Costa Rica is granted through income-based categories — rentista (from $2,500 a month), pensionado (from $1,000 in pension income), and inversionista (from $150,000 in investment) — or through an employment contract, marriage to a Costa Rican citizen, or a separate remote-worker category (law No. 10008, income from $3,000 a month, up to $4,000 for a family application). Three years of continuous renewal of temporary residence opens the right to permanent residence; naturalisation requires seven years of residence for most citizenships and five for Spaniards and Ibero-Americans by birth, or two years of marriage to a Costa Rican citizen. Permanent residence carries the right to work in any paid activity, while temporary residence allows only the activity separately approved by the immigration service. The population is concentrated in the Central Valley around San José and Alajuela, while tourist flow goes to the coasts — Pacific Guanacaste and the Caribbean coast — where rent at popular resorts can exceed that of the capital. Bringing in dogs and cats requires no quarantine or antibody titre testing, provided vaccinations are current and a veterinary certificate is presented. The country lies in a seismically active region with active volcanoes and an elevated tsunami risk on the Pacific coast.
Peru in brief
What makes Peru interesting is the wait for citizenship: two years of legal residence, one of the shortest in this guide, with no renunciation of the previous passport and permanent residence after three years. That is exactly what is changing. Law No. 32421, published on 14 August 2025, raises the period to five years and adds proof of annual income of at least 10 tax units and a broader exam. It is not in force: commencement is tied to publication of its regulation, and the regulation has not appeared. So the country runs on the old rule, which could switch at any moment, and planning a move around the two-year figure is a bet on how fast your own case moves. The second thing that defines Peru is nature: earthquakes 9.6 out of 10 and tsunamis 9.1 on the INFORM scale, with El Niño flooding added along the northern coast. The cost of living outside Lima is low: rent in Chiclayo and Piura is a third of the capital's.
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This material is for reference and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax thresholds and prices change. Before deciding anything, check the official sources and consult a licensed professional in the relevant country.