This Profile describes examples of well-developed areas of Costa Rica migration governance structures and areas with potential for further development, as evaluated through the six domains of the Migration Governance Indicators (MGI). These address migrants’ rights, a “whole-of-government” approach, partnerships, socioeconomic well-being of migrants, the mobility dimensions of crises, and safe and orderly migration.

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The Migration Governance Indicators (MGI) initiative is a policy-benchmarking programme led by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and implemented with research and analysis from the Economist Intelligence Unit. Funding is provided by IOM Member States. 

 Migration Governance: examples of well-developed areas

• The General Directorate of Migration and Aliens guarantees basic health care and provides emergency medical services, including primary care, for persons in transit.
• Costa Rica maintains equitable and free access to education, and children and adolescents have the right to enroll in the educational system regardless of their immigration status.
• Between 2020 and 2021, Costa Rica created the special category for foreign students in order to address this specific population with more accessible and simpler requirements.
• The country has implemented initiatives to promote the regularization of migrants, such as the granting of exemptions for the regularization of workers in the agricultural, agro-export and agro-industrial sectors, and the special category of complementary protection for Venezuelan, Nicaraguan and Cuban nationals.
• The National Policy for a Society Free of Racism, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia (2014) sets out specific measures for vulnerable groups, such as migrants and refugees.

Areas with potential for further development 

• Extend social security coverage to all migrants, regardless of immigration status.
• Establish social security portability agreements with other countries.
• Establish procedures to facilitate civil registration services in the absence of proof of legal identity.

Migration Governance: examples of well-developed areas

• The National Migration Council is responsible for recommending to the Executive Branch immigration policy and the measures and actions necessary to implement it.
• The Government of Costa Rica participates in forums for discussion and analysis of migration issues, such as the Permanent Forum on Migrant and Refugee Populations and the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework.
• The General Directorate of Migration and Alien is developing the Comprehensive Migration Policy 2024-2034.
• The National Integration Plan for Costa Rica (2023) aims to promote the political, socioeconomic, and sociocultural integration and inclusion of migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers.
• In 2020, the digital migration platform Trámite ¡Ya! was launched, which facilitates the registration and digitization of the migration dossiers.

Areas with potential for further development 

• Formally integrate the National Women's Institute into the National Migration Council and the Permanent Forum on Migrants and Refugees.
• Establish an institution in charge of coordinating efforts to interact with the diaspora population.
• Consolidate a formal space to ensure vertical coherence of migration policies.
• Establish a mechanism to channel and share information with different government agencies.

Migration Governance: examples of well-developed areas

• The country is part of the Regional Conference on Migration (1996), the Commission of migration authorities of the member countries of the Central American Integration System (1990), the Quito Process (2018), the Ibero-American Network of Migration Authorities (2012) and the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework (2017).
• In 2022 the country formalized the National Comprehensive Refugee Response and Support Framework in Costa Rica.
• Costa Rica has two new bilateral agreements on migration with Panama and Nicaragua.
• Civil society representatives participate in the National Migration Council (an advisory body to the executive branch) and have a voice in making recommendations on migration policy.

Areas with potential for further development:

• Establish formal initiatives to facilitate intra-regional mobility and labour mobility.
• Formally involve the private sector, diaspora and expatriate communities in agenda setting and implementation of migration-related programs.

Migration Governance: examples of well-developed areas

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, together with the National Council of University Rectors, establishes the parameters for the recognition of foreign qualifications for most professions.
• Costa Rica has signed bilateral labour agreements, such as the binational agreement regulating the temporary recruitment of Nicaraguan Workers in Costa Rica (2022), the bilateral agreement on the coordination mechanism for migratory flows for employment and occupation between Costa Rica and Panama (2015), and the memorandum of understanding with the Government of Canada on youth mobility (in force since 2010).
• The country has developed measures to promote the ethical recruitment of migrant workers, such as the General Protocol on the Management of Labour Migration for the 2022–2023 Agricultural Harvest Season.
• Through the Labour Migration Traceability System, Costa Rica facilitates the regularization of migrant workers by monitoring their transit and providing them with an official migration document.

Areas with potential for further development:

• Conduct national assessments to monitor the demand for immigrants in the labour market, the supply of national labour, and the effects of emigration on the labour market.
• Collect and publish labour market data disaggregated by migration status, sex, and gender.
• Formulate public policies with a gender perspective, considering the integral position of women and including aspects such as insurance, access to the labour market and the feminization of migration.

Migration Governance: examples of well-developed areas

• The National Policy on Risk Management (2015) requires all actions to be inclusive of migrants.
• The National Risk Management Plan (2021) guides all national actors in risk and emergency management, including attention to migrants.
• Costa Rica has developed manuals to address the impact of disasters, such as the Guide for the Management of Temporary Shelters (2019), which identifies migrants as a vulnerable population.
• The General Directorate of Migration and Aliens has the Protocol on Support for Migrants, Refugees and Other Persons in Situations of International Mobility Affected by Emergencies (2023).
• Costa Rica's National Climate Change Adaptation Policy (2018) and National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (2022) have as a cross-cutting approach the vulnerability of social groups, such as migrant populations.
• There are initiatives to support Costa Ricans living abroad in times of crisis, such as the Guide for the Repatriation of Costa Ricans Abroad (2018).

Areas with potential for further development 

• Include the specific vulnerabilities of migrants and refugees in crisis communication systems.
• Include specific policies on displacement in the national development strategy.
• Develop a policy or programme for the sustainable reintegration of people who have fled their country in times of crisis.

Migration Governance: examples of well-developed areas

• Costa Rica has a Professional Migration and Alien Police, an entity in charge of security and immigration control.
• The Management Unit for People Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling provides assistance to victims of such crimes and coordinates with Team for the Special Migration Situations.
• The General Law on Migration and Aliens (2009) and the Comprehensive Migration Policy (2013) set parameters for continuous and regular training of migration personnel at border posts.
• The country has the National Policy against Trafficking in Persons (2020), the Law against Trafficking in Persons and for the Creation of the National Coalition against Illegal Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons (2013) and the National Coalition against the Smuggling of Migrants and Trafficking in Persons.
• There are procedures for identifying migrants in situations of vulnerability and providing them with appropriate assistance and protection, such as those contained in the Protocol on the Management of Special Migratory Situations (2018).

Areas with potential for further development

• Develop a formal program or specific policy that focuses on facilitating the reintegration of migrants.
• Collect and publish information and statistics on anti-trafficking activities.
• Establish a specific system for tracking and identifying missing migrants within the national territory.