Residents no longer risk losing residency after leaving Costa Rica

This week the Costa Rican government announced that as of August 1st, 2020, once some flight routes have been reopened, residents will now be able to  leave Costa Rica without risking losing their  residency status. Residents will not risk losing their immigration status  as long as they travel by air and to and from authorized  countries which include Canada, the United Kingdom and Schengen Area countries of the EU. 

Since the borders were closed on March 24th, the government announced that residents who left the country and tried to return, would lose their residency status. This included temporary and permanent residents and refugees and was in accordance to decree 42256-MGP-S. The Health Ministry is currently making the necessary changes to the decree which will be implemented as of August 1st.