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Professionals Working in Costa Rica

To join the professional associations of public accountants, pharmacists, geologists, agricultural engineers, physicians and surgeons, veterinarians, dental surgeons, journalists, medical and surgical technicians, computer and information technology, nurses and official translators and interpreters, etc. foreigners must be permanent residents in Costa Rica at the time of applying for membership, as well as have a certain minimum number of years of residence in Costa Rica.

A significant amount of foreigners who are considering Costa Rica for relocation and work are members of recognized professions like doctors, lawyers, accountants etc. Simply being a professional in your home country does not mean a person will be allowed to work in their field in Costa Rica if they are allowed to work at all. Each specific profession is governed by legislatively sanctioned professional societies or colleges that require membership.

This is a great system because clients can easily look online at each groups membership to see if a professional is current, if they have any compliants against them, and how many years they have been affiliated.

There are also specific regulations for medical personnel. All physicians and surgeons, dental surgeons, microbiologists, pharmacists, nurses, and nutritionists must perform the equivalent of a one-year continuous, for-pay mandatory social services requirement. In other words, medical personnel must work for the government for at least a period of time. Both nationals and foreigners have to meet this requirement.

Foreign professionals in political sciences and international relations specialists may only be hired by public or private entities when they are active members of the professional association and there are not enough Costa Rican professionals. This is a highly unlikely scenario, that a foreigner will be hired since the Costa Rican government works very hard to preserve jobs for nationals.  Only in very special cases where the foreign professional has an extraordinary set of skills that no Costa Rican has will they even be considered for a position.

Being a university teacher will be extremely difficult, too. No less than 85 percent of the faculty, administrative faculty, and administrative staff of a private institute of higher education must be Costa Rican nationals, according to the laws here. Besides many of these positions are already filled each year nationals who are alumni and are required to teach at the University after receiving special scholarship options as a way to pay back their debt.

Mass media and advertising services may only be provided by enterprises incorporated in Costa Rica under Costa Rican law.

Foreigners might also find difficulty in becoming professional fishers. Catching shrimp or fish commercially is only allowed in Costa Rica with vessels built in the country with wood obtained in Costa Rica and made by Costa Rican nationals, this is according to the law. This has sprung from media attention over severe crimes against the environment and nature which have mainly been committed by foreigners.

Unless someone is a a professional who is coming down with a guaranteed job from an international company it is highly unlikely that they will be able to work or work in thier profession here in Costa Rica. Even though some professions can give temporary licenses for those who seek to work here, the legal obstacles are still substantial and differ according to each profession.

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