Likely Jobs for Foreigners in Costa Rica

If you are interested in moving abroad to Costa Rica to live and work you may already know that it is somewhat difficult to get a legal work permit in the country. This is because the current law in Costa Rica states that employers are not allowed to grant jobs to foreign workers unless there are no qualified Costa Rican applicants available to fill the open position. Typically this means that it is easiest to get your self a work permit to come to Costa Rica if you are a highly skilled specialist or technician in a specialized field. While that may be the case there are a few other areas where foreign workers have a lot of success in finding work that they can do in Costa Rica.

If you have sufficient financial resources to the point that you do not need to get compensated for your work in Costa Rica then you may want to think about doing some volunteer work while you are in the country. Foreigners are able to find volunteer work in a variety of different fields in the country. Typically there are two main ways that you can locate valid volunteer opportunities in Costa Rica. You can go through an aid organization or you can go through a specialized agency. A list of all of the aid organizations can be obtained from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of your home country. If you utilize a specialized agency you will see that they offer a variety of services such as language courses. The main difference between an aid organization and a specialized agency is that the specialized agency will probably charge you a fee for finding the volunteer work. If you plan on volunteering for less than three months then you will not need to worry about getting a visa.

Language schools are another place that a lot of foreigners find available jobs that they are uniquely qualified for. Language teaching organization and language schools are usually interested in native English speakers. The compensation offered seems to vary depending on the organization or school. Some places offer room and board in exchange for your services. Others simply offer you a salary for your services. In Costa Rica, the most in-demand language is English, followed by French and German. Some language schools do interviews by phone. A good place to start is websites and forums dedicated to language schools where you can learn about peoples' experiences teaching languages in Costa Rica.

Tourism is a field that is also likely to hire foreign workers. You should look for tour operators and travel organizations in your home country that operate in Costa Rica. That is the easiest way to get on with one of those organizations. Hotels and other establishments in the hospitality industry also offer employment to foreign workers. The important thing to remember with this is to make sure that they are legal as a lot of place in this industry try to do thing illegally.

If you are a student you may be able to do an internship in Costa Rica. Since internships are considered work you will need to get a work permit to do an internship.

While it is not advised as you have no legal protection, a number of foreign workers work illegally in Costa Rica without a work permit. Remember that by doing this you are breaking the law and can be deported from the country.