Residents Must Make Appointment to Renew Their Cédulas
To better services, Mario Zamora, director of immigration, said that there will be a temporary suspension of "residency" renewals without an appointment. Zamora said the suspension will be in force until July 31.

With the suspension, those who need to renew their "cédulas de residencia" must make an appointment. The immigration service will not attend cédula renewals on Thursdays and Fridays, days that appointments were not necessary, as it has done so in the past.

Residents who need to renew their cédulas during the month of July, must make an appointment first.

"We are in the process of an internal reorganization, to offer better services and a more effective administration. We have already began a number of changes with the processing of passports which have proven successful, now will be doing the same in with the foreigners", said Zamora.

Costa Rica has 289.237 legal residents, the majority of which must renew their residency cédula each year, of which 200.000 legal residents are Nicaraguan nationals, followed by 10.405 Colombians and 8.400 Americans, according to immigration figures.