Excellent news for immigrants: thanks to Outlier Legal Services’ work, the Costa Rican Social Security Fund has reduced its fees for residents under the ‘pensionado’ (retiree) category and other categories with no income produced in Costa Rica.
This is not applicable yet to those other categories with no income produced in Costa Rica. This is yet to come, but it is not applicable as of now. This is only for pensionados.
Mario Rodríguez Bonilla, Regional Immigration Manager at Outlier Legal Services (OLS), raised a complaint about applying a reform to the regulation of affiliation of immigrant workers.
It was not for immigrant workers, this is only for voluntary insurances for pensionados, so they do not get charged with the IVM fee that was added as obligatory back in September 2021 and was applied on March of this year.
Since this past March, residents have been obliged to pay insurance coverage specifically for Disability, Old Age, and Death Regime (IVM). This meant foreign residents’ fees almost doubled.
“For most foreigners, paying the IVM was very expensive. Before the reform, they only paid health insurance. Afterward, they were required to contribute to the IVM to get a pension. But the problem was that many were never going to get a pension,” explained Mario Rodriguez, Regional Immigration Manager at OLS, and attorney in charge of filing the complaint.
Outlier’s efforts led to a pronouncement by the Financial Management Office, which stated that “retired people should not be forced contribute for IVM insurance, only for health insurance”.
This means that all those who have residency in Costa Rica under the ‘retired’ (pensionado) category do not have to pay this fee; thus, their disbursements will be significantly reduced.
In addition, the Social Security Fund also mentioned that the contribution to the Disability, Old Age, and Death Insurance Regime (IVM) for the non-pensioned elderly population could be “voluntary”.
According to the Immigration expert, this was an extensive process that was possible thanks to a fantastic team.
“We knew not all immigrants could access legal services, and we had to seek solutions. We consulted Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court and the National Directorate of Regulatory Improvement. Then, we consulted CONAPAM to look for an alternative solution to the situation, and we were able to obtain a positive result,” he elucidated.
For Outlier Legal Services, helping their clients is always a pleasure; however, their motivation goes beyond. As a firm, they’re committed to supporting the immigrant community.
“This news is extremely encouraging. We have clients who benefit from our service but see it as a general contribution to the expat community.
We’re committed to helping the immigrant population in Costa Rica. We will continue to seek that the rights of foreigners are respected, as indicated by the Costa Rican Political Constitution,” concluded Mario Rodríguez.
