Moving from France to Costa Rica (2026): Complete Guide

Moving from France to Costa Rica means clearing two separate administrative systems that don’t talk to each other: French export/departure formalities on one side, and Costa Rican customs and immigration requirements on the other. This guide is for French residents — whether French nationals or foreigners currently living in France — relocating permanently or long-term to Costa Rica, covering what France’s customs authority and tax administration require before you leave, what Costa Rica’s customs and immigration authorities require on arrival, and a short note on moving back the other way.

Key takeaways

• France’s export side is handled by the Direction Générale des Douanes et Droits Indirects (DGDDI); personal effects moved when transferring your main residence outside the EU are generally exempt from an export declaration, though customs can still require formalities for specific items (douane.gouv.fr).
• You must carry a detailed, dated, itemized, signed inventory of your goods in duplicate (triplicate if clearing at an inland office) when transferring your residence out of the EU (douane.gouv.fr).
• Leaving France triggers tax-residency questions: if you’ve been a French tax resident for at least 6 of the last 10 years and hold qualifying securities worth €800,000 or more (or 50%+ of a company’s profits), France’s Exit Tax (Article 167 bis CGI) can apply, declared on form 2074-ETD (impots.gouv.fr); you must also update your tax residence status (impots.gouv.fr).
• Carrying cash, negotiable instruments, or gold worth €10,000 or more out of France (to a non-EU country) requires a customs declaration (douane.gouv.fr).
• On the Costa Rica side, household-goods import as "menaje de casa" is regulated by the Dirección General de Aduanas (DGA) and requires legal residency status, not just a tourist visa (hacienda.go.cr policy MH-DGA-PRO01-POL-001).
• Your immigration category, granted by the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME), determines whether you qualify for duty relief on your belongings (migracion.go.cr).
• Pets need an official health certificate, microchip, and up-to-date vaccinations per SENASA (Costa Rica’s national animal health service) rules (mag.go.cr).
• Carrying US$10,000 or more into Costa Rica also requires a declaration, under Law 7786 (icd.go.cr).

1. Why your Costa Rica immigration status comes first

Everything on the Costa Rican side of this move hinges on one thing: your immigration category. The Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME) issues residency (temporary or permanent, e.g. through work, investment, pension/rentista programs, or family ties) and, once approved, a DIMEX identity card (migracion.go.cr). Costa Rican customs treats "menaje de casa" (household goods) duty relief as a benefit tied to residency status — tourists and people without a valid permit generally cannot use this exemption (hacienda.go.cr). In practice this means: get your DGME application filed (or at minimum, in process) before you ask a shipping partner to move your household goods, because the import file needs your cédula/DIMEX or proof of your pending status, plus a Costa Rican address (rental contract or utility bill).

2. The France export side

Authority: the customs administration is the Direction Générale des Douanes et Droits Indirects (DGDDI), reachable via douane.gouv.fr.

Customs procedure. When you transfer your main residence from France to a country outside the EU, DGDDI generally does not require a formal export declaration for personal effects, household goods, or a privately used, non-commercial vehicle. However, customs can still ask for an export declaration (using the "unique administrative document," or DAU) for specific categories, and always requires a detailed, estimated, dated, numbered and signed inventory of the transferred goods, in duplicate (triplicate if the export is processed at an inland customs office rather than at the border) (douane.gouv.fr). Certain goods trigger their own export formalities regardless of context — notably weapons and ammunition, gold, cultural property, and protected wildlife/plant species (CITES) (douane.gouv.fr). Formal customs declarations more broadly are lodged through the Déposer une déclaration en douane (import-export) procedure (douane.gouv.fr).

Deregistration and civil steps. Before departure, the "Je pars vivre à l’étranger" pathway on the official Service-Public portal centralizes the steps: notify your mairie so your address is removed from electoral rolls, use the grouped "Je déménage" notification to update CAF, France Travail (unemployment), and your tax center, and once settled in Costa Rica, register with the French consulate covering Costa Rica — and if you were already registered elsewhere abroad, request your radiation (removal) from that prior post’s register of French citizens abroad (service-public.gouv.fr).

Tax-residency exit. Moving your tax domicile outside France can trigger the Exit Tax under Article 167 bis of the General Tax Code: this applies if you have been a French tax resident for at least 6 of the last 10 years and hold securities/company rights worth at least €800,000 (or representing at least 50% of a company’s profits) (impots.gouv.fr). If it applies, you declare unrealized gains on form n°2074-ETD, with payment-deferral options available until the gains are actually realized (impots.gouv.fr). Separately from the Exit Tax question, every departing taxpayer should review the "Je pars à l’étranger ou j’arrive en France" guidance for how to file your final French return and switch to non-resident tax status (impots.gouv.fr).

Cash and valuables. If you or your shipment carry €10,000 or more in cash, negotiable instruments, gold, or prepaid cards out of France to a non-EU destination, you must file a customs cash declaration (the "Dalia" declaration service, or a paper form at the border) (douane.gouv.fr).

3. Ports and transit — realistic routing, not official figures

France’s two major container gateways for an intercontinental move are Le Havre (the country’s largest container port, on the Channel) and Marseille-Fos (its main Mediterranean hub). On the Costa Rica side, sea freight arrives at either Puerto Limón/Moín on the Caribbean coast or Puerto Caldera on the Pacific — Limón/Moín is the more common destination for Atlantic-routed European cargo.

These transit figures are freight-industry estimates, not official government data, and vary with routing, transshipment, and carrier schedules: ocean transit from a European origin port to Costa Rica typically runs roughly 3–5 weeks, with customs clearance in Costa Rica adding another 1–3 weeks before local delivery. Air freight is far faster (days, not weeks) but is priced by weight/volume and is normally reserved for a small subset of urgent items rather than a full household move. Build these ranges into your planning rather than a fixed date, and always confirm current transit times with your forwarder, since they shift with shipping-line capacity and season.

4. The Costa Rica import side

Authority: the Dirección General de Aduanas (DGA), part of the Ministerio de Hacienda (Costa Rica’s Finance Ministry).

The process. Household-goods imports fall under the "menaje de casa" regime, governed by DGA policy document MH-DGA-PRO01-POL-001. Key conditions: the goods must be used (the policy references a minimum period of prior use), must originate from the country where you were previously resident, and the shipment must be linked to your entry/residency timeline rather than arriving as an unrelated commercial import. You’ll need your Costa Rican residency card (cédula or DIMEX for temporary residents), proof of a Costa Rican address (utility bill or lease), and a box-by-box packing list assigning contents to rooms, submitted alongside the relevant DGA customs form as part of your clearance file (hacienda.go.cr). Because eligibility is tied to your immigration file, confirm your specific DGME residency category and its documentation requirements directly with Migración before your shipment departs France (migracion.go.cr).

5. Pets

Exporting from France. Live animals leaving France for a non-EU country need a health certificate meeting the destination country’s requirements; DGDDI directs exporters to the Expadon service (run with the Ministry of Agriculture) to find the correct certificate model for the destination country, and to your local departmental veterinary services (DDPP) to have it issued and signed before departure (douane.gouv.fr).

Importing into Costa Rica. SENASA (Servicio Nacional de Salud Animal), under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), requires: a clinical exam by a vet in France within two weeks before travel; a microchip, with its number recorded on the certificate; an official health certificate issued by the competent French authority; rabies vaccination if the animal is over three months old, plus (for dogs) distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and leptospirosis vaccines as age-appropriate, with the certificate showing vaccine brand, batch number, and validity dates; and deworming against internal and external parasites within 15 days before arrival. If the pet travels as air cargo rather than accompanying baggage, a prior import permit must also be arranged through a customs agency (mag.go.cr).

6. Vehicles, money, and things people forget

Vehicles. Importing a car into Costa Rica is expensive, and the way it’s calculated changed in November 2024: Costa Rica’s customs authority (DGA) now bases import duties on the vehicle’s actual invoice/transaction value rather than the preset government valuation tables it used before, aligning with the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement (Resolution MH-DGA-RES-1897-2024, effective 20 November 2024) (hacienda.go.cr). On top of that value, Costa Rica applies a Selective Consumption Tax of 30% for vehicles six years old or newer and 48% for older vehicles, plus a 1% Law 6946 charge and general sales tax — pushing total import taxes into a commonly-cited 40–60%+ range of the vehicle’s value, depending on age and value bracket. You can estimate your own vehicle’s fiscal value using Hacienda’s official AutoValor tool before deciding (hacienda.go.cr — AutoValor). Given the cost, most relocating households sell the car in France and buy locally rather than shipping it.

Money. The €10,000 cash-declaration rule applies leaving France (douane.gouv.fr), and a parallel rule applies entering Costa Rica: anyone carrying cash or negotiable instruments equal to or above US$10,000 (or equivalent) must declare it, per Law 7786, reported through Migración/Aduanas to the Instituto Costarricense sobre Drogas (ICD) (icd.go.cr).

What people forget. The residency/menaje-de-casa timeline is the single biggest planning risk — shipping before your DGME status is far enough along can jeopardize the duty exemption, so sequence your visa and shipping dates together. Keep your original, itemized French export inventory: Costa Rican customs will want a matching packing list, and mismatches between the two cause the most clearance delays. Finally, don’t assume all your electronics, appliances, or vehicle parts meet Costa Rican voltage/standards — check before you ship large appliances you plan to actually use.

A note on the reverse move: Costa Rica → France

If you’re moving back to France later, the customs side is more forgiving: France Diplomatie’s dedicated guidance for returning residents explains the personal-effects exemption process, and DGDDI’s import procedures cover pre-arrival paperwork including form Cerfa 10070 (declaration of duty-free entry of personal property from outside the EU) (diplomatie.gouv.fr). For pets, since Costa Rica is not an EU-listed country for simplified pet travel, expect to need a rabies antibody titration blood test done at an EU-approved laboratory well ahead of travel, per the France Diplomatie return-formalities pet guidance (diplomatie.gouv.fr). Re-registering your tax residency and re-enrolling in French social security both need to be initiated well before your return date.

How Flyto handles your France to Costa Rica move

Flyto runs its own offices, warehouses, vehicles, and crews across Northern, Central, and Southern Europe, so the French collection, packing, and export documentation on your household goods is handled in-house end to end. For the ocean leg and the Costa Rican side, we work through a carefully vetted network of freight partners and subcontractors, plus trusted local partners in Costa Rica who handle customs clearance and last-mile delivery — giving you one coordinated move without pretending a single company operates every mile of it.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an export declaration to leave France? Usually not for ordinary personal effects when transferring your main residence outside the EU, but you still need a signed, dated inventory in duplicate, and certain goods (weapons, gold, cultural property, protected species) always require formalities (douane.gouv.fr).

Will I owe France’s Exit Tax? Only if you’ve been a French tax resident for at least 6 of the last 10 years and hold qualifying securities worth €800,000+ (or a 50%+ stake in a company’s profits); most relocating employees and retirees won’t meet this threshold, but it’s worth checking against form 2074-ETD’s criteria (impots.gouv.fr).

Can I bring my household goods in duty-free? Only if you hold (or are actively obtaining) legal Costa Rican residency status and meet the DGA’s "menaje de casa" conditions — tourists generally cannot use this relief (hacienda.go.cr).

How long does shipping actually take? Realistically 3–5 weeks ocean transit plus 1–3 weeks Costa Rican customs clearance, though these are freight-industry planning estimates rather than published government transit times.

What do I need to bring my dog or cat? A SENASA-compliant French veterinary health certificate (issued within the required pre-travel window), microchip, current rabies and core vaccinations, and recent deworming (mag.go.cr).

Should I ship my car? Given import taxes commonly cited in the 40–60%+ range of the vehicle’s value (Costa Rica’s Selective Consumption Tax is 30% for vehicles six years old or newer and 48% for older ones, on top of other charges, now calculated on the vehicle’s actual invoice value since a November 2024 rule change), most people sell in France and buy in Costa Rica instead (hacienda.go.cr).

Sources

• DGDDI — Transfer of your main residence outside the EU (Expatriates)
• DGDDI — Lodging a customs declaration (import-export)
• DGDDI — Traveling with €10,000 or more
• DGDDI — Exporting goods subject to veterinary regulation
• France Diplomatie — Déménagement (return to France, customs formalities)
• France Diplomatie — Animaux domestiques, retour en France
• Service-Public.gouv.fr — Je pars vivre à l’étranger
• impots.gouv.fr — Exit Tax eligibility
• impots.gouv.fr — Formulaire 2074-ETD
• impots.gouv.fr — Je pars à l’étranger ou j’arrive en France
• Ministerio de Hacienda (DGA) — Política General para la Importación de Menaje de Casa
• Ministerio de Hacienda — CP 95-2024: nuevo procedimiento de valoración de vehículos importados
• Ministerio de Hacienda — AutoValor (herramienta de valor fiscal de vehículos)
• Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería — DIMEX
• Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería — Regularización
• Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería (SENASA) — Requisitos sanitarios importación perros y gatos
• Instituto Costarricense sobre Drogas — Declaraciones de dinero y títulos valores