Working through a menaje de casa claim, step by step
Picture a shipment of household goods, the ordinary things you'd pack for any move: furniture, kitchenware, clothing, a few electronics. Menaje de casa is the customs procedure for declaring household goods like these. Whether any import duty is waived is a separate question, because that depends on an exemption only some people hold, so it pays to work through the checks in order. Working through that sequence with your own dates and your own list tells you, before the container ever leaves port, whether you qualify.
- Confirm your residency status. Foreigners granted Costa Rican residency can use the menaje de casa procedure once. The duty exemption that went with it under Ley 9996 was limited to investor, rentista and pensionado residents, and to the law's first five years, so check with Hacienda or your customs broker whether it is still open to you. If your residency hasn't been granted yet, the shipment can't go under menaje de casa on that basis, whatever it contains.
- Check the date on your residency card against the date your goods arrive. Hacienda's policy counts your eligibility from the date residency was granted, so confirm with your customs broker which deadline applies to your case before you book a container.
- Separate household goods from everything else. The menaje de casa procedure covers household goods, new or used: furniture, clothing, kitchen equipment, books. Goods bought for resale and vehicles fall outside it and are declared on their own terms. Hacienda's policy says the goods must not exceed the quantities and kind that you and your immediate family need for your own use.
- Build the inventory list. Every item claimed under the exemption has to appear on a list submitted with the shipment, matched against what's actually inside the container. A mismatch between the list and the contents is the most common reason a claim gets held up at this stage.
- Your customs broker (agente aduanal) files the declaration with TICA. The declaration goes through TICA, Costa Rica's customs system, with the detailed inventory and the standard shipping paperwork: the commercial invoice, packing list, and Bill of Lading.
- Customs checks the declaration against your residency and the inventory. Where everything matches, the goods clear. Duty is waived only if you hold a valid exemption; otherwise it is charged on their value. Anything outside the procedure, such as a vehicle or goods for resale, is dealt with separately from the rest of the shipment.
Run your own shipment through those six checks and you'll know, before you commit to a container, which goods can go under menaje de casa and whether you need to budget for duty on them.
What to gather before you file
TICA and your customs broker will ask for these documents together.
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Residency card (cédula de residencia)
This shows customs you hold the residency that menaje de casa depends on, so an expired or pending card will hold up the whole declaration.
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Full inventory list of the goods being shipped
Each item needs to be listed with enough detail for a customs officer to match it against what actually arrives in the container.
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Apostilles on US documents
US public documents for use in Costa Rica are certified with an apostille in the US. Both countries are in the Apostille Convention, so no consulate visit is needed.
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Power of attorney for your customs broker
This authorises your broker (agente aduanal) to file the declaration with TICA on your behalf, since you will not be doing that filing yourself.
Your customs broker will tell you if your specific situation needs anything beyond these four, since immigration and shipment details vary.
Common mistakes that get menaje de casa applications rejected
Most menaje de casa applications get turned down for reasons that have nothing to do with eligibility. The applicant qualifies, the goods qualify, and the paperwork still falls apart on a detail that TICA (Costa Rica's customs platform) checks as a matter of routine.
Timing gets missed
Eligibility is counted from the date your residency was granted. People who wait to see how the move settles before starting the paperwork can find a deadline has passed by the time they file, so confirm the one that applies to you with your customs broker early.
The inventory does not match the shipment
TICA compares your submitted inventory list against what actually arrives. A box that turns up unlisted, or a quantity that runs higher than declared, is enough to trigger a hold while an officer reviews the discrepancy. Write the list from what you are actually packing, and update it if the shipment changes after you file.
Treating menaje de casa as a duty exemption
Menaje de casa is a way of declaring household goods, not a duty exemption on its own. Duty is waived only if you hold a separate exemption, so check with Hacienda or your customs broker before you budget for a duty-free shipment.
Documents are missing a required step
US-issued documents, such as the power of attorney for your customs broker (agente aduanal), need an apostille before customs will accept them. A document that is otherwise correct but skips that step is treated as incomplete.
It is also worth checking your shipment against what Costa Rica will not admit at all before you pack, since a prohibited item in the container can hold up the whole shipment. The prohibited and restricted items guide covers what to leave out, and the household relocation guide sets out the fuller moving timeline this exemption fits into.
Sources, last reviewed 5 October 2026: Menaje de casa import policy, Ministerio de Hacienda (PDF, in Spanish); Apostille Convention status table, HCCH; Costa Rica customs regulations, International Trade Administration.