Costa Rica Jurisdiction

Costa Rica is the Mecca of online casinos hosting around 380 gambling companies because it has the best infrastructure available in the Caribbean basin - a reliable telecommunication system, multilingual workers and a lack of online gaming and Internet regulations.

Costa Rica, which means “Rich Coast” is a small Spanish speaking country in Central America which is extremely popular jurisdiction for companies to run their online gambling sites from.

This is because the licensing procedures in Costa Rica work somewhat differently than in other places. Since the country has no laws that deal specifically with internet gambling, any company that is incorporated under Costa Rican law can offer online gambling, without having to obtain a separate license or permit. As no specific license is required, these gambling corporations work under a “data processing license” which must be obtained in the Municipality (City hall). To obtain any license in Costa Rica the corporation must have a physical office in Costa Rica.

The government has strict laws regarding land-based gambling, but they have ruled that when it comes to online gambling, the actual wager is placed where the player is sitting, not where the website is hosted. Because of this, the only requirement that gambling companies in Costa Rica must follow is to turn away all players who try to access their sites from within Costa Rica – this would be a violation of local land-based gambling laws.

While this is great for internet gambling companies, it is not so great for players. Without a specific government entity in Costa Rica to oversee online gambling operations, there is absolutely no player protection. Also, there are no rules, tests, or technical regulation to restrict how online gambling sites can operate, so online gambling companies licensed out of Costa Rica are entirely self-regulated. In the end, while there are several hundred online gambling sites licensed in Costa Rica, players should be aware of the potential difficulties they may face if they encounter problems with such sites.

Not long ago government has introduced a new law for obtaining an online gaming license. The new license clearly states “internet gaming” as the licensed business activity. It takes 1-2 months to process the license and have it registered.

The cost for the Costa Rican corporation and license is $15,000 compared to €60,000 -€100,000 to in many other countries. Once you have the license, it is €1000 or $1,500 USD every three months to keep it active.

Costa Rica Commerce, Industry and Economy Ministry
Edificio del IFAM
San Jose, San José