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Center for Integration and Development
Training, employment, and entrepreneurship
What is it?
The Center for Integration and Development (CID) is the place where life projects are built. Through social-educational training, job guidance, personalized tutoring, and partnerships with the private sector and public institutions, CID supports migrants, asylum seekers, and LGBTIQ+ refugees in truly integrating socially and economically in Costa Rica.
One of CID's most successful programs is “IMPÚLSATE YA” or “BOOST YOUR PRODUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT”: a modular and certified program for group and individual training, aimed at employability and social entrepreneurship.
Each participant builds, with the guidance of a mentor, their occupational profile and, if they want, their own business model.
El CID is not the beginning of the journey, it's the next chapter towards autonomy.
What we can do and what we can't
We Do
- Socio-educational training in employability and entrepreneurship through the IMPÚLSATE YA program.
- Building each participant's occupational profile: analysis of skills, previous experience, and career goals.
- One-on-one, personalized tutoring with mentors from the CID.
- Guidance for preparing and designing a curriculum adapted to the Costa Rican job market.
- Occupational profile reconversion: adapting skills and previous experience to the opportunities in the Costa Rican context.
- Occupational profile reconversion: adapting skills. Designing business models for those interested in entrepreneurship, using the Design Thinking methodology, and previous experience to the opportunities in the Costa Rican context.
- Connection with the Chavela Vargas Hall; a space for cultural integration, and a computing, artistic, and social lab.
- Vinculación con la Oficina de Empleo del CID, integrada a la Agencia Nacional de Empleo (ANE).
- Guidance on labor rights in Costa Rica.
- Strategic alliances with private companies and implementation of the scholarship system.
We Don't Do
- To directly mediate employment. We are not an employment placement agency.
- Guarantee a job at the end of the program. We support the process, not the outcome.
- Offer specialized technical training. We are not a technical institute.
- To assist with naturalization processes.
- Handling immigration procedures (that falls under Legal Advice).
- Allow access without immigration regularization or a work permit (these are non-negotiable requirements).
KICKSTART NOW Program
"IMPÚLSATE YA"—or also known as "BOOST YOUR PRODUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT"—is the CID's main training program. It's an in-person, group and individual, certified, modular process, specifically designed for LGBTIQ+ migrants and refugees in Costa Rica.
What's included?
The program combines group training on employability and entrepreneurship topics with at least 6 individual and personalized tutoring sessions.
Each participant works with a mentor to build their occupational profile and, if they want, design their own business model.
Methodology
The program uses Design Thinking as the main tool for designing business models and reshaping job profiles.
This approach puts the person at the center of the process: it starts from their own skills, experiences, and dreams, not from a standard profile.
Certification
At the end of the process, participants receive a certification from the program from IRCA CASABIERTA.
This certificate is a real asset for the resume in the Costa Rican context.
Comprehensive support
The program is carried out with the coordinated support of all the services of IRCA CASABIERTA.
Psychology supports the emotional process, Social Work coordinates everyday life needs, and Legal Advice answers questions about labor rights during training.
Chavela Vargas Room
Cultural, artistic, and social integration space of IRCA CASABIERTA. It is a tribute to resistance, identity, and belonging. It is a reminder that building a life as migrants is also a political and cultural act.
The room is characterized as a computing area, with free access and availability from Monday to Friday during office hours. It has technical support from the CID team because digital autonomy is part of the integration process.
People find in it the tools to look for jobs, train online, attend virtual job interviews, carry out digital procedures without the tech gap being an obstacle, among other things.
Employment Office
First employment unit - integrated into the National Employment Agency (ANE) - in an LGBTIQ+ organization in Costa Rica
It operates from a clear conviction: decent work is a right, not a privilege. The linking program connects people who have completed the “Boost Your Productive Development” program with real formal job opportunities through a network of partner employers and national system platforms.
How does access to the CID work?
The CID is the last link in the care route. Getting here means that a path has already been made, and that path matters.
Regularization
Before accessing the CID, the person must have their immigration status regularized and have a valid work permit. If they don't have these requirements yet, Social Work and Legal Advice will help them through the process. Without these two things, access to the CID isn't possible.
Reference
When the requirements are in order, Social Work coordinates the referral to the CID. The person arrives with a file that the team already knows: their history, skills, goals, and the path they've already taken in the organization.
Interview
The CID team conducts an admission interview to learn about the person's skills, work experience, and goals. With that information, they determine which modules and program focus areas best fit their situation.
Start of the program
The person joins the program, takes part in group sessions, and gets one-on-one support from a mentor. It's an intensive process, with a set duration and works alongside daily responsibilities.
Joint construction
At the end of the program, each person has their occupational profile built, a résumé adapted to the Costa Rican market, a business model if they chose the entrepreneurship track, and access to the CID Employment Office for actively looking for opportunities.
Access requirements
To access the CID you need:
To access the CID you need: - Current migratory regularization in Costa Rica (or document being renewed with a valid appointment).
- Valid work permit.
- Having gone through the Essential Services of IRCA CASABIERTA (Social Work is the entry point).
- Willingness and commitment to actively participate in the training process.
Not required:
Not required: - Previous work experience in Costa Rica.
- University studies or professional degree.
- Knowing exactly what you want to work on or start a business in.
- To speak English fluently.
Impact story
I arrived in Costa Rica from one of the countries with the highest rate of crimes based on gender identity in the region. I'm a lesbian, I was 29 years old, and I knew that staying was a real danger. I had training as a dental technician and in computing, I was studying at university, but none of that came with me. What I brought was the will not to give up.
The first few months in Costa Rica were tough. I relied on people I knew, living in a precarious and emotionally unstable situation until I met IRCA CASABIERTA and went through all their care processes, including the CID.
With the employability and entrepreneurship tools I got, I built a new life. Now I work in the security field, study at university, and continue my cookie business. I’m a different person.
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Story built from a real case.
Protected identification data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I access the CID if my refugee process is ongoing but not yet resolved?
It depends. The requirement is to have regularized immigration status and a valid work permit, not necessarily approved refugee status. If during your refugee application process you already got a work permit, you can access the CID. Social Work and Legal Advice can guide you on your specific situation.
What is degree recognition and how does the CID help me?
Is the CID going to get me a job?
Not directly. The CID trains you, guides you in building your profile, and connects you with opportunities through the Employment Office and partner employers. Getting a job is the result of that process, not a guarantee. Being honest about this is part of IRCA CASABIERTA's commitment to you.
What kind of ventures does the CID support?
How does the CID help me open a bank account?
Does the CID offer English classes?
What happens if I have people under my care and I can't attend all the sessions?
Does CID work with people with disabilities?
CID: The Last Link
The CID is not a gateway, it's the destination that the IRCA CASABIERTA integration route leads to. We work in a coordinated way with the whole organization.
Shall we move on to the next level?
Your life project in Costa Rica has a place where it can be built.
