Costa Rican Citizens

 

1.Renewal of identity card (cédula de identidad)

Process

The renewal of your identity card has to be requested in person, at no additional cost, and requires you to schedule an appointment with the Consulate.

The day of your appointment, please bring the following documents:

Requirements

• Expired identity card or copy of your birth certificate, the former being less than a year old.

• Two passport size photographs with a light gray background.

NOTE: If your identity card (cédula de identidad) has been expired for more than ten years, you are required to come to the Consulate with two Costa Rican witnesses who must bring their original valid identity card (cédula de identidad) along with a copy.

Processing time:

Please take into account that the process in the Consulate can last about 45 minutes. Once your request has been processed this will be sent to the Civil Registry of Costa Rica for the appropriate action which can take up to two months. Your new identity card must be picked up personally at the Consulate.

To renewal of identity card, please send an email to: [email protected]

2. New identity card (cédula de identidad)

Process

A new identity card has to be requested in person, at no additional cost, and requires you to schedule an appointment with the Consulate.

The day of your appointment, please bring the following documents:

Requirements:

• Passport or copy of your birth certificate.
• Two passport size photographs with a light gray background.

NOTE: The applicant must be accompanied by two Costa Rican witnesses (can be relatives or other Costa Ricans who can confirm your identity) with their original valid identity card.

Processing time:

Please take into account that the process in the Consulate can last about 45 minutes. Once your application has been received, it will be sent to the Civil Registry of Costa Rica for appropriate action which can take up to two months. Your new identity card must be picked up personally at the Consulate.

To get a new identity card, please send an email to: [email protected]

3. New passport:

Process

A new passport has to be requested in person and has a cost of $143.88 (US$58.00 for the passport and US$85.88 for the courrier mail service).

 Please note that you must schedule an appointment with the Consulate, and the payment must be made either the day before or the day of said appointment.

The collection of all the information of the applicant will be done digitally. The passport is valid for 6 years and it is not renewable.

The payment of $134.00, payable in dollars, must be made via bank deposit in the following bank account:

Barclays Bank: Embassy of Costa Rica

IBAN: GB16BUKB20691743696988

SWIFT COD/BIC:   BUKBGB22

*Reference: Applicant’s full name.

On the day of your appointment, please bring the following documents:

Requirements:

• Passport (expired or about to expire)

• Valid identification card (cédula de identidad) in good condition.

• Proof of payment.

Special cases:

• If the passport has been stolen, the applicant must attach a copy of the police report.

• If the passport has been lost, the applicant must attach an Affidavit.

To get a new passport, please send an email to: [email protected]

4.Permit for minors to leave Costa Rica

Process

The permit for minors (less than 18 years of age) to leave Costa RIca is an authorization given by a minor’s mother or legal guardian so that the minor might leave Costa Rica.

This process does not have any additional cost and requires an appointment in the Consulate.

The mother, father, or legal guardian of the minor must arrive at the Consulate with a valid Costa Rican identity card, or a passport should this person not be Costa Rican.

Requirements:

• The person attending the appointment must bring the minor’s birth certificate, the document having been obtained from the Civil Registry of Costa Rica less than a year ago.

• Two passport size photos of the minor with a light gray background.

Once the documents have been presented at the Consulate, they will be immediately sent to the Department of Minors in the Office of Migration, where the information will be input into the system. Once this is done, the child will have no trouble exiting Costa Rica.

The minor’s temporary exit permit will be valid for 30 days from the moment that the Office of Migration receives the documents.

If one of the parents is in Costa Rica, this person must go to the Office of Minors in the General Directorate of Migration and Aliens in La Uruca to carry on the appropriate process.

To get an appointment for a permit for minors to leave Costa Rica, please send an email to: [email protected]

5.Registration of children of Costa Rican citizens born abroad

Process

Those Costa Rican parents whose child has been born abroad and wish to request Costa Rican nationality for him or her have two options:

1. If the Costa Rican parent is considering travel to Costa Rica, the process can be completed at the Civil Registry and the registration of your child will be much faster. To do this, you will only be required to present a birth certificate of your child with an apostille from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the document was issued (if it is the United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/legalisation-document-checker)

Afterwards, the parent must contact (in Costa Rica) an official translator so that the document is translated into Spanish so that it can be presented to the Civil Registry for the registration. The registration process has no additional cost.

2. The other option is to schedule an appointment at the Consulate and bring the following documents:

1. Birth certificate of the child, with apostille from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the document was issued (if it is the United Kingdom:

www.gov.uk/legalisation-document-checker).

2. The birth certificate must be translated to Spanish and the translated version must be notarized by a public notary and taken to the Consulate. In the Consulate, the parent must fill out a birth form that will be sent to the Civil Registry along with the documents.

On the day of the appointment, the parents of the child must attend and bring a valid identity card (cédula de identidad). Please take into account that you do not need to bring your child to the Consulate for this process, unless he or she is between 18 and 24 years old, in which case your child must be present with a photo ID.

The registration of birth must be made before the person in question turns 25 years old. After this age, the parents are no longer able to register their child as Costa Rican and he/she will first have to request residence to then become a naturalized citizen.

 

6.Application for Certificate of Delinquency

Process

If you reside outside of Costa Rica and need to get your Certificate of Delinquency, you will have to make a specific request (in a letter) to the Consulate. The application letter must be sent to the Consulate via email to [email protected] and it must indicate:

• Applicant’s full name

• Copy of applicant’s identity card ( cédula de identidad) or passport

• Applicant’s date of birth

• Full name of both of the applicant’s parents

• Full name, copy of identity card (cédula de identidad), and phone number of the person in Costa Rica who is authorized to pick up the applicant’s certificate of Delinquency

The certificate will not be sent by email or post to the Consulate or the applicant. It can only be collectec by the authorised person at the Judicial Registry. This process has no additional cost.

 

7.Power of Attorney

Process

Before coordinating your appointment for the signing of the document, you must sent a draft of the document to the Consulate via email to [email protected], in order to verify if it is necessary to process the document as a public instrument and which documents the applicant must provide.

There are two kinds of process, depending on the content of the Power of Attorney:

• Authentication: The document does not need to be registered in the Public Registry and it is not necessary to process it as a part of the Consul’s Log Book. The applicant can bring the printed power of attorney and sign it in front of the Consul, who will authenticate your signature. In these cases, the consular fee will be $50.00, payable in sterling pounds. Before scheduling your appointment for the signing of the document, the applicant must send a copy of the document to the Consulate via email, to verify whether or not it should be processed as a public instrument.

• As a public instrument:

1.For Individuals:

In order to request a power of attorney, the applicant must provide the following documents:

• Send a draft of the document written by a lawyer in Costa Rica, specifying the circumstances, full names, marital status, profession or trade and exact living address of the parties. This must be send as a Word document to the Consulate’s email.

• Valid passport or identity card (cédula de identidad) of the person signing the power.

• A copy of the identification document of the person that will receive the power in Costa Rica. If this person is Costa Rican, please present a copy of his/her identity card (cédula de identidad).

Once you have these documents, please contact the Consulate to schedule an appointment.

Cost:  Please ask for the cost of this service when you schedule your appointment.

Processing time: About an hour.

Once the power has been granted, this must be taken to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Costa Rica to authenticate the signature of the Consul. Depending on the kind of power, it might also need to be registered with the National Registry once the signature of the Consul has been authenticated.

2.  For corporations:

In order to request a power of attorney, the legal representative that will be giving it must provide the following documents to the Consulate:

• Send a draft of the power written by a lawyer in Costa Rica, specifying the circumstances of the legal representatives, the parties, their full names, marital status, profession or trade and exact living address. This must be sent as a Word document to the Consulate’s email.

• Valid passport or identity card (cédula de identidad) of the person receiving the power.

• A copy of the identification document of the person that will receive the power in Costa Rica. If this person is Costa Rican, please present a copy of his/her identity card (cédula de identidad).

• Certificate of Good Standing, translated to Spanish with apostille

• A notarial certification in Spanish stating that:

1. The person signing the power is authorized is acting on his/her capacity of (President, Vice-President, Secretary, etc) of the entity (Company name).

2. That the entity is duly registered, with valid legal representation and that the purpose with which the power of attorney is granted is within the scope of the entity’s corporate purposes

3. That the person signing the power has has in fact the referred authority and that his/her representation is legal.

The notarial certification requires the following authentication process

• Once the power of attorney is ready to be signed, the Consulate will set an appointment with the receiving party and this person must present

1. 1. If he/she is Costa Rican, his/her valid identity card (cédula de identidad).

   2. If he/she is a foreigner, his/her valid passport.

Cost:  Please ask for the cost of this service when you schedule your appointment.

Processing time: Up to an hour.

Once the power has been granted, this must be taken to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Costa Rica to authenticate the signature of the Consul. Depending on the kind of power, it might also need to be registered with the National Registry once the signature of the Consul has been authenticated.

NOTE: In all cases, if the power of attorney is needed to authorize the selling of a property or vehicle, the applicant must also present the original and a copy of the ownership title of the good.