Attesting Costa Rica Documents (FAQs)

Yes - Costa Rica is a member of the Apostille Convention.

Costa Rica documents can be legalized for use abroad with an Apostille Stamp when destined for other signatory countries without additional certification by the destination country.

When Costa Rica documents are required for non-apostille countries, such as United Arab Emirates - Taiwan - Malaysia - Thailand - Qatar they need additional authentication by the embassy of the destination country.

For further information about Apostille certification in Costa Rica, see:
Costa Rica Apostille Services

Documents which can be authenticated in Costa Rica with an Apostille Stamp include:

• Costa Rican marriage certificate
• Birth and death certificates stamped and signed by Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones
• Criminal Record Certificates (Certificado de Antecedentes Penales) signed by the Secretaría General de la Corte Suprema de Justicia
• University diplomas signed by a public official (public universities) or certified by either by Viceministerio Académico del Ministerio de Educación Pública or Consejo Nacional de Enseñanza Superior Universitaria Privada
• School certificates certified by Dirección de Gestión y Evaluación de la Calidad del MEP
• Documents authenticated by a recognised Professional Association (Colegio Profesional)
• Affidavits, powers of attorney and other documents certified by a Costa Rica notary public.

For further information, see:
Public officials in Costa Rica with registered signatures (in Spanish)

To confirm whether your document is eligible for apostille authentication in Costa Rica, please Contact us and we’ll check your document free of charge. For further information about our Costa Rica apostille services and for assistance obtaining official copies of Costa Rica documents, see:
Costa Rica Apostille Services

Apostilles in Costa Rica take 2 - 5 business days depending on the availability of appoints at the Ministry of External Relations and Worship.

Document legalization (or attestation) is a procedure which authenticates a public Costa Rica document so that it can be submitted in another country for official or legal purposes - for example, if you need to submit a Costa Rica birth certificate to the authority or embassy of another country, it will often need to be legalized.

Legalizing a document in Costa Rica certifies the authenticity of the signature appearing on the document as that of an authorized public official in Costa Rica and confirms the capacity of that official.

• Because Costa Rica is a member of the Apostille Convention, Costa Rica documents can be legalized by means of an Apostille Stamp when being submitted to countries that are also members of the Hague Apostille Convention
• If a Costa Rica document is required for a country that is not a member of the Apostille Convention, it will need to be legalized both by Costa Rica authorities and by the embassy of the recipient country (embassy in Costa Rica or non-resident embassy accredited to Costa Rica).
  See: Document legalization - Wikipedia

Isarey Certification Services provides a range of services in Costa Rica including Apostille and legalization services, notarization services, certified translation services and document retrieval services.

You can see reviews from past clients who have used our attestation and apostille services:

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Costa Rica Apostilles follow the standard format laid down in the Apostille Convention. Some examples of Costa Rica documents certified with Apostille stamps:

• Costa Rica Marriage Certificate with Apostille (PDF)

See What does an Apostille look like?

Digital copies of Costa Rica death, marriage and birth certificates can be obtained online. If an Apostille is required, the certificate must then be physically certified by Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones.

• Costa Rica birth, death or marriage certificates (in Spanish)

If you require a Costa Rica marriage certificate or other civil status certificate authenticated in Costa Rica with an Apostille, please Contact us and we can obtain the certificate in your behalf.

Apostilles for Costa Rica birth, death and marriage certificates can be obtained from the Ministry of External Relations and Worship in San Jose. Certificates must be physically signed by the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones.

Isarey can arrange certification and apostille authentication of digital certificates, or we can obtain certificates in Costa Rica on behalf of clients requiring apostille authentication.

You do not need to provide the original certificate. To obtain an Apostille for a Costa Rica birth, death or marriage certificate, you can send us the digital certificate, or we can obtain the certificate on your behalf. We will then certify the certificate at the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones for submission to the Apostille office of the Ministry of External Relations and Worship in San Jose.

To obtain an Apostille, the original criminal record certificate is required, stamped and signed by the Secretaría General de la Corte Suprema de Justicia.

Isarey can collect certificates applied for online or through a Costa Rica embassy from the Judicial Register of the Supreme Court for submission to the Apostille office of the Ministry of External Relations and Worship.

Applicants with a Costa Rica electronic signature can apply for a Costa Rica Criminal Record Certificate (Certificado de Antecedentes Penales online. Applicants without an electronic signature can obtain a username and password from a judicial office in Costa Rica.

• Apply online for a Costa Rica Criminal Record (in Spanish)

Applicants outside Costa Rica will need to apply to the nearest Costa Rica embassy (in Spanish), providing a copy of their Costa Rican identity card or foreign passport.

In both cases, certificates can be collected from the Judicial Register of the Supreme Court in San Jose.

To be valid for an Apostille, certificates must be marked "para usos varios internacionales".

Degree certificates from Costa Rica universities requiring attestation for submission to authorities of the United Arab Emirates must be physically signed by a public official (public universities) or certified by the Viceministerio Académico del Ministerio de Educación pública or Consejo Nacional de Enseñanza Superior Universitaria Privada. They can then be legalized by the Ministry of External Relations and Worship and the UAE embassy in San Jose.

Degree certificates from Costa Rica universities requiring attestation for submission to authorities of Saudi Arabia must be physically signed by a public official (public universities) or certified by the Viceministerio Académico del Ministerio de Educación pública or Consejo Nacional de Enseñanza Superior Universitaria Privada. They can then be legalized by the Ministry of External Relations and Worship with an Apostille Stamp. Attestation by the Saudi embassy is no longer required since Saudi Arabia acceded to the Apostille Convention.

Apostilles for Costa Rica Primary and Secondary School diplomas can be obtained from the Ministry of External Relations and Worship. Certificates require prior certification by the Dirección de Gestión y Evaluación de la Calidad del MEP.

Costa Rica Apostilles from the Ministry of External Relations and Worship can be applied to powers of attorney that have signed in Costa Rica before a notary public. The notary's signature must then be certified by the National Notarial Directorate (Dirección Nacional de Notariado).