From breathtaking beaches to romantic rainforests, Costa Rica offers a beautiful setting for your special day. The destination wedding industry is well established in Costa Rica, and you'll be able to coordinate every special detail with an experienced wedding planner. While you're planning, make sure to start the paperwork process; it's simple but requires several steps, so it's best to begin early.
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→ Required Documents → Process for Obtaining the Required Documents
→ Validity of Marriages
Required Documents
If you are NOT a Costa Rican citizen, you are required to present the following documents: • A passport valid for at least six months • A certified and authenticated copy of your birth certificate • A certified and authenticated copy of your police record • An Affidavit of Single Status OR a certified and authenticated divorce certificate OR a certified and authenticated copy of your previous spouse’s death certificate
If you are marrying a Costa Rican citizen, your future spouse will need the following documents:
Special requirements for women: If a woman has been divorced or is a widow, she can only remarry after 300 days have elapsed from the official issuance date of her divorce decree or her former husband's death certificate. She can waive this requirement if she proves that she is not pregnant before her marriage ceremony. To do so, she must take a pregnancy test administered by the Supreme Court of Costa Rica at the Forensic Medicine Office (Medicatura Forense de la Corte Suprema de Justicia) in San Joaquin de Flores in Heredia, Costa Rica. The telephone number is 2295-3000. If her pregnancy test is negative, she may marry immediately.
Process for Obtaining the Required Documents
Step 1: Each governmental agency will have its own procedures for obtaining an official birth certificate, police record, divorce certificate and/or death certificate. Please consult with each agency regarding specific requirements and forms.
Step 2: After you have obtained official copies of your required documents, they must be sent to the ruling state, provincial, or federal government for authentication. This may also be called certification, but is not the same as an apostille (apostilles are not required by the government of Costa Rica). Contact your state or province for specific authentication requirements. Explain that you are getting married abroad; they will know what procedures are necessary.
Step 3: After you have obtained state, provincial or federal authentication, you must authenticate your documents with the appropriate Costa Rican consulate. (U.S. citizens, please see http://www.costarica-embassy.org/consular/consulates/ for consulates and their corresponding jurisdictions.)
Step 4: A certified translator must translate your twice-authenticated documents into Spanish. This may be done in your home country or in Costa Rica.
Step 5: Once translated, your documents must be sent to the Foreign Ministry (Casa Amarilla) in San Jose for document legalization. Now you’re ready to get married!
Shortcut: This multi-step process can be daunting, so you may want to turn it over to a Costa Rican lawyer or your destination wedding planners (who will hire a lawyer on your behalf). In this scenario, you will only need to complete Step 1 (obtaining official copies of each document), and the lawyer will do the rest.
Validity of Marriages
In Costa Rica, only priests, judges and lawyers are legally authorized to perform a marriage ceremony. If you wish to have a religious, but non-Catholic, wedding ceremony, a judge or lawyer must also be present to make the marriage official. Additionally, you must have two witnesses at your wedding; they may not be relatives. Witnesses must present the following documents:
Marriages legally performed and valid in Costa Rica are legally valid in most other countries. Check with your government for specific details and requirements.
The Costa Rican Civil Registry (Registro Civil) will issue your marriage certificate four to twelve weeks after your marriage ceremony. Your marriage will be legally recognized in the U.S. when you or the official who performed the ceremony submits your marriage certificate with the appropriate certifications to the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica.
To be legally recognized in the United States, your marriage certificate must be:
• Translated into English by an official translator who is accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Relations (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores) • Authenticated by the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Relations • Notarized by a Public Notary • Certified and signed by the U.S. Embassy's Consular Section
To be legally recognized in Canada, your marriage certificate must be:
• Translated into English by an official translator who is accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Relations (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores) • Authenticated by the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs • Authenticated by the Canadian Embassy in Costa Rica • All documents must be presented to your Province’s Vital Statistics Offices for appropriate registration in Canada.
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