As of December 14th, 2011, authenticating foreign documents for official use in Costa Rica, and Costa Rican documents for use abroad, will be easier .The new system is known as Apostille.

As of December 14th, 2011, authenticating foreign documents for official use in Costa Rica, and Costa Rican documents for use abroad, will be easier .The new system is known as Apostille.

Costa Rica joined Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization for Foreign Public Documents and is now making the process better with the use of the Apostille.

Apostille is a certification attached to an official document such as a birth certificate or criminal record that makes documents official in multiple countries.

The new procedure is valid for all documents from countries having adopted the Hague Convention. A total of 100 countries have signed the convention, including all European Union countries, the United States, Colombia, Panama, Honduras, Mexico, Japan and Hong Kong, among others. Canada and Nicaragua are not signatories of the convention.

The Costa Rican Foreign Ministry is now issuing the Apostille for Costa Rican documents in the same office as previous authentication processes (behind the Foreign Ministry, or “Casa Amarilla,” in Central San José). Foreign documents need to receive the Apostille in their country of origin.

Bellow please find a list of public documents subject to an Apostille procedure:

- Documents issued by any authority or official from the Judicial Branch, including the Prosecutor’s Office, the Court Secretary or service officers;

- Executive Branch documents, including administrative offices;

- Notary Certificates;

- Official certificates, including but not limited to, certificates issued by the Public Registry, Civil Registry, among others.

The Apostille procedure does not apply to:

- Documents executed by a diplomatic or consular agent;

- Administrative documents linked with commercial or customs operations.

For further information you can also access the following website which was made available by Costa Rica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

http://www.rree.go.cr

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