Documents for Residency During COVID Crisis

Obtaining residency is a long road and start the process during the COVID crisis might mean a bigger challenge. We provide a brief overview of the documents you will need to apply for residency in Costa Rica, and the circumstances to present them during the pandemic. Keep in mind that other documents may be required depending on your category.

National Background Check(s)

This document should be issued by a national authority. For instance, in the case of US Nationals, it should be from the FBI. In the case of Canadian Nationals, it should be issued by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In the case of UK Nationals, it should be issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers. Background checks are required for all applicants over 18 years old.

Birth Certificate(s)

It is required to obtain a new long-form birth certificate with parental information for each applicant. If the name on the passport and birth certificate does not match additional documents will be required as the Immigration Department needs documentation to evidence that the person on the passport is the same person on the birth certificate. For example, if at birth your name was Jane or John Doe and your passport says Jane and John Smith, you need to procure and apostille/legalize documentation that explains how you went from Doe to Smith. This applies to all applicants, and each step of the name change process must be documented.

Marriage Certificate

If a spouse is filing as a dependent, a copy of the marriage certificate will be required.

Important Notes About the Documents

• Documents from abroad are valid for six months only, based on the date the document was issued.
• All documents in a foreign language must be translated into Spanish. The costs for the translations will vary depending on the original language.
• All documents must be authenticated by legalization or apostille. Documents from certain countries require an apostille. Documents from other countries require legalization.
• All documents will be accepted only if they are in a perfect state, meaning they are not torn, smudged, were written on, or have any alteration that casts doubt on their legitimacy.

Extended Document Validity Due to COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the DGME (Immigration Department) has and may issue resolutions that impact document validity and other aspects of the application process. Our team will guide you to ensure your application meets all current guidelines.

In this case, documents that were issued previously and valid until March 17th, 2020 are extended as long as the appointment is completed by July 31, 2021, per Resolution N° DJUR-01-01-2021-JM. The aforementioned resolution has been announced to help people who couldn’t complete their residency application process.

If your issued documents were still valid before March 17th, 2020, and you already have a residency appointment, the validity of your documents will be extended and you will be able to reschedule your appointment any day until July 31st, 2021.

Keep in mind that scheduling your appointment and attending your appointment have different meanings. You will have time until July 31st, 2021, to claim a date to submit your residency application.

After scheduling the appointment you will have to wait until that date to submit your application. As long as your documents are valid when you schedule your appointment, they will still be valid on the day you submit your application. This extra validity time can extend pass July 31st, 2021. For example, background checks and marriage certificates will remain valid until the date of the appointment as long as the documents were valid at the time that the appointment was made.

If the appointment is not kept, the documents will need to be reissued. Remember that documents issued abroad will need to be apostilled or legalized for use in Costa Rica, which means more processing time. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, other special conditions and restrictions may be announced or removed.