How do you apostille documents for Costa Rica in 2026?

Residence packs commonly ask for authenticated birth certificates, criminal-record certificates from your country of origin or recent legal residence, and other civil papers named on the category checklist: Apply for a residence permit. Passport copies prepared outside Costa Rica follow the same authentication logic; copies prepared inside the country can often be notarised locally once your presence is proven.

If the issuing country is a Hague Apostille member, apostille there first through that country’s competent authority. If it is not, follow notarisation plus Costa Rican consular legalisation, then Cancillería authentication of the consul’s signature. Immigration regulation text still frames the requirement as legalización consular, so confirm the live DGME checklist for your subcategory rather than assuming every counter treats an apostille the same way. Papers must usually have been issued within about three months before presentation, and non-Spanish text needs an official Spanish translation that matches passport spellings.

Public documents issued by Costa Rican officials are apostilled by the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto. Correos de Costa Rica branches across the country can receive the packet, move it to Cancillería, and return the apostilled original on roughly an eight-business-day corridor when the signer is already registered. Book Cancillería appointments under the live autenticaciones rules when you go in person. Keep authenticated packs beside DIMEX, NITE, CAJA, and bank steps: Paperwork after moving, Get a DIMEX, and Open a bank account. Customs inventories for household shipments follow a different path: Import household goods.