Legal documents.
According to our legislation, Costa Rican consuls act as Notary Publics
and have the faculty to declare and sign many legal documents such as
Power of Attorneys, affidavits, celebration of marriages, legalization
of documents, authentications and more. If you have a question or need
any other legal document not included below, please do not hesitate
to contact us.
Power of Attorney.
A Power of Attorney is a legal document where an authorized person
grants a mandate to a representative. There are different types of Powers,
depending of the necessities and faculties delegated to the representative:
1) Especial, Especialisimo y
General Judicial.
2) General y Generalisimo.
Fees:
1) Powers issued before the
Consul of Costa Rica.
a) Especial, Especialisimo
and General Judicial ----> US $100.
b) General or Generalisimo
---------------------------------->US $120.
2) Authentication, ratification,
revocation or confirmation of
either document described above ---------------------------->US $80.
3) Authentication of a Power
issued in order to register a trademark in
Costa Rica, authentication of trademark from the country of origin,
or
Authentication of certification of an inexistent trademark ->US $80.
If the power is meant to authorize the sale of a property,
you should also present the original and photocopies of the property
deed. In order to assist you better, please contact us or request an
appointment to discuss the terms of any specific power.
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Legalization Process.
In order to obtain the Authentication of documents issued in Canada,
you must complete the following procedures:
1) Some legal documents need a previous authentication
from an appropriate Canadian authority, before being certified by the
Consulate. Please verify if your document needs a pre-authentication,
according to the following information:
a) Documents issued by current Government
officials whose signatures are presently on file can be directly legalized
by the Consulate without needing to be sent to the Foreign Affairs
Department.
b) Outdated documents issued by former government
officials need a pre-authentication by the Authentication and Service
of Document Office at Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa at 125
Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ONT, K1A 0G2, ph: (613)995-0119.
c) Documents signed only by a representative
of a private entity or corporation in which case, the signature has
to be pre-authenticated by a Notary Public or a Government Official
such as the Provincial Cabinet Secretary or a Commissioner of Oath.
D) Certification fees: US$40 payable by deposit to the account No.
0005-4608-520 Bank of Montreal, please enclose the original and a
copy of the receipt with the documents.
2) Consular Authentication
Once pre-authenticated according to points b) and c), or verified the
direct authentication with our office a), please send your original
document and a copy, including a self-addressed and pre-paid registered
or courier envelope to one of our Consulates in Canada (see contact
information).
This process takes up to three working days.
3) Authentication by the Costa Rican Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in San Jose
Finally, the interested party or its representative must take the document(s)
to the Authentication Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in San
Jose, Costa Rica, to authenticate the signature of the Consul. This
office also provides a list of official translators if needed.
FEES: US$40 for each document authenticated, payable in Costa Rica,
when the document is presented to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for
the final authentication.
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Official Translations
Spanish is Costa Rica’s Official language; all documents issued
in any other language must be translated into Spanish.
Nevertheless, documents can be presented to our Consulates in Canada,
in either of the official Canadian languages ( English or French), and
once in Costa Rica, get an official translation. The Costa Rican Ministry
of Foreign Affairs provides a list of Official translators accepted
by the Government of Costa Rica.
If you would like to do the translation in Canada, before sending the
documents to Costa Rica, you will need in addition to the Official Translation,
the appropriate Consular Authentication. Ask the Consulate for a list
of translators in Canada.
Please submit the original documents with the official translation
to the nearest Costa Rican Consulate, including a pre-paid and self
addressed registered mail or courier envelope to be returned along with
the Consulate Authentication.
Once in Costa Rica, present the document, translation and Consular
Certification to the following office to validate the signature of the
Consul an pay the Consular fees.
Oficina de Autenticaciones
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores,
Address: Calles 11 y 13, Avenida 9, San José.
Phone number: (506) 223-75-55 ext(s) 136, 188 or 220
Consular fees:
a) Authentication of Signature of Translator
------> US$40.oo each document.
b) Approval of translation -------------------------------->US$10
each.
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Certified Copies
Consuls of Costa Rica, acting as Notaries, do certify copies of any
original document required to be presented at different processes in
Costa Rica.
The Certified Copy of any document by the Consul, can be submitted
in Costa Rica to many kind of processes such as some Immigration requests,
university accreditations, references and so on, and are accepted instead
of the original document. In this case, it is required the presentation
of the original document to the Consulate.
Process:
1) Submit the original document with a legible
copy to the nearest Costa Rican Consulate, including a self-addressed
and pre-paid registered or courier envelope to one of our Consulates
in Canada (see contact information for list of Consulates).
2) Once in Costa Rica, present the certified
copy to the Authentication Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
in San Jose, for the appropriate final authentication and pay the
Consular fees. This office also provides a list of official translators
if needed.
Consular fees: ------------------> US$40.oo each document.
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