A Protestant Pastor can not marry you in Costa Rica, only a attorney or Catholic Priest.
Many engaged couples looking to have their wedding in Costa Rica are not aware of the required documents, rules and regulations pertaining to marriage in this country. For instance, only a Catholic Priest or a Costa Rica Lawyer can marry a couple in Costa Rica, a Protestant Pastor may not. Here is all the up-to-date information needed to have a civil ceremony in Costa Rica.
If neither the Bride nor the Groom is Costa Rican:
- Each person must have a valid passport which does not expire for 6 months, and you must submit two copies of each to your lawyer
- You will need to locate and hire a local attorney to marry you and file your paperwork. If you are being wed at a hotel, the hotel will likely recommend an attorney or hire one for you. If the hotel does locate one, it will likely cost around $500 USD; however if you hire one on your own it will likely cost around $300. If one person’s first language is not Spanish, then a translator must be present and the ceremony must be held in both languages
You will need to give your lawyer the following information approximately one month before the wedding:
- Full name of both Bride and Groom: first, middle and last. No initials will be accepted passport numbers and nationality.
- Birth dates and places of birth
- Foreign address
- Occupation/Profession
- Marital status certificate – if divorced you will need to provide a copy of the divorce decree. If the Bride has been divorced for less than 12 months, she may need to present a negative pregnancy test to the nearest Costa Rican consulate for authentication.
- Both the Bride and Grooms Mother and Father’s full name and nationality, the mother’s full name should actually have her maiden name, not married name
- Parent’s address
Two Witnesses are required to sign the marriage license. If you are traveling alone, the hotel will most likely provide you with the witnesses. You will need to present the following information about your witnesses to your lawyer at least one month before the wedding:
- Full name, no initials
- Current address
- Date and place of birth
- Passport number (copy of passport) and nationality
- Marital status
*Please Note* In Costa Rica a notary is not solely one who validates signatures. Here, a notary is empowered to make entries directly to a registry and register documents. All notaries are attorneys, however not all attorneys are notaries, so make sure you hire the right person!
If one person IS a Costa Rican citizen and the other is NOT:
You will need to provide the following documents:
- His/her “cédula” (Costa Rican identity card)
- A Certificate of Civil Status issued by the Civil Registry. This document is to prove that the Costa Rican spouse is single.
If your future spouse is divorced, she/he will require the following additional documents:
A copy of the divorce paperwork certified and with the proper stamps, or
a copy of the previous spouse’s death certificate with the proper stamps and a document certifying his civil status sworn before the notary
If your future spouse is a Costa Rican female and has been divorced or is widowed, she can remarry. However, she must wait three hundred days after the official issuance date of the divorce decree or publication of her former spouse’s death certificate.
If the future wife can prove that she is not pregnant before the marriage ceremony, the above mentioned requirements can be waived. This can only be proven by taking a pregnancy test administered at the Forensic Medicine Office in San Joaquin de Flores in Heredia. Marriage can occur immediately if the test results turn out negative.
Only a lawyer (notary) or Catholic Priest in Costa Rica can perform the ceremony and the marriage is considered official when the document has been registered with the Registro Civil (Civil Registry). This can take anywhere between 3 months to almost a year.
Marriages legally performed and valid in Costa Rica are also legally valid in other countries; however you may need to have it certified by your countries consulate in Costa Rica.
For Canadian and American citizens, the marriage certificate must be translated into English by an Official Translator who is accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Relations and then authenticated at the “Yellow House” in San Jose by the Ministry of Foreign Relations. You will then have to take it to your countries consulate and have it signed by your embassy’s Consular Section.
Original Article at Costa Rica Views by Stephanie Casanova
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