Getting A Copy of Costa Rican Birth & Marriage Certificate

by: Robelyn M. Yambao

Hello everyone!
Here's Robelyn once again. Today, I'm gonna share how we got a copy of our Marriage Certificate and our baby's Birth Certificate here in Costa Rica. I'm going to share our two experience in getting a copy. There are two methods in getting those documents here in Costa Rica. First, through online as you can see in the picture above and the second, through TSE office. So, let's get discuss about it.

Digital Copy Through Online

When we are preparing the documents needed in applying for our baby's passport, we need to get a copy of her birth certificate as well as our marriage certificate. I got information online that there is an online service to get a copy of the said documents. So, we grab this opportunity to check the website to order a copy of birth and marriage certificates. It was very easy, convenient and straight forward. If you want to order yours, just go to this site. 
We paid 1575 colones that is $3 USD for one copy. So, we ordered one copy for each document. When we submitted to the US embassy those documents, they required us to submit a birth certificate in literal form not the digital one. Only the marriage certificate in digital one was accepted even without English translation. We also need an English translation of our marriage certificate for international processing purposes but when we submit the digital copy to the translation house they said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs won't accept a digital copy. Since, we still need to get the literal form for our baby,  we might as well include our marriage certificate.

Getting a copy in TSE Office San Ramon

When we arrived in San Ramon office, I requested a literal form for both documents. The staff told me to provide a passport for identification so she can do the encoding. After awhile, she gave me a receipt or stub where my name is written and my request forms. She told me to come back after 3 days to pick up the documents. 
Three days later, I picked up the papers and didn't check the information because I was in a hurry. When I arrived home, I found out they made a mistake in the spelling of my surname. So, the next day I went back to let them know about the misspelled surname so they can correct it immediately. The staff contacted the San Jose branch to inform them about the mistake. They told me to wait for awhile for the correction. After an hour or so, they printed out a new copy of the document with the correct surname.
When I went to the translation house, the agent didn't check the signature of the documents. They translated the forms immediately but when they submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for authentication it was rejected because the signature was in a digital sign. When the translation house contacted us, they told us to get an original copy with real signature not a digital one. So, we went back again to the TSE office in San Ramon to request an original copy with real signature using pen not a digital signature. They produced immediately from their computer and signed by the staff who printed out the form. The difference between the literal and original is the signature and when you check the original you can see your passport number was included while in literal and digital copy has no signature even your passport number is not reflected.

I don't know why they have different forms here in Costa Rica. So, that was our experience in getting a copy of Birth and Marriage Certificates. I hope this will be helpful for you guys to save time and money. Thank you for reading, see you again next time!

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