Costa Rica: Knowledge Base profile
Updated 1 September 2025
© Crown copyright 2025
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Version 2.0
About: Costa Rica
This document contains useful information about Costa Rica which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff process passport applications.
Contacts
If you have any questions about the document and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the document has factual errors then email the Guidance team.
If you notice any formatting errors in this document (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the document then you can email the Guidance team.
Publication
Below is information on when this version of the document was published:
- version 2.0
- published for Home Office staff on 27 August 2025
Changes from last version of this document
This document has been updated with formatting changes and to add new information about:
- adoption
- gender recognition
- civil partnerships and marriage
- documents from Costa Rica
Costa Rica: names
This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in Costa Rica.
Names in Costa Rica consist of:
- no more than 2 given names
- a family surname, consisting of the father’s and mother’s first surnames
Costa Rica follows the Hispanic naming convention which carries on the paternal and maternal family ties. This means when children are registered their surname will be their father’s first surname followed by their mother’s first surname.
The family name (surname) given at registration will be used in all official documents.
Change of name
Name changes are legal in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica nationals are not allowed to change their family names.
Costa Rica: legitimacy
This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about legitimacy in Costa Rica.
Legitimacy
Costa Rica does not recognise a difference between legitimate and illegitimate births. This means that all births are considered legitimate whether the parents are married or not.
Costa Rica: adoption
This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoption in Costa Rica.
Adoption is legal in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica: gender recognition
This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about gender recognition in Costa Rica.
Transgender citizens are recognised in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica: civil partnerships and marriage
This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about civil partnerships and marriage in Costa Rica.
Civil partnerships and same sex marriages are legal in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica: documents
This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about documents in Costa Rica.
Birth certificates
All births in Costa Rica must be registered within 30 days of the birth with the Civil Registry. A birth certificate is issued when the birth is registered.