Notarial and documentary services in Costa Rica and Nicaragua
Documents, certificates, letters and notes available at the British consulates in Costa Rica.
Overview
The British consulate can provide a range of notarial and documentary services for British nationals in Costa Rica.
Where local notaries can provide services, the British consulate will not provide them. In many cases local notaries or lawyers in Costa Rica or Nicaragua can provide services more cheaply, quickly and conveniently.
You must make an appointment for each service that requires your personal attendance. Use the links after each service to make an appointment. A member of staff will contact you to confirm your appointment.
Before booking, make sure you have selected the correct service and that the document will be accepted by the relevant authority. This could be the local town hall, registry office, tax authorities, immigration office or another authority either in Costa Rica or Nicaragua, the UK or a third country.
Services we provide in Costa Rica
Consular staff in Costa Rica can:
- administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit
- witness a signature
- make a certified copy of a document
For information about documents relating to marriage, such as a certificate of no impediment (CNI) and affirmations or affidavits of marital status, see getting married abroad.
If you can’t find the service you are looking for on this page, see other services provided by the British embassy in Costa Rica.
Services we provide in Nicaragua
We currently do not offer notarial and documentary services in Nicaragua. We provide services at our Embassy in San Jose.
Some services, including documents proving single status for local marriage, are not available in Nicaragua – please call us for advice.
Services we cannot provide
Legalise a UK document
Legalisation is the official confirmation that a signature, seal or stamp on an official public document is genuine. It does not certify the authenticity of a document or give approval of its content. UK public documents such as birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates can be legalised by the UK government in the UK. This is also known as an apostille.
The Legalisation Office in the UK can legalise UK public documents and you can find information on how to do this.
British Embassies and Consulates in Costa Rica and Nicaragua are unable to legalise UK public documents.
What to bring to your appointment
See the individual services below for details of supporting documents to bring. Make sure you have acceptable proof of address and identity, and payment for any fees. See the full list of consular fees.
Payment
We accept payment by cash in the local currency on the day of the appointment.
Proof of address and identity
For all appointments for notarial services you will need to bring acceptable proof of your identity and address. We accept passports or national identity cards as proof of identity. We accept official documents, including utility bills, as proof of your address.
Administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit
This service is for people who need to swear an oath, make an affirmation or make an affidavit in front of a consular officer. You may need to make an affirmation or affidavit of marital status in order to get married in Costa Rica. See getting married abroad to find out what you need to do.
The consulate will not draft documents for you. First check with the consulate what format they need and then have the document drawn up or checked by a professional.
What you will need to bring with you:
- the oath, affirmation or affidavit that you will swear or affirm
- the correct fee – see the list of fees
- proof of identity/address
Witness a signature
This service is for customers who need to sign a document and have their signature witnessed by a consular officer. The document must be prepared before your appointment as we will not draft documents for you. We do not handle wills or probate, or witness deed polls. Please do not sign the document before your appointment.
What you will need to bring with you:
- the document that you will sign before a witness
- the correct fee – see the list of fees
- proof of identity/address
Book an appointment to witness a signature in the British Embassy Costa Rica
Make a certified copy of a document
This service is for customers who need certified photocopies of British passports, Home Office registration/naturalisation certificates, UK educational documents (only those that have been issued in the UK by a recognised institution and are listed on the Legalisation Office website, British driving licences (both the plastic card and paper document are required) and British divorce decrees.
What you will need to bring with you:
- the document that you need a certified copy of
- the correct fee – see the list of fees
- proof of identity/address
Book an appointment to make a certified copy in the British Embassy Costa Rica
Services provided elsewhere
We no longer witness life certificates for British nationals claiming a British pension abroad. View the list of people working in a recognised profession (PDF, 18 KB) who can do this for you
If you still cannot find what you are looking for you can contact the embassy.
Contact
The telephone number for the British consulate in Costa Rica is 00 506 2258 2025. To speak to the office of the Honorary Consul in Nicaragua call 00 505 2254 5454.
Data protection
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office holds and uses data for purposes notified to the Information Commissioner under the Data Protection Act 1998. Such personal data may be disclosed to other UK government departments and public authorities.
Disclaimer
This information is provided as a general guide and is based upon information provided to the embassy / consulate by the relevant authorities and may be subject to change at any time with little or no notice. Accordingly the FCDO and the British Embassy / consulate will not be liable for any inaccuracies in this information. For all notarial and legalisation services it is the responsibility of the customer to ascertain the precise requirements of the person requesting the notarial or legalisation service and to satisfy themselves that the service provided by the embassy/consulate will be accepted.
Last updated 23 April 2024 + show all updates
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We have made a change to "Services we provide in Nicaragua" as we currently do not offer notarial and documentary services, including documents of single status for local marriage, in Nicaragua.
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We have added a new section on services that we cannot provide.
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Removal of section on uniting documents.
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Inclusion of booking system
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Changes to consular services offered.
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First published.