Costa Rica Marriage

Marriage is a wonderful event in the life of any couple. There are several laws in Costa Rica that have to be taken into consideration if you are going to tie the knot. Keeping the relevant documents is of utmost importance. These documents are necessary in order to fill out an application to get a license to get married in Costa Rica. It is a wonderful place that is habituated by the locals and visited in large numbers by the tourist many of which get married in the beautiful locales. The laws are separate for the locals and the visitors touring the beautiful country.

A Costa Rican resident must apply a month in advance of the wedding date. An official identity card and a certificate of single status from the Civil Registry should be produced. Other information that is required is your name, passport number, and work details, name of the parents, original passport and birth date. A nonresident person who wants to get married needs to submit a passport that does not expire within 6 months, copy of a certified police record, an affidavit stating that you are single and birth certificate. Do not forget to keep all these documents with you before approaching a lawyer.

Since there are a lot of laws that require to be followed, it is recommended to seek the services of a lawyer. This will be helpful in avoiding any kind of legal issue that might stop you from getting married at the last moment. Using a local law firm is a sensible thing to do as they would be aware of the local system and help out in case of a problem. Making arrangements will be easier as well rather than choosing a firm that is located far from the location of the wedding.

The marrying couple should provide two copies of their passports before the marriage. You will require the presence of two witnesses at the wedding. The information and documents of both the witnesses should also be submitted to the lawyer in advance. The services of a lawyer will make the wedding much easier as you only have to sign on a letter stating all the information provided is corrected. All the rest will be looked after by the lawyer. Parental permission is required if either the bride or the groom has not attained the age of eighteen years at the time of marriage.

At present there is no provision for same sex marriages in Costa Rica. A peculiar law is that a bride has to wait till a period of 300 days before marrying again. This applies to both cases where the bride is divorced or widowed. The document of the divorce or the death certificate of the spouse should be produced whichever is the case. A period of six weeks is the minimum to get the certificate of the marriage after the wedding. All these things are done easily with the services of a local lawyer to avoid any hassles.