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Hello all: I have to figure out if there is a way to avoid the following: My friend just had here baby here in Costa Rica a couple of months. Their son is a US citizen born in San Jose, and they just got their birth certificate back from the CR registry which listed the baby with their last name TWO times (Rivera, Rivera). Obviously, in Costa Rica, most people have two last names, the mother’s and the father’s, but in the US, that is usually not the case. My friends said that the US and CR passport they have to apply for will most likely have the same last name twice (weird!). So, the baby showed up with the same last name twice on the birth certificate, and I’m trying to figure out if there is a way to avoid this, since I, too, am having a baby boy in a little over two months here in Costa Rica. I don’t want the baby to show up at Baby John Smith Smith, you know what I mean? Can anyone shed some light on this?
If you have your baby in the hospital, you and the father will be asked to sign the original birth certificate. In Costa Rica the first surname is that of the fathers surname. The second surname is that of the mothers surname. This is the way it will appear on the birth certificate in the civil registry. When you go to apply for your passport, I’m sure the embassy staff will ask you if you prefer only the fathers surname to appear on the passport. That’s the way it happened for my son. He has both surnames on his birth certificate and only mine on his passport. I come from dutch ancestry with a surname of “de Haai”. They even asked how I wanted it spelled on his passport, i.e. the “d” capitalized and both parts joined together, etc. They are flexible.
Jon
Thanks for your reply Jon. So I assume on the CR passport and Cedula it would show up as a double same last name (as recorded on the birth certificate) as well? At least the US passport will be only one last name!
Yes that’s correct. You’re saying same last name as if the father’s surname won’t be there? If that’s the case, I’m not sure if yours would be duplicated, but it sounds logical.
Your name on your child’s birth certificate may even be listed as having two surnames (in your case, one duplicated). I believe I remember seeing my name listed with my surname twice, on some documents in the civil registry like my sons birth certificate and my marriage certificate. Costa Rica does it their own way and the US does it their own way.
Thanks for the clarification. Yes, my husband and I are married, have the same last name, so he’ll be the same last name twice. 🙂
It is understandable that each government would do different things. I just didn’t know if what CR does dictates what the US does, but now I know it doesn’t. Thanks again.
Becky
Sorry for implying that. I wasn’t thinking along those lines, completely forgot. My wife is Tica and we don’t share the same surname.
My son was born in Costa Rica. 2 important documents you get are the Consular Report of US citizen born abroad ( this will be their equivalent US birth certificate ) and the passport. We had no problem having my son’s name listed only with my last name. Just fill out the paperwork without the second last name. I don’t know if this is a requirement for the passport or not , but I remember the US consulate asking me to prove I was residing in the US when I applied for the US passport for my son. They asked me for ID’s , shool transcripts, tax returns, and I believe something else, this was 4 years ago though. Just get this done the sooner the better.
I also recommend you go to immigration and get a permanent exit stamp put on the passport once you get it . Even if the child is a US citizen, being born in Costa Rica falls into the CR rules for taking a minor out of the country.
How do you go about getting the permanent exit stamp in a child’s passport? I was told (perhaps by a not very competent lawyer or one that wanted to make some future business for himself) that if I had a baby in Costa Rica, I would have to have my partners written and notirized approval each time I wanted to take our child out of the country?
You get the permission at migracion (immigration) just across the highway from Hospital Mexico. They have a window just for this purpose. This is the way it was say two years ago anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if any changes have been made because migracion is going through a major overhaul at the moment, they gave every foreign resident an automatic one year extension on their residency renewal.
Anyway, both parents have to go and sign the forms. I believe the child has to go as well and will need a photograph, which when we went they had some people taking them there on the spot. There are two choices, a “temporary” permission good for a few weeks, say 30 – 90 days (not sure exactly how long) or you can ask for a “permanent” one. The permanent one means you never have to go back, as long as you have the paper. We were told that about 75% of parents people opt for the permanent one.
The law exists to prevent child abductors from taking the children out of the country, whether by one parent without the consent of another or by anyone else for that matter. In the unlikely event that your child should be abducted and have their passport stolen at the same time, it’s better if the “permanent” permission papers are NOT inside the passport, but kept in another place. It’s very, very unlikely that this scenario should occur but something to think about nonetheless, since that is the reasoning behind the law.
Well the way i had it done won’t help you. Gave my wife , my son , my passport to our travel agent at costa rica Express. He had this done with the stamp in a day. Didn’t even have to go ourselves. Costa Rica connections I guess. But prior to doing this , I didnt realize there was a permanent option , so the attorney was right in the sense that every time you leave you need to do this . When i found out about this , I asked why wasnt I informed about this option , Guess what the naswer was ” You didnt ask ”
Good luck in the CR maze of things .Call what you like, but it’s their culture and country , if that’s how things get done in CR , then that’s the way it is. I’ve seen dozens and dozens of things get done the “easy ” way by Costa Ricans amongst themselves , which is why I personally couldnt say corruption, more like part of society.
I’ll have to check his passport , but the first 2 years I had to get the temporary stamp good for 1 trip, before I got the permanent one , he is 4/12 so , Id say 2 years ago .
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