Costa Ricans and legal residents planning trips to several parts of South America and the Caribbean need to check their vaccination records before heading to the airport, as Costa Rica will expand its yellow fever vaccine requirement to eight additional destinations beginning Thursday, October 1.
The new rule covers travelers going to Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana, and anyone covered by the requirement must have received the yellow fever vaccine at least 10 days before traveling and must carry the International Certificate of Vaccination against Yellow Fever.
For foreign residents living in Costa Rica, the important point to keep in mind here is that this is not limited to Costa Rican citizens, since the Health Ministry says the requirement also applies to legal residents, meaning expats with residency status are included when traveling to one of the affected destinations.
The October change does not mean all of Costa Rica’s yellow fever rules are new, because the country was already requiring the vaccine for travel to Colombia, Brazil and Peru, as well as African countries considered at risk for the disease. Colombia has been covered since March 1, while the requirement for Brazil, Peru and the affected African countries took effect March 16.
The eight additional destinations were originally supposed to be added at the end of August, but the Health Ministry pushed the date back to October 1 to give travelers more time to find the vaccine and complete the required waiting period before their departure.
That 10-day rule is especially important for anyone traveling during the first week of October, since someone departing October 1, for example, would have needed to receive the vaccine by September 21, and travelers who have not yet been vaccinated should not assume they can simply get the shot a day or two before leaving.
Yellow fever is a viral illness spread by infected mosquitoes, and although Costa Rica does not normally have local transmission, health officials want to reduce both the risk to travelers and the possibility that an infected person could bring the virus back into a country where mosquitoes capable of transmitting it are present.
Costa Rica confirmed an imported yellow fever case in October 2025 involving a traveler who had visited the Peruvian Amazon, adding urgency to the government’s efforts to tighten travel-related prevention measures.
Travelers can obtain the vaccine through private pharmacies and health providers, and new supplies reached major private pharmacies in September after availability had been tight earlier in the month, although anyone planning a trip is still better off calling ahead rather than assuming a particular location has doses available.
After receiving the shot, travelers should also make sure the vaccination has been entered into Costa Rica’s SINOVAC vaccination system, since the provider that administers the vaccine is responsible for registering it and that record allows the traveler to obtain the official certificate needed for travel.
The international certificate can be downloaded digitally through the Health Ministry’s Virtual Office, the EDUS health app and the government’s Pura Vida Móvil application, while existing valid physical certificates can still be used under the ministry’s current guidance.
There are also exceptions to the rule, with Health Ministry guidance listing people over age 60, babies under nine months and people with medical reasons preventing vaccination among those who may qualify for an exemption, while pregnant or breastfeeding travelers may also receive temporary exemption documentation when supported by a medical certificate.
Anyone traveling under one of those exemptions should still verify the rules with their airline and destination country before departure, because an exemption recognized by Costa Rica does not necessarily mean another country will accept it under the same conditions.
People simply changing planes without leaving the international transit area are generally exempt from Costa Rica’s yellow fever requirement, with the Health Ministry stating that passengers making an airport connection without going through immigration are considered to be in transit.
For most travelers, however, the October 1 change is straightforward: if you live in Costa Rica and are traveling to one of the newly added countries, check your vaccination status well before your departure date, because the vaccine cannot be left until the day before the flight.
