If you are a US citizen living near Arenal, you can renew your passport this Thursday without making the trip to San José. The US Embassy is holding a town hall for US citizens in La Fortuna on Thursday, October 22, at 11 a.m. It takes place in the Las Espuelas room at the Centro Integral Generacional ADIFORT (CIGA). Passport renewals and notary services follow the meeting.
Senior embassy officials will be there to hear about your experience living in Costa Rica. Safety, security and crime prevention are on the agenda, so this is a chance to raise concerns directly with the people who handle them. Only renewals are available at the event. If you need your first passport, or yours was lost, stolen or damaged, you still have to apply in person at the embassy in San José by appointment.
An adult renewal costs $130. If you have a question about a child’s passport, check the embassy’s notice or call ahead before you go. Notary services cost $50 per signature, or $100 if the notary has to sign twice. Bring the document fully completed except for the signatures, along with a valid photo ID and a copy of it.
You pay all fees in advance online through pay.gov, so take care of that before Thursday. Staff will also answer questions about voting from abroad in the US midterm elections and hand out registration forms. Election Day is November 3, so time is short if you have not yet requested your ballot.
The embassy asks you to register in advance using the form linked from its announcement on cr.usembassy.gov. If you cannot make it, you can reach American Citizen Services at +506 2519-2000 or ACSSanJose@state.gov. From the United States, the State Department’s consular line is +1 (888) 407-4747.
The La Fortuna session is part of a series of regional meetings the embassy has held with US citizens outside the capital this fall, following a town hall in Atenas on October 6.
