Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto de Costa Rica

What Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto de Costa Rica does

The Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto de Costa Rica is the government ministry responsible for Costa Rica's foreign policy, diplomatic representation, and consular services, established in 1844 under Article 140 of the Costa Rican Constitution. The Ministry operates through a headquarters in San José and a network of 47 diplomatic missions covering over 100 countries, delivering consular protection to Costa Rican citizens abroad, visa and accreditation services for foreign nationals, and authentication, apostille, legalization, and passport services domestically.

Its technology infrastructure is managed by the Centro de Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación (CTIC) and includes a Digital Authentication System with QR code and verification code capability, an online appointment scheduling system for consular services, and multilingual website support via Google Translate integration. The Ministry also operates the Academia Diplomática Manuel María de Peralta, a diplomatic training institution partnered with the Universidad de Costa Rica for a Master's program in Diplomacy, and maintains a Bibliographic Library and Diplomatic Museum as ancillary units.

The Ministry's revenue model rests on annual government budget allocations from Costa Rica's national treasury as the primary funding source, supplemented by regulated consular fees (Arancel Consular) for authentication, apostille, legalization, and passport services with unit pricing per document and processing times of 1-30 business days. It engages in multilateral diplomacy through active membership in the UN system, OAS, OECD, SICA, CPTPP, DEPA, ACCTS, and the EU Association Agreement framework. The Ministry also administers the San José Treaty on illicit drug trafficking and coordinates international cooperation including a €1M Luxembourg-funded sustainable development program.

Name

Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto de Costa Rica

Legal name

Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto de Costa Rica

Website

https://rree.go.cr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1844

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto is Costa Rica's government ministry managing foreign policy, consular services, and 47 diplomatic missions across 100+ countries, providing passport, authentication, and apostille services to citizens and foreign nationals, funded primarily by national budget allocations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Diplomatic Services

NAICS

International Affairs (92812)

SIC

International Affairs (9721), Foreign Governments (8888)

akta.pro primary industry

Consular Services & Citizen Assistance (BPAIAIAB)

Keywords

• Diplomatic services
• Consular services
• Foreign policy
• International cooperation
• Passport authentication

Headquarters

HQ city

San José, San José

HQ country

Costa Rica

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government Budget Allocation: Primary funding through annual government budget allocations from Costa Rica's national treasury, supporting diplomatic operations and consular services.
2. Consular Fees (Arancel Consular): Fee-based consular services including authentication, apostille, legalization of documents, and passport processing. Fees vary by service type and document nature.
3. Passport Fees: Fees for diplomatic and service passport issuance with processing times of 6-30 business days.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto de Costa Rica is the government ministry responsible for managing Costa Rica's foreign policy, diplomatic relations, and consular affairs. Core offerings include consular protection for citizens abroad, authentication/apostille and legalization of public documents, issuance of diplomatic and service passports, visa processing for foreign nationals, coordination of international treaties and agreements, and administration of religious affairs through the Culto department.

Product overview

Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto de Costa Rica is a government ministry providing diplomatic and consular services. The institution does not offer a unified technology product but provides multiple public-facing digital services and portals including: Sistema de Autenticaciones (authentication, apostille, and legalization system) for document verification; Sistema de Citas para Autenticaciones (appointment scheduling system); online religious entity registration services; a diplomatic academy (Academia Diplomática Manuel María de Peralta) with library services and a Master's program in Diplomacy; consular services; passport services (diplomatic and service passports); and international cooperation coordination. The ministry maintains 47 diplomatic missions abroad and manages international treaties including the San José Treaty on maritime and aerial drug trafficking suppression. Services are delivered through web portals, appointment systems, and in-person consular operations at its headquarters in San José.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Authentication, Apostille and Legalization Service
• Diplomatic Passport Issuance
• Service Passport Issuance
• Consular Protection and Assistance Services
• Visa Processing Services
• Religious Affairs (Culto) Registration Services
• Academia Diplomática Manuel María de Peralta (Diplomatic Training)
• International Scholarship Programs (Becas)
• International Cooperation Coordination

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, regional, core, major and minor.

• Rebeca Grynspan Candidacy for UN Secretary-GeneralflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2026Costa Rica officially registered the candidacy of Rebeca Grynspan for UN Secretary-General position on March 3, 2026. She previously served as UNCTAD Secretary-General since 2021.
• Latin American and Caribbean Conference on Autonomous WeaponsregionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 February 2023Costa Rica hosted this regional conference on February 23-24, 2023 at Hotel Costa Rica Marriott, La Ribera de Belén. Focus on humanitarian and social impacts of autonomous weapons.
• San José Treaty Signatory StatescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 April 2003Convention on Cooperation for the Suppression of Illicit Maritime and Aerial Drug Trafficking in the Caribbean Area (Treaty of San José). Signed on April 10, 2003 in San José, Costa Rica by 9 states. Currently has 11 member states: Belize, Costa Rica, United States, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Dominican Republic, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
• United Nations System (ONU, UNESCO, FAO, WHO/OPS, PNUD, UNICEF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCosta Rica maintains permanent representations at UN headquarters in New York, Geneva, and Vienna. Active participation in UN specialized agencies for development cooperation, health, education, and humanitarian affairs.
• Organization of American States (OEA/OAS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive member of the OAS, participating in hemispheric security, democracy, human rights, and development initiatives.
• European UnioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTwo recent agreements: Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (ADPC) and Association Agreement, enabling more predictable relations with the European Union.
• Central American Integration System (SICA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCosta Rica maintains permanent presence and participation in SICA, the regional integration system for Central America.
• OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCosta Rica completed OECD accession process. Former Minister of Commerce Exterior Manuel Tovar served as Costa Rica's representative to OECD 2016-2021 and chaired the OECD Council Ministerial Meeting in June 2025.
• Forum of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable DevelopmentmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCosta Rica held the CEPAL presidency 2020-2022, hosting the 38th CEPAL session and leading regional sustainable development discussions.
• Alliance for Development in Democracy (ADD)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerCosta Rica, Panama, and Dominican Republic alliance for strengthening democratic institutions. Declared in New York September 21, 2022.
• International Organization for Migration (OIM)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOIM recognizes Costa Rica's migratory management as an example for the region. Costa Rica participates actively in the Regional Conference on Migration (CRM).
• CPTPP, DEPA, ACCTS Trade AgreementsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCosta Rica's incorporation into Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), and Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) during 2022-2026 period.
• Academia Diplomática - Universidad de Costa Rica PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint agreement with UCR for developing a Master's program in Diplomacy. The Academia Diplomática Manuel María de Peralta also has agreements with other prestigious national universities.
• International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCosta Rica participates in ICCAT for the conservation of Atlantic tuna and tuna-like species.
• Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCosta Rica is party to the Hague Apostille Convention, simplifying legalization of public documents internationally.
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFAO cooperation programs in Costa Rica for agricultural development and food security.
• Blue Shield InternationalregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerCosta Rica granted maximum international protection (Blue Shield) to two historic sites in Liberia, Guanacaste, demonstrating commitment to cultural heritage protection.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France: France's foreign ministry operates global embassies and consulates, consular protection, treaties, visas and multilateral coordination. It is a broad incumbent benchmark for a highly institutionalized global foreign-affairs operation.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil (Itamaraty): Brazil's Itamaraty operates a much larger global network of embassies and consulates and manages bilateral, multilateral, consular and treaty functions. It is a broad incumbent and scale benchmark for Costa Rica's institutional model.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain: Spain's foreign ministry runs a global diplomatic and consular network and manages bilateral, EU, treaty, visa and citizen-assistance services. It is a broad incumbent comparator for mature global and digital consular operations.

Direct peers

• Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores de México: Mexico's SRE operates a much larger embassy and consulate network and provides consular, passport, visa and treaty services. It is directly comparable in mandate and service mix while offering a useful scale benchmark.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile: Chile's foreign ministry manages bilateral and multilateral relations, consular services, visas, passports and international agreements from a Latin American base. It is the closest regional functional analogue to Costa Rica's ministry.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia (Cancillería): Colombia's Cancillería operates diplomatic missions and provides consular assistance, passports, authentication, visas and international cooperation. It is a close regional peer with a highly similar foreign-affairs and citizen-service mandate.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru: Peru's foreign ministry runs diplomatic and consular operations, treaty negotiation, visa and passport services, and international cooperation programs. It is a direct regional comparator for Costa Rica's public-service and diplomatic functions.

Regional players

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala (MINREX): Guatemala's MINREX manages diplomatic missions, consular assistance, visas, authentication and international cooperation in a neighboring Central American market. Its smaller regional footprint makes it a useful operating-model comparator.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama (Mire): Panama's Mire operates foreign missions, consular affairs, visas, treaties and international cooperation in a similar Central American context. It is a relevant regional peer for service delivery and cross-border coordination.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic (Mirex): The Dominican Republic's Mirex manages diplomatic and consular relations, visas, passports, document authentication and international cooperation in a neighboring Caribbean state. Its regional role and service mix closely resemble Costa Rica's ministry.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/CRcancilleria
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC8S2ot5yAqR0DAFbih9LQ_Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Ministerio-Relaciones-Exteriores-Costa-Rica/646166248837356
• Instagraminstagram.com/cancilleriacr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rree-cr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto de Costa Rica