DISCLAIMER:  This is Costa Rica.  The only constant here regarding rules and regulations is they change without notice and/or reason.  Always verify information is up-to-date for the day you are using it and even then, you will only know for sure the information is good once the process is successfully completed.  In other words, please don’t blame the messenger for sharing what worked for them – as it may turn out to be completely different for you; the next day, the next week or the next month.

As mentioned in the previous post, "Costa Rica’s Ever Changing Road Rules "; Costa Rica’s Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT – Ministry of Transportation and Public Works) is the agency firmly in-charge of all things motor vehicles. 

The division of MOPT responsible for all things road safety is Consejo de Securidad Vial.  Most commonly referred to as COSEVI , this agency is Costa Rica’s 'department of motor vehicles' or DMV.

The main COSEVI facility where all foreigners must get their driver’s license is located in La Uruca, northwest of downtown San José.

Obtaining a Costa Rica driver’s license as a foreigner with proof of a license from most first-world countries (ie: the United States, Canada, England, Germany, France, etc.) does not require a written or driving test.  To put it bluntly, Costa Rica recognizes if a person still has a valid driver’s license from countries with strictly enforced driving laws … there is no need to check this person’s understanding of how to drive like a responsible member of the human species.

A foreigner’s first Costa Rica driver’s license will be issued for a time period of two years.  The second driver’s license issued upon renewal and repeating this same process, will be for a period of about five years (depending on the expiration date).

However, all license applicants regardless of nationality must obtain a Costa Rica medical certificate declaring they have no physical or mental limiting conditions.  The new law even requires a blood draw and laboratory test.

Most any local private doctor will be more than happy to complete this document on the applicants behalf with total costs being around ¢15.000 ($29 USD).  However, it is not necessary to go out of your way to find a doctor – the COSEVI facility is literally surrounded by medical clinics (clínicas médicas) there for the sole purpose of getting that necessary piece of paper into your hand as quickly as possible - quickness isn't often associated with anything Costa Rican, but competition breeds efficiency even in Latin America .

The above map shows a close-up view of the COSEVI office, along with where to park (for FREE), several of the medical clinics, the Banco Nacional where you can pay your fees, etc.

Price to Drive

The fee for a Costa Rica driver’s license most recently was ¢10.700 ($21 USD) for a passenger vehicle.  Costs for additional licenses such as motorcycle, ATV, truck, heavy equipment will add to the overall bill.

This fee(s) can be paid at most any full-service Banco Nacional (BN) branch.  It is highly recommended that this be done on an off-day (ie: Tuesday-Thursday) during an off-peak time (ie: 9-11am, 1-3pm) at a bank facility in a quieter location than the Banco Nacional located next-door to COSEVI … otherwise the line out the bank door can take several hours to get through while all the people in-front of you pay the single teller their multiple traffic fines [NO, there is no separate line for license fee only customers that have obeyed the laws and not accumulated any unpaid traffic fines - that would make too much sense].

Bend Over & Cough

The medical certificate or “Certificado Médico para Licencias de Conducir” required to obtain a Costa Rica driver’s license is a one-page document with allot of make-sense questions that must be completed by the doctor or physician’s assistant.  The idea is that a driver should be physically and mentally fit enough to drive a vehicle.

Personal medical history is to be discussed and documented with emphasis on potentially problematic conditions such as: diabetes, epilepsy, fainting, depression, anxiety, etc. 

A physical exam is to be conducted and documented again with emphasis on potentially problematic conditions such as:  vision, hearing, breathing, heart, blood pressure, reflexes, flexibility, nervous disorders, muscular and skeletal systems, etc.

Laboratory work includes a blood draw to determine blood type as well as a number of other health conditions that may be discovered by a basic testing process.

Real Exam vs. Real Quick

As a reminder, we are still talking Costa Rica here.  So the following should not come as a complete surprise for those familiar with this country.

Going to a legitimate medical doctor for a COSEVI required driver’s license medical certificate is advised … after all, who doesn’t want to ensure they are healthy.  Inadvertent early medical condition detection is built-in to this process for the low price of approximately ¢15.000 ($29 USD).

Here’s just one of many ‘medical’ facilities surrounding the COSEVI offices:

This is not an endorsement of the services provided at this facility located about 100 meters west of COSEVI. 

But one thing is for sure – they pretty much got you covered as a one-stop shop:

• see a doctor,
• get your blood lab work done,
• learn how to drive by a Costa Rica instructor (oxymoron?!),
• have a little lunch,
• surf the Internet, and
• get your car washed while you wait for your documents.

On the other end of the medical certificate services spectrum (assuming the above actually does perform legit medical exams and laboratory tests) is a place that literally has no name:

Like a one-stall quick-lube, this quick-stop medical shop is appropriately located in a garage around the corner and down the hill from COSEVI.

This is your bare-bones, get the required piece of paper and on with the rest of your Costa Rica driver’s license process.  A quick reading of the eye chart, a couple verbal questions, ¢15.000 ($29 USD) cash, a signature, a knowing handshake and you’re on your way.

Ask Before You Smile

Once you have everything you need, it’s time to go get that Costa Rica driver’s license.

Final Checklist:

• Banco Nacional COSEVI paid license fee receipt (factura COSEVI licencia).
• Medical certificate (Certificado Médico para Licencias de Conducir).
• Existing valid foreign or Costa Rica driver’s license.
• Valid identification - passport or Costa Rica cédula.
• patience

Like many things Costa Rica, knowing where it is located and how to getthere is most of the battle.

Although there are many parking guys on the main road along the front of the main COSEVI building trying to lure potential visitors into their paid parking situations … COSEVI does offers FREE parking behind its multiple building campus (see second detailed satellite map above).  

The access road is approximately 200 meters west of the main COSEVI building.  It is a south-bound only dead-end street that sits directly across from the Yamaha and Great Wall Motors businesses on the north side of the main road.  The drive is approximately 400 meters through an industrial area, with the guarded COSEVI entrance on the left (see map #2 above).

This parking lot will leave you as close as possible to the actual driver’s license issuing building – so if paying money for a long walk isn't your thing, this is the best place to park.

A guard posted outside the door that leads into the driver’s license issuing office will check all those seeking to enter for required paperwork.  If everything is in order the applicant will be given a number and nobody else is permitted to enter the building other than the applicant with the number.  Then it’s a matter of sitting in the waiting area until a COSEVI agent calls your number.

IMPORTANT: Pay attention to the verbal calling-out of numbers and be prepared to jump into the appropriate cubicle as soon as your number is called.  The COSEVI agents don’t wait very long before calling the next number in order to keep things moving – which overall is a good thing in a society where lines and wait times can be lengthy.

The COSEVI representative will then check the provided documents and if everything is in order, enter the applicants information in the computer … then the applicant will be instructed to sit in a different row of chairs that leads to the always flattering driver’s license picture. 

When obtaining my first Costa Rica driver’s license picture, I was admonished by a clearly unhappy government employee:  “do not smile”.  This time around I was lucky enough to have a different COSEVI agent that seemed to have a much better attitude. 

I told him the story of his co-worker advising me 2 years previously that ‘Costa Rican’s don’t smile because they are not happy’.  This COSEVI employee laughed and gave me complete permission to smile … he then proceeded to take several pictures as I smiled several times.

After the driver’s license picture is taken and the applicant’s index finger-print is successfully scanned, the Costa Rica driver’s license will be delivered hot off the press within a couple minutes (assuming the equipment is working properly).

Ironically enough, the picture I ended-up getting for my second Costa Rica driver’s license was also without a smile.  The COSEVI agent must have captured me between smiles, leaving me to wonder; was the grumpy agent two years previous correct?  Now that I've lived in Costa Rica do I no longer smile because I am not happy?  Nah ... I'm smiling right now ... so the jokes still on him .

Smiling or not for your official picture, once issued with a shiny new Costa Rica driver’s license every citizen, resident and visitor is legally off to the demolition derby otherwise known as Costa Rica driving where I can guarantee you will have your share of coarse words, profane gestures and dirty looks to share with others that have no respect for the rule of law or common decency. 

Be Careful Out There y Pura Traffico!

FYI:  Costa Rica citizens can now renew their driver’s licenses at certain Banco Nacional branches.  As of this writing this same service is not available to residents or visitors.  Hopefully this will change sometime in the not too distant future.

related articles:

• Getting a Costa Rica Drivers License - "Do Not Smile"
• Costa Rica's New Traffic Laws - UPDATE: Effective date March 1, 2010
  
• Costa Rica Traffic Sign Suggestions (humor)
• Driving in Costa Rica makes NASCAR Look Like a Gentleman's Sport
• It was The Week Before Christmas and All Through Costa Rica...
• The Luckiest Man (still) ALIVE in Costa Rica
  
• How to Navigate Costa Rica by Car - With a GPS Device and Costa Rica Digital Map of Course!

related resource:

• Costa Rica traffic pictures