Costa Rica declared independence from Spain on 15 September 1821 in conjunction with the other provinces which had been part of the
Captaincy General of Guatemala. The first provisional constitution of the country, known as the
Pact of Concord established that citizens were free men born in the country or those from neighboring nations who had lived in Costa Rica for five years and were pledged to support independence from Spain. Between 1824 and 1838, the country was part of the
Federal Republic of Central America, whose constituent states had similar nationality laws. The federal constitution for the Republic of Central America drafted in 1824 provided that nationals were born in the territories or to nationals of the constituent states. It also provided for naturalization of foreign spouses of nationals. Under terms of the General Code of the State (), which regulated civil matters and was passed in 1841, married women were required to follow the nationality status of their spouse. The second national
constitution adopted in 1844 distinguished between natives, those born in the nation or who had been in the nation at the time of independence, and those who could naturalize. Naturalization was open to citizens of Central America, foreigners who lived in the country for 3 years if they had a family and 5 years if single, and others who had useful occupations or economic capital. Eligibility also depended upon age, gender, and economic self-sufficiency restrictions. Subsequently, Costa Rica adopted new constitutions in 1847, 1848, 1859, 1869, 1871, and 1917, which did not substantially change the scheme of nationality laid out in the 1844 Constitution. The 1847 Constitution provided for naturalization by marriage to a Costa Rican spouse. According to the
Costa Rican Constitution of 1871 a child born in Costa Rica, who did not have foreign nationality derived from either of its parents, was a national. If a
legitimate,
legitimized, or legally recognized but illegitimate child was born to a Costa Rican father, either within the territory or abroad, a declaration of choosing Costa Rican nationality filed during the child's minority, or a declaration filed by the child after reaching majority conveyed nationality upon it. A child born to a Costa Rican mother received similar derivative nationality only if it was illegitimate and unrecognized by the father. If the father was a foreigner who later did recognize the child, Costa Rican nationality was lost, unless a declaration of choice was made by the parent during the child's minority or by the child when it reached majority. Between 1882 and 1885, Costa Rica developed a civil code modeled on the Chilean Civil Code of 1857, the
Napoleonic Code of 1804, and the Spanish Civil Code of 1851. The 1885 Civil Code required married women to submit to the marital authority of their spouse, including wherever he chose to reside. A mother could only provide nationality or have authority over illegitimate children under the 1885 Civil Code. Provisions of the Law of Alienship and Naturalization, adopted 13 May 1889, included that a Costa Rican woman married to a foreigner lost her nationality if her husband's nation granted her derivative nationality. It also provided that a foreign woman who married a Costa Rican national automatically derived the nationality of her husband. A foreign wife could not be independently naturalized without her husband; however, a Costa Rican woman could have individual nationality differing from her husband. A woman who had lost her nationality by marriage could repatriate if the marriage terminated. Requirements were that she returned to Costa Rica and declared to officials her intent to reside in the country, renouncing her former nationality. A woman who had gained Costa Rican nationality through marriage could relinquish it if the marriage terminated and she acquired nationality elsewhere. Under the Naturalization Law of 1889, minor children of a foreign father who naturalized, or chose to relinquish Costa Rican nationality, automatically derived his new nationality. Nationality lost in this manner could be regained under the provisions for choosing Costa Rican nationality. A mother was unable to change the nationality of her legitimate children during her marriage. The Immigration Law of 1942, specifically barred as immigrants to the nation people of African and Asian descent, specifying that Arabs,
Armenians, Syrians and Turks were forbidden, as were
nomadic people and
coolies. In 1949, Costa Rica developed a
new constitution which recognized women as eligible for citizenship for the first time. The following year the Options and Naturalizations Act () was passed to harmonize domestic law with obligations in conventions and international treaties that Costa Rica had ratified. These changes equalized the provisions for derived citizenship of children from either of their parents. The legislation gave preferential treatment in residency requirements to nationals of the Central American countries, Latin America, and Spain. It had provisions for spouses of Costa Ricans who lost nationality because of marriage to gain Costa Rican nationality and established that nationality could not be changed except by choice. Costa Rica became a signatory to the Inter-American Convention on the Nationality of Women in 1954 and in 1995, adopted Law 7514 (), which made nationality an inalienable right. ==References==