Q COSTA RICA — The U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica addressed a series of social media posts claiming that the State Department had revoked the visas of currently serving Costa Rican officials.
The diplomatic mission dismissed these claims as “false rumors” and noted that only communications released through official channels represent the position of the U.S. government.
“The U.S. Embassy is aware of false posts circulating online claiming that the U.S. State Department has revoked the visas of sitting Costa Rican officials. These are false rumors,” the diplomatic mission stated in a message posted on its official X account.
La Embajada de Estados Unidos tiene conocimiento de publicaciones falsas que circulan en línea, las cuales señalan que el Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos habría revocado las visas a funcionarios costarricenses en ejercicio.
Estos son rumores falsos.
Solo las cuentas…
— US Embassy San Jose (@usembassysjo) September 30, 2026
The statement was issued following days of circulating reports regarding potential immigration measures against members of the Costa Rican government.
The Embassy did not identify the specific posts that prompted the denial, nor did it name the officials mentioned in them.
In its message, the U.S. mission also urged the public to carefully verify the source of any information attributed to Washington.
“Only official U.S. government accounts speak on behalf of the United States government,” the Embassy noted.
It added that “statements from unofficial or unverified sources should be considered mere rumors.”
Rumors involved government figures
Some of the stories circulating on social media referred to the alleged revocation of the U.S. visa held by former president Rodrigo Chaves, who currently heads the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Presidency in Laura Fernández Delgado’s administration.
The president addressed the issue during a formal session of the Government Council held in Puntarenas and publicly thanked the Embassy for its statement.
Fernández attributed these stories to her political adversaries and maintained that the messages were intended to sow division within her administration.
“I also take this opportunity to thank the Ambassador for her kindness in confirming—even in writing—and refuting some of the outrageous claims made by this government’s political enemies, who went around saying that his visa was being revoked,” the president stated.
Fernández also referred directly to the posts concerning Chaves.
“What a ridiculous story they made up—that Don Rodrigo was going to lose his visa, that they were going to take away his visa,” she remarked.
The president added that, in her view, the messages sought to “divide us” and questioned the dissemination of these stories via WhatsApp chains and social media posts.
Costa Rica has a history of visa revocations
This statement comes against a backdrop where the United States has indeed revoked the visas of several Costa Rican public figures since 2025, although those instances are unrelated to the reports refuted this week.
In April 2025, the United States revoked the visa of former two-time Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Óscar Arias. This measure had previously affected political figures such as Francisco Nicolás, Johana Obando, and Cynthia Córdoba.
Subsequently, the United States revoked the entry privileges of Ana Sofía Machuca Flores, the Auditor General of the state power and telecom, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE).
In July 2025, news also emerged regarding visa revocations for Rodrigo Arias, brother of Oscar and president of the Legislative Assembly from 2022 to 2026, and Constitutional Court justices Paul Rueda and Fernando Cruz.
Other cases involving Costa Rican figures also came to light during 2026. In May, members of the Board of Directors of the newspaper La Nación reported that the United States had revoked their visas—a decision that sparked public questioning regarding the criteria used by Washington.
U.S. authorities have traditionally maintained confidentiality regarding individual visa decisions. In various instances, the Embassy in San José has refrained from publicly detailing the specific reasons behind a revocation, citing the confidential nature of these immigration procedures.
The denial was issued just one day after the United States announced visa cancellations for judges, prosecutors, high-ranking officials, and business leaders from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.