before marriage advice

few answers

where are you located? i know a good lawyers in puerto plata and santiago that take care of my affairs.
to get married in DR you will need: your birth certificate and a document stating your present marital status. for church wedding you may also need some documents from church regarding your babtism and other sacraments you might have. note - you can still have church wedding even if you are not catholic, it all depends on a priest....
a must for all sort of things here is a police check.
your embassy or ministry of foreign affairs can provide you with more info regarding your husbands visa.
do not forget that ALL your docs HAVE TO BE translated into spanish. choose an english speaking lawyer who is also certified translator.
pre-nup is not a problem, prices may vary, and again you will need an english-speaking lawyer for that. it is a good idea to have a lawyer in your country checking papers to see wherther all is in order.
hope it helps

Here's more info for you to read

Welcome to Travel.State.Gov

The Dominican Republic Law Firm: Guzman Ariza, Attorneys at Law.

Dominicans to the USA

If you can't be away from him that long you'll have to move to the DR but there's no way around it. Your case isn't any more special than the thousands waiting ahead of you dear.

For a prenup to be valid in the DR, it must be sritten and signed in the DR (in Spanish) so you definitely need a good lawyer and will need to have a certified English translation- not just any certified translation will do (perhaps HB would be so kind as to tell you the proper certification name).
A prenup that is writen in the US in English only will not be recognized by the Dominican justice system.
Better to be safe than sorry.
Wait times are what they are and there's NO way of legally speeding up the process.

Pre-nup

If you plan to live in the US why does the pre-nup have to be legal in the D.R.? I am from Canada and had my pre-nup done in Canada. I then had my husband take it to a lawyer in the D.R. who could explain it to him and have him sign it and the laywer sign it saying it was explained and understood. My lawyer offered to set up a phone confrence with his lawyer if there were any questions. Independent legal counsell is very important for the agreement to be valid. The agreement is being translated and signed again.

andreapestone said:

can i do any paperwork ahead of time so that everything will go quicker? i cant wait 18 months for him to come to the states.

thanks for any help you can give me.

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Sorry to tell you this but there is nothing you can do, the wait is 20-24 months, and it may get longer. I know you probably don't believe me but that's the story. You can read about the wait at Dominicans to the USA

-Tim

dv8 said:

to get married in DR you will need: your birth certificate and a document stating your present marital status.

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Birth certificate? Sure?
Passport is not enough?

But what if a person is 50-60 y.o., his(her) BC is lost long time ago, the country where he (she) was born does not even exist any longer??!

No chance to get married legally?

Regarding BATICH's comments:

there is SOME flexibility. However, most countries do have birth records, even if the original country, such as Yugoslavia, Czechoslovaquia, USSR no longer exist as such...It is a lot of hassle, most probably....but unless they were destroyed during some of the battles, they exist....

HB

Hillbilly said:

Regarding BATICH's comments:

there is SOME flexibility. However, most countries do have birth records, even if the original country, such as Yugoslavia, Czechoslovaquia, USSR no longer exist as such...It is a lot of hassle, most probably....but unless they were destroyed during some of the battles, they exist....

HB

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So, passport definitely is not enough?

Taken from the legal page of DR1

Getting Married
Most resort hotels that offer wedding packages will help you to complete the paperwork for a marriage.

Marriage requirements:

The Dominican Republic does not require you to get a marriage license. You need only to register to be married. The Oficialia del Estado Civil charges RD$50 for this. This is the first step prior to getting a marriage certificate.

Submit the following paperwork before the Oficial?a del Estado Civil for the preparation of your marriage certificate. Note that you may send photocopies in advance and bring the original with you:

Passport
Birth certificate
Single status affidavit translated by an official translator into Spanish
Divorce certificate translated into Spanish by an official translator, if applicable

(Legal transcripts of the birth certificates, single status affidavit and divorce act need to be prepared at the Dominican consulate in the country where the documents were issued.)

You will also need two witnesses. If they are foreigners, they will need to have passports as identification. If they are Dominicans, "cedulas" are sufficient.

People who have been divorced in the DR under the Special Divorces Law need to wait 24 hours prior to getting married.

II. After the marriage:

You will be given a document that proves the wedding took place. You then need to request a marriage certificate from the ?Oficial de Estado Civil? (City Clerk) that married you.

Marriage certificate validity abroad

The document issued by ?Oficial de Estado Civil? (City Clerk) is a valid marriage certificate.

Nevertheless, in case you are considering a name change or applying for a visa for one of the spouses, you may consider validating the marriage certificate at your consulate in the DR. If this is your case, ask your hotel if they can help you handle this part as part of the marriage package or for an additional fee. This process needs to be carried out by the corresponding foreign-based authorities or in the DR as follows:

First you will need a legal transcript of the marriage act that is issued in Spanish. This needs to be done by an official legal translator (authorized by the Supreme Court of Justice). Then have the transcript legalized by the Attorney General Office (Procurador General de la Nacion) and by the Legal Department (Legalizaciones) of the Ministry of Foreign Relations (in Santo Domingo). Next step is to take it to the corresponding consulate where they will verify the signature of the Ministry of Foreign Relations, validating the marriage certificate in the foreign language. This procedure could take a month.

batich said:

So, passport definitely is not enough?

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I used mine and did not bring a BC.

You can't say it's one way or another because in every little town it's different, and even between judges in the DR, they all do it different. We had no problems, but my wife knows the judge. If you are getting married at an AI, be prepared to get ripped off and hassled, just my humble opinion.

-Tim