Naturalization of NA Woman "por matrimonio"

[LaTeacher]

I have my "interview" today at the police station for my naturalization as a dominican citizen. i'm a US citizen married to a dominican man. i wanted to put this out here, because i know a lot of people who used lawyers and paid a LOT of money. the process was super easy- i got the requirements from the Interior y Policia website and began collecting the papers.
a letter of intent from the husband requesting the naturalization of his wife, signed by both (FREE)
US birth certificate with apostille stamp (from Pennsylvania is cost $25 USD total)
Birth Cert translated and "legalized", (the apostille adds pages, and translation is charged by page) ($RD1500) Marriage Certificate (i was married here, so just legalized) ($RD600)
Husband's dominican birth certificate (legalized), ($RD600)
color photocopy of husband's cedula (front and back),
first four pages of wife's passport color copied.
Receipt from a national newspaper (i went to el caribe) for ad space for "intent of naturalization" ($RD1000).
Payment for processing (in the police station) ($RD1500)
Payment for Swearing-IN (Juramenatcion) ($RD5000)
Take the whole packet, copy it four times and take it to the department of policia y interior in santo domingo (13thfloor).

All in all, with my busfare to the capital (three trips: once to deposit, once for interview, once for swearing in) it'll cost me less than $350 USD.

 

[BabyBlu]

Thanks for that info! Can you tell us what happens at the interview?

 

[LaTeacher]

[No message]

 

[Riki]

Is it possible to have dual citizenship? I am from Canada and was legally married here. Can I acquire residency easier because I have married a Dominican citizen?

 

[bob saunders]

[No message]

 

[AnnaC]

What did you say Bob? LOL

To Riki, yes you can have duel citizenship. Is it easier if you married a Dominican? Depends if you are male a female.

Here is the info DR1 - Legal

 

[bob saunders]

What did you say Bob? LOL

To Riki, yes you can have duel citizenship. Is it easier if you married a Dominican? Depends if you are male a female.

Here is the info DR1 - Legal

According to Guzman it's just as easy if you are a male non-Dominican married to a female Dominican. You go from Provisional residency to Citizenship.

 

[LaTeacher]

[No message]

 

[BabyBlu]

What did you say? Lol

 

[LaTeacher]

i don't know what happened there! the difference between a male married to a dominicana is that they need to have provisional residency for two years before naturalizing. the woman married to a domincano doesn't need that, you just need to be married for at least six months.

i wrote about the interview here.: becoming legal.

 

[prieto]

This is not the case, a man only needs to have provisional residency for 6 months before applying for naturalization.

 

[bob saunders]

This is not the case, a man only needs to have provisional residency for 6 months before applying for naturalization.

Yes this is what my lawyer told me.

 

[LaTeacher]

i stand corrected. it is, however, different for women, because we don't need to have residency at all.

 

[LaTeacher]

Sorry I've taken so long to finish this up - I was sworn in as a Dominican citizen at the end of June. To be completely sincere, a friend in the police station pushed my paperwork through, otherwise, i'm told, it could take between 6-8 months for interpol papers to come through.

There were about 25 "new citizens" at the swearing in. I had been expecting to receive my paperwork the same day - stupid. We were told to return in 10 days to retrieve our paperwork - of course, when i called 10 days later, it wasn't ready yet. i had a lot of stuff going on and so I just got around to it last week.

the first part of my process had been a dream - easy, quick and way cheaper than residency. it was even well organized. however, i picked up my paperwork and was told i needed to re-deposit in the junta central. "do i need more money?" no. headed to the junta - was told it's $1,000 pesos to "transcribe the birth certificate". once it's done (in 18 days), i will be able to do the rest of the process in Santiago.

SUmmary?
Depositing the original documents was quick and painless. Total cost: less that 300 USD
Wait a few months for DEA, DNCD and INTERPOL paperwork.
Swear in (last thursday of each month) - no extra cost, but a trip to Santo DOmingo for a 15 minute ceremony (and a free Dominican flag pin!)
Return to SD in "10" (DOminican) days, pick up paperwork
Deposit paperwork in Junta Central in the capitol.
Wait "18" (Dominican) days and pick the papers up to deposit in whichever city you reside.

I'll let you know what the santiago side of things look like once i get my junta central paper work back.

 

[Fabio J. Guzman]

At Guzman Ariza we believe that under the Constitution of 2010 the husband of a Dominican citizen has the same rights to a quick naturalization as the wife of a Dominican. Since the Ministry of the Interior is not admitting this, we are looking for a foreign husband of a Dominican citizen willing to serve as a client in a test case, free of charge. The process could be lengthy. Those interested, please write an email to info@drlawyer.com putting "test case" on the subject line. Applicants must have been married to a Dominican for more than six months and speak Spanish.

By the way, our standard fees for the naturalization of a spouse are $800.

 

[LaTeacher]

Derfish, I'm just seeing your comment now! te quedas perdonado!

UPDATE!: I just finished (por sinverguenza) the final step to make the citizenship legal. I headed to the JCE on Monday morning, dropped off my papers and went back Wednesday to work it out. It was fairly painless, no hidden tricks and the cedula was FREE! I was surprised because I had been told that it was going to cost me an arm and a leg. I did have to pay for an up-to-date marriage certificate ($200RD) and do a lot of running here and there, but in less than three hours I was done. The information now gets processed and I can pick up the "plastico" at the end of the month. Which is just fine because the country is flat-out of plastic cards to print on, so i'd have to wait anyway!!!

I wrote about that experience here

 

[Trainman33]

I already have a translated and legalized birth certificate that I can make copies from here. Do I have to have all of that done over again?

 

[LaTeacher]

Trainman, your birth certificate needs to be "apostilled" in the US and THAT also needs to be translated. In my case, I called a friend of mine who works for a state representative in PA and she requested it for me. It cost $25 for the birth certificate and the apostille pages. The translation here costs about $700 pesos a page. The apostille is three pages long, plus your birth certificate.
Also, you know that legal documents are only valid for short time periods here, right? So your legalized BC is, I think, only good for a few months. One year at the most.

 

[Squat]

I am almost done... Waiting for Interpol and DNI, since november... Who's your friend in the Police??? I might need a helping hand

 

[LaTeacher]

Squat, did they give you the number to the Interpol office? Even with the helping hand, it took about 4 months to process. But my DNI was back super quick.