Registering a Child

Joshua said:

I DO know for sure that he is mine.

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Joshua, with all due respect, how do you know the baby is yours?
This is a question most everyone here will ask you......

B in Santiago

Do a DNA check first.

She probably all ready registered you as the father. I believe they can put any name on it. An ex-pat friend and I were having a beer at a local establishment he frequents. He was served papers for child support for a kid from like 4 years ago.

The Colonial Zone has a bit of everything, from slumlike areas to creeping gentrification and everything in-between. My husband's family has lived there for about 40 years - it's an OK place to live.

It's up to you to decide what to do about determining fatherhood.

Here's the answer to your question: You can get a birth certificate for anyone born anywhere in the DR within the past 10 years (they haven't loaded prior years yet) in the government building behind the Senate which is the same building where they do legalizations (Junta Electoral) on the second floor at the head of the stairs.

You should know the folio number and the document numbers from the original document to get the copy. If you don't have it, and the mother doesn't either or won't give it to you, then maybe the hospital can give the numbers to you, or you can ask for the copy by child's name and birth location at the Junta. Take a copy and your passport with you.

The old registration system would have been to go to the Oficialia nearest the hospital, which I believe for Zona Colonial is in the second block behind the Ciudad Nueva Jail, but I am not sure they are still functioning with the new system.

The Junta Electoral building is at the corner of Calle Paul P. Harris & Calle Horacio Vicoso. From Ave Enrique Jimenez Moya (the lower part of what is Ave Winston Churchill above), go east two blocks on Ave Independencia and then turn right and go to the second corner. Easier to find parking if you turn left at this intersection and then walk back to the building.

It will take about 1.5-2 hours, cost for each copy is about 200 pesos, and you pay a bit extra to have it legalized (the DR form of notarization). They do it all at once now, and it is much easier than the old system. They are also open now until 8 pm.

Hi, Don't worry about it, it is done and a good thing, you have a child, and there is nothing like a child to make you appreciate life. It is best you come here to register, well you have to come here to register as the father. If you are certain that you are then you have to do you duty and support, that is you obligation. Once you are here then you will automatically open up duel nationality to you child, which will open so many doors in her future.
It is very simple to register you as the father, you have 2 offices in SD one in the east and one central (well, these are the ones I know). Get your girl to go with you to the offices 9you will have a problem persueding them you are the dad, they try to put you off by throwing crazy accusations at you about where you were and when you where here etc.
But it is simple. I used 2 sponsors from the office to sign for our daughter (2 natives) and were done in 2 hours.
You have your registration as the father, now you can chill.
Passport and actual nationality can come when ever you feel secure.
My advice, wait until the child is about a year, see how you bond, feel about it, then get DNA if you dont want to be part of it. If you fall for it, does it really matter if the child knows you as daddy and you are happy with that? Look at it as a form of adoption!!
Good look Bro!!

US child born abroad

There is a package of forms, from the US consular, in Sto Domingo that you will want to fill out. After 2 appointmnents your child will be issued an American passport and consular report of foreign birth certificate. You will want to get a social security number, also.
Be sure to get a full set of complete and certified Dominican documents also.

Joshua said:

I realize that, and believe me I had my doubts untill I saw the pictures. He is without any doubt mine. He has absolutely no resemblence to his mother, but looks exactly like me. I am 100% sure.

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DNA DNA alot of tourists look alike!!! Get the test done otherwise if you register the kid you are on the hook forever regardless of any later DNA test. In the words of my favorite President Ronald Reagan " Trust but Verify"

Joshua said:

I realize that, and believe me I had my doubts untill I saw the pictures. He is without any doubt mine. He has absolutely no resemblence to his mother, but looks exactly like me. I am 100% sure.

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That means absolutely nothing Joshua.

My sister-in-law had twins 4 years a go, a boy and a girl.

The neighbors all said the boy is mine because his looks were a splitting image of me.
I have NEVER been with the sister-in-law.
I am not Dominican, the sister-in-law is.

Looking at the baby boy, even I would say he looks exactly like me, but I know better.
(I don?t drink, so get that thought out of your minds).

The true father had denied the twins were his, but DNA testing proved he was the father.

The child may very well be yours Joshua, but get the DNA test.

D in Santiago


PS: The true father of the twins, like the mother are both DOMINICANS.......

Declaraci?n

hi joshua,

if you are planning to register your child with the local Junta Electoral, you should do that, if possible, within a three-month period after birth.

An early registration (reconocimiento, declaraci?n within three months) will entitle you to apply for exercising the child custody together with the child`s mother, even if you are not married to her. For details see article 374 C?digo Civil Dominicano.

As I don`t think that there are any disadvantages linked to an early registration (provided you are sure to be the father), it seems generally adviseable to me to meet the deadline).

I should mention, however, that this is only my personal understanding of the C?digo Civil, and I didn`t have the chance yet to discuss this issue with a dominican lawyer (but will do that soon and give you an update then).

Regards dr-fan

DR_Guy said:

Do a DNA check first.

She probably all ready registered you as the father. I believe they can put any name on it. An ex-pat friend and I were having a beer at a local establishment he frequents. He was served papers for child support for a kid from like 4 years ago.

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I have always been told that in the D.R., a mother can register a child and she can register herself as the mother of that said child. She cannot register the father of the child though the father has to do it.

if your name is on the birth certificate as the father, you can do the US passport through notaries and lawyers. It's WAY more difficult. From what I understand it's really hard without a DNA test in the personal interview, I imagine it's even worse if the father is not present. And not being eligible for a passport (depending on the reason) might make it worth waiting until you can one - you have until the kid is 18 to declare him american.

Joshua said:

........ I can not get a passport for approximately 1 year. So my only option is to get him registered from the states. .......

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D in Santiago

I Have 3 Children all born here.

I am an American,my wife is a dominican. I went to register all 3 at the Junta Central. ONLY the father can register himself as the father. My wife didn't go with me the last 2 times.
As far as "He looks like me goes, IT MEANS NOTHING!
Two of my kids look like me,the othey looks like the "Milkman"!
The Dominicans have a "saying";
The children of my daughters
I know who's they are.
The children of my son's
we don't know who's they are.

DNA doesn't lie, dominicans do!

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LaTeacher said:

if your name is on the birth certificate as the father, you can do the US passport through notaries and lawyers. It's WAY more difficult. From what I understand it's really hard without a DNA test in the personal interview, I imagine it's even worse if the father is not present. And not being eligible for a passport (depending on the reason) might make it worth waiting until you can one - you have until the kid is 18 to declare him American.

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If you are/were not present at the declaration, your name can not be on the BC, legally anyway.

The consulate will without any doubt whatsoever require the DNA test to confirm this is not an estafa.

I would definatly get the DNA test and have it done through the AC, that way it is be a trusted & controlled lab.

g'luck