Documents required to get married help

Joygirl

Newbie
Aug 10, 2017
2
0
0
Hi all I am planning to get married in Puerto Plata in May 2018. I have followed the advice from my embassy here in the UK for the necessary documents and I'm half way there, I just get them translated by the embassy. However I'm a little confused as when I contacted the embassy last week a lady there informed me I was preparing too early. As one of the requirements is that I need to have a single status declaration signed by me and a solicitor but this document has a validity of 3 months. I have checked thoroughly on the Junta Central Electoral website and it has no mention that the single status document must be 3 months. So my question is can anybody verify this I plan on a civil ceremony my Dominican partner just seems baffled by what I'm asking.
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
It is not uncommon for officials here to attached a validity period to various personal documents. As an example, in my experience a criminal record check is usually accepted as being valid for a period of one year from the date of issue. I know that birth certificates and other such documents can also "expire" depending on the process for which they are submitted.

While probably not that pertinent to a marriage license which is a relatively short process (time wise) I have personally had documents expire after they were submitted and accepted by the officials but before the processing was completed.

The best I can offer in the way of advice is to stay in close contact with the DR embassy or consulate in your country. Ask them repeatedly and at regular intervals if any documentary requirements have changed. The marriage process seems to be pretty static as far as I can determine unlike the immigration process that seems to change often.

For you, presenting documents that were issued within 30-45 days of your arrival in the DR should be more than adequate. As a minimum, documents with at least 30 days of validity left should also suffice. I haven't heard of people coming to get married and being stymied by the process so it shouldn't be too difficult. Talk to the DR embassy about the acceptable age of documents presented for the purposes of marriage.

Good luck.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,329
113
Some documents have time fuses

My sponsor's letter and his bank reference needs to be refreshed since my citizenship application was bureaucratically delayed.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
5,485
338
63
It is not uncommon for officials here to attached a validity period to various personal documents. As an example, in my experience a criminal record check is usually accepted as being valid for a period of one year from the date of issue. I know that birth certificates and other such documents can also "expire" depending on the process for which they are submitted.

Criminal record checks have different expiry periods depending on what they are needed for. Some Ministries / processes are 3 months (citizenship for example) others a year. Go figure. The JCE ruled that no longer do birth, marriage, divorce, death certificates expire, as long as they are legible and in good condition - however, some Ministries / processes do not seem to have taken any notice of that and still insist they have been issued within the last 6 months.

Matilda
 

zoomzx11

Gold
Jan 21, 2006
8,367
842
113
Best of luck to you. Hope you will be happy. Expats I know just go down to the local city hall and do it.