TRAVEL WITH MINOR (VERY IMPORTANT INFO NEEDED)

j&t's future

Bronze
Mar 6, 2007
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Mods, I am aware there is already a thread about this but please allow this post to remain.

My partner and I are British, my daughter (3 years old) is too although born in Santiago. We all hold British Passports. My daughter has travelled to the UK and DR with us 4-5 times.

My partner and daughter went to the DR in April and want to return to the UK in the next week. Our attorney has told my partner I need to visit the Dominican Consul in London, get a Consular Power of Attorney, complete and send via FEDEX to Santo Domingo where it can be stamped and only then will they be allowed to leave. He said the law has recently changed.

My partner has had the Attorney produce a letter for her in the past (when I was in the UK) that was adequate for them to leave (they were not even questioned about this at the airport POP).

Has anyone else had to deal with this matter recently? Any reliable info would really help.

Many thanks in advance.

J&T
 
Feb 7, 2007
8,005
625
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Mods, I am aware there is already a thread about this but please allow this post to remain.

My partner and I are British, my daughter (3 years old) is too although born in Santiago. We all hold British Passports. My daughter has travelled to the UK and DR with us 4-5 times.

My partner and daughter went to the DR in April and want to return to the UK in the next week. Our attorney has told my partner I need to visit the Dominican Consul in London, get a Consular Power of Attorney, complete and send via FEDEX to Santo Domingo where it can be stamped and only then will they be allowed to leave. He said the law has recently changed.

My partner has had the Attorney produce a letter for her in the past (when I was in the UK) that was adequate for them to leave (they were not even questioned about this at the airport POP).

Has anyone else had to deal with this matter recently? Any reliable info would really help.

Many thanks in advance.

J&T

If your daughter has residence in UK, and she travels on UK passport, and has also DR citizenship, and travels with only one parent, and has stayed in the DR for LESS than 6 months, does not need permit to leave. (Edit by HB. Oroginal said "longer")

https://www.migracion.gob.do/Menu/index/30

Personas menores de edad, dominicanos, residentes en el exterior, cuando retorne al país de su residencia.


No necesita permiso, siempre que no exceda [translation: äs long as the stay does not exceed] (06) seis meses en el país. De lo contrario necesita permiso. (Otherwise you need a permit)

HB made these changes because there were some errors and confusion. Hope it helps.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

jfk66

New member
Dec 31, 2004
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Hi,

Quick clarification, the translation should read "as long as he/she has not exceeded 6 months in the country".... so the opposite of the translation.

John
 

j&t's future

Bronze
Mar 6, 2007
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Thanks for both your replies.

OK, we have the long (and short) Dominican birth certificate; I don't think she is a Dominican Citizen (although she is entitled to it), and she travelled with my partner in April (3 months ago)….so are we of the opinion that they just show up at the airport and act as though nothing further is necessary? It's a very expensive mistake to make if they're refused to leave the DR. Would it also be wise for my partner not to show her residency when she leaves, just her passport?

Again, many thanks.

J&T
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
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Why open a can of worms? People from the UK come and go to the DR all the time with kids. Just show your UK passports.
 

j&t's future

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Mar 6, 2007
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I'm thinking when they swipe the passports our residency will show up. Our daughters UK passport also shows Santiago as her birthplace.
 
Feb 7, 2007
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Hi,

Quick clarification, the translation should read "as long as he/she has not exceeded 6 months in the country".... so the opposite of the translation.

John

Yes the NOT got somehow omitted... It was not a bad translation but rather typing on the phone.
 

j&t's future

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Mar 6, 2007
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Thanks for all your replies, I'll inform you of the outcome.
Mods, thanks for letting this thread stay solo.

J&T
 

j&t's future

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Mar 6, 2007
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Hi all, I took the decision to travel to the DR to 'pick up' my family to avoid any complications with lost paperwork/further info needed etc. that can and inevitably does happen when dealing with these type of issues. I made sure not to make anything obvious and see if my journey was necessary.
Checking in was a breeze, as was security (search etc) but once we hit the passport control things changed. They were incredibly precise, asking me how long I had been in the country and if my wife/child had been there the same amount of time. I told them my wife and child had been there several months. A polite smile from the clerk followed by examining all passports more thorough. "Ah, she was born here". I now produced our Residency cards. "Ah, your residents". I smiled. The passport man then called over his supervisor who took our daughters passport away. We were told to wait. Approximately 8 minutes later we were handed our daughters passport and told to enjoy our flight.
I honestly believe had they (my wife and daughter) tried to leave the country without me obtaining the paperwork from the UK (mentioned earlier in this thread that I didn't need and I didn't obtain as I went to bring them back in person) there would have been problems. My advise would be to do the necessary requirements (see above) when bringing your child home.
Thanks for everyone's input.
 
Feb 7, 2007
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The rule says 6 months stay, returning to country of other citizenship, no paperwork required. If you know the rules you can stand your ground, ask for the supervisor, and in worst case point them to their own rule... Have a printed version and smartphone ready. And if all fails, taking names and photos /videos and making sure you will follow up with higher ups for them breaking their own written rules. It's not a woulda coulda shoulda, it's they have specific rule set up for that.
 

j&t's future

Bronze
Mar 6, 2007
2,502
27
48
The rule says 6 months stay, returning to country of other citizenship, no paperwork required. If you know the rules you can stand your ground, ask for the supervisor, and in worst case point them to their own rule... Have a printed version and smartphone ready. And if all fails, taking names and photos /videos and making sure you will follow up with higher ups for them breaking their own written rules. It's not a woulda coulda shoulda, it's they have specific rule set up for that.

Easier said than done, our Lawyer, Guido Perdomo told us I needed to visit the Dominican Embassy/Consul in London etc etc or I needed to be in the DR when they left. He has assisted us before when only one of us was present in the DR and needed to return to the UK. I don't have the time not the patience to be in a difficult situation that I may well lose.
Still, we're all together now. :) Just thought I'll update everyone. Missing you all (seriously)!
 

AZB

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
12,290
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i stand with rubio on this issue. there was no need for permit to leave the country if the residence of the child is in UK. the worse case would have been that she would have had to pay penalty for over staying, if she had over stayed. I would have stood my ground.
AZB
 

The Professor

Member
Sep 22, 2015
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i stand with rubio on this issue. there was no need for permit to leave the country if the residence of the child is in UK. the worse case would have been that she would have had to pay penalty for over staying, if she had over stayed. I would have stood my ground.
AZB

THE CHILD WAS BORN IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

...Sorry to shout, but that makes all the difference in the world. Despite having a UK passport, one parent traveling alone with the child would need to do the necessary paperwork IF the child has been in the country for more than 6 months. The implication is that the child is Dominican, because A: it was born here, and B: it has been in the country for more than 6 months, i.e. not simply visiting. The Dominican government wants to make certain that the single parent traveling has the permission of the other parent who's not present to remove a Dominican child from the country.
 

LaTeacher

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May 2, 2008
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I was under the impression that 3 months constitutes residency. We've been mandated to get this permit for our children who also were born in santiago but travel with US passports. The rule is in place to prevent child trafficking and while it's a huge pain in the butt, I'd rather them be thorough than risk someone's kids being illegally removed from the country
 

RDKNIGHT

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Mar 13, 2017
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you need the paper work .... permission to leave the country with a child from the other parent... been there done that...its for your child protection.