My husband's last name on his birth certificate (and consequently his cedula, passport, etc...) is spelled incorrectly. This has created problems for us in Canada because now all of his Canadian documents have the same incorrect spelling. How can we go about correcting this. Any information would be appreciated.
- Thread starter La Chili
- Start date
birth certificate
Thanks however I feel that this should be changed at the source, in his municipality. We have plenty of supporting documents that would indicate that this must have been a typing error at the time he was registered. Once we can correct his birth certifcate in the DR we should be able to correct his documents here in Canada. There must be a way.
If, as you say, you have plenty of supporting documents that indicate that a mistake was made at the time of registration, then you should petition the court (Juzgado de Primera Instancia) of the place where the registration took place to correct the error through a procedure called "rectificaci?n de acta de estado civil". You will need a lawyer to do this.
My wife needed a copy of our sons birth certificate
I gave her 300 pesos.I told her that after everyone at the Juzgado says that they can,t find the record,make an offer of 300 pesos to anyone who "CAN" find it! Only took about 15 minutes after the "Offer"! So take a few 100 peso notes to "speed-up" the record finding process! "CRISCO"
I gave her 300 pesos.I told her that after everyone at the Juzgado says that they can,t find the record,make an offer of 300 pesos to anyone who "CAN" find it! Only took about 15 minutes after the "Offer"! So take a few 100 peso notes to "speed-up" the record finding process! "CRISCO"
Thank you for the advice. You know this is the kind of problem you don't really give that much thought to until you have children. When my daughter was born my husband did not yet have his papers to come to Canada. I registered her and had no problem giving her his name - the way it is supposed to be spelled. Well when my son was born my husband had his landed immigrant status. When I tried to register my son with my husband's 'real' last name - they would not accept it because on all of his Canadian documents his last name is spelled incorreclty (as to match his docuemnts) So my son and daughter now have different last names!! I feel it is urgent to fix this before my son starts school - you can imagine the confusion it could cause - not to mention that the name on his birth certificate only exists because of a typo!
La Chili said:
It is time consuming since it requires a ruling from the Court of First Instance which is then reviewed by the Junta Central Electoral. However, you don't have to be here for the proceedings. Fees and expenses are not high.
This is not an unusual problem in the Dominican Republic. Correcting the problem seems to be time consuming and expensive. My wife was born on March 17. Her Dominican birth certificate says March 7. One of my son's was born on December 30. His birth certificate says November 30. We investigated correcting the certificates and decided it was not worth the hassel.
Or, perhaps my wife decided it was not worth the hassel. She now expects birthday cards, flowers and presents on both March 7 and March 17.
Seriously, half the Dominicans that I know have errors on their birth certificates. Remember the little league baseball pitcher, Danny what's his name. His birth certificate, depending upon who you talk to, eather stated that he was born two years earlier or two years later.
In your case, if it were not so serious, it would be funny. Good luck on changing the "Acta de Naciamentio"
Or, perhaps my wife decided it was not worth the hassel. She now expects birthday cards, flowers and presents on both March 7 and March 17.
Seriously, half the Dominicans that I know have errors on their birth certificates. Remember the little league baseball pitcher, Danny what's his name. His birth certificate, depending upon who you talk to, eather stated that he was born two years earlier or two years later.
In your case, if it were not so serious, it would be funny. Good luck on changing the "Acta de Naciamentio"
Almonte....Little Danny Almonte was his name....
Chili, if I were you, I'd forget about fixing your husband's certificate and just do a legal name change for one of your kids. You would probably have to do this anyway even if you corrected the information "at the source".
Now, the question is, will you change the kids's last name to the wrong one, so that all will be the same? Or will you make the kids' names *correct* and have it spelled different from what's on their father's birth certificate?
(My kids also have different legal last names - our eldest has just my last name, because we weren't married at the time and our youngest has both our last names. I'm looking at a legal name change also...)
Chili, if I were you, I'd forget about fixing your husband's certificate and just do a legal name change for one of your kids. You would probably have to do this anyway even if you corrected the information "at the source".
Now, the question is, will you change the kids's last name to the wrong one, so that all will be the same? Or will you make the kids' names *correct* and have it spelled different from what's on their father's birth certificate?
(My kids also have different legal last names - our eldest has just my last name, because we weren't married at the time and our youngest has both our last names. I'm looking at a legal name change also...)
It's very common to have errors on paperwork in the DR. My husband's age is overstated by 7 years on all documents. I always joke that I married an "old man". Mind you, with the gray hairs he's getting, I'm beginning to wonder if they really are errors!
If it's really that important to him, change it, just know that it's probably going to cost a little chunk of change. Mind you, I know someone who changed their Birth Certificate for 50 pesos...guess it depends how greedy the gov't worker is.
If it's really that important to him, change it, just know that it's probably going to cost a little chunk of change. Mind you, I know someone who changed their Birth Certificate for 50 pesos...guess it depends how greedy the gov't worker is.
If I made a legal name change so that all names matched - then my husband and two kids would all be carryig a name that doesn't exist. What I mean is that there is so much history in a last name - if I don't take care of it, it will eventually be forgotten and my kids will pass this typo name on to their kids and so on.
Of course, I shouldn't have down-played the situation, you're right, heritage is very important. Just know that it probably won't be an easy, cheap thing to do. If you are not a Dominican, don't go with him to the Gov't agencies when he goes to change his name. "Gringo" in Spanish is otherwise known as $$$$$$. Tell him before he goes to change his birth certificate that it is only supposed to cost 50 pesos...he may need to "up the ante" a bit after that, but at least he'd be starting low.
Best of luck!
Best of luck!
Trina
I am not an expert, and the error in my birth certificate makes me exactly one month younger, so I don't complain. However, my little sister (does anyone has a correct BC here?) had my dad's name (which is quite uncommon) misspelled in her BC, resulting in the usual "we are not sisters" jokes.
When my father wanted to send my sister's passport with his to the US consulate they declined it saying that my sister wasn't my dad's daughter (we asked my mom and she swears by it). So, a LONG and NOT CHEAP process ensued. Dad had to hire a lawyer, even if we lived in a one horse town where everybody knows everybody and is a cousin of somebody, the proverbial RD$50 bill didn't work.
Your mileage may vary.
I am not an expert, and the error in my birth certificate makes me exactly one month younger, so I don't complain. However, my little sister (does anyone has a correct BC here?) had my dad's name (which is quite uncommon) misspelled in her BC, resulting in the usual "we are not sisters" jokes.
When my father wanted to send my sister's passport with his to the US consulate they declined it saying that my sister wasn't my dad's daughter (we asked my mom and she swears by it). So, a LONG and NOT CHEAP process ensued. Dad had to hire a lawyer, even if we lived in a one horse town where everybody knows everybody and is a cousin of somebody, the proverbial RD$50 bill didn't work.
Your mileage may vary.
That's terrible, Pib...so sad that innocent people have to pay for government clerical errors (the pessimistic side of me often wonders...another form of DR gov't corruption?). I'm sure the proverbial RD$50 doesn't work in 95%+ of the cases, but I do know from a good source that this is what he paid. So it doesn't hurt to start low, and let them know that he knows their little game.
I really appreciate all the feedback. Pib I don' t doubt that story about your dad and sis. That is precisely why I want to do something about this. It can cause all kinds of confusion.
I did inquire a long time ago and I think the $RD50 is to correct a replica or extract of the birth certificate- that is if the information in the 'book' is accurate. My husband's problem originates in the registration book. I'm sure his birthday is wrong too!
I did inquire a long time ago and I think the $RD50 is to correct a replica or extract of the birth certificate- that is if the information in the 'book' is accurate. My husband's problem originates in the registration book. I'm sure his birthday is wrong too!
My mother-in-law's birth certificate is wrong. She was born in Canada. The "nurse" or "midwife" didn't make it to the registry within the allotted time, (snowstorm), so she lied. My mother-in-law always celebrated on the right day, but her documents all agree with the mistaken bc. Fortunately, the names were correct.
Just like, when I got married, the priest didn't register the marriage. Two and 1/2 years later, when our son was born, I sent for his bc and our mc. The pastor had to go through a bunch of documentation to straighten it out -- no hastle for us - other than our mc was filed 2 1/2 years after we got married. And that was in Wisconsin.
Don't feel bad. It seems to happen all over the world.
mk
Just like, when I got married, the priest didn't register the marriage. Two and 1/2 years later, when our son was born, I sent for his bc and our mc. The pastor had to go through a bunch of documentation to straighten it out -- no hastle for us - other than our mc was filed 2 1/2 years after we got married. And that was in Wisconsin.
Don't feel bad. It seems to happen all over the world.
mk