Single parent with a baby - can enter the DR ?

You would need this letter to travel with the baby. Why not have a letter notarized in Israel, fedex to where you are, take it to a translater to translate and re-notarize that it is an accurate translation.

This is from the US State Dept page on travel requirements of different countries:

Minors under 18 years of age traveling alone, with only one parent, or a third party must present written authorization by the absent parent(s) or legal guardian. This authorization must be notarized at a Dominican consulate.

Click to expand...

http://travel.state.gov/foreignentryreqs.html#d

The authorization just has to be a letter stating the child's full name, husband's permission, dates, etc. The notarization at the Dominican counsulate should be quick and easy, but for a fee (not sure how much this is in Israel).

BTW, your sister should have the official birth certificate with her for the baby. Immigration will stamp it on back when you arrive, and again on departure (just like the stamps in your passport).

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,
Keith

Re: Birth certificate

dudi_h1 said:

Are you sure regarding the birth certificate ? The infant has his own pasport... , plus the BC isin Hebrew ...

Click to expand...

Oh, no, certainly not if the infant has his own passport already! I just presumed that, like many parents of children under 2-3 yrs, the child did have a passport yet. My wife and I traveled several times with our twins as infants using only the BC. Once they were four and their features weren't changing quite so rapidly, we got them passports. Sorry for the confusion.
Regards,
Keith

You definitely need the letter.

My husband is working on a project in the DR and I was going to surprise him and bring the kids down in August.

When I went to apply for a passport for the two youngest, they told me if my husband wasn't applying for the passport I needed a letter notarized. This must be new because when I applied for my son's passport (6 years ago) I didn't have this problem.

I think this has to do with so many international abductions so if you have the plane tickets already you should get the paperwork in order.

Like you said, it seems like such a hassle. I'm waiting till he returns to apply.

Best regards,
Lucy

Before you go of course

dudi_h1 said:

Later on - should I take it to the Dominican Republic consulate in NY ? or such nothorized letter should be fine ?

David

Click to expand...

The notarization takes place at a DR consulate once it is in Spanish they say it is a correct translation of the English or whatever language it is in assuming they can read that.

You need to do this before you arrive at immigration in the DR.

I imagine there are few DR consuls in Israel. If there is then that would do fine.

While that is what it says on the US State Dept. Travel statement (as reprinted here), I find it strange. As far as I was aware, there was no problem as long as the adult could prove she/he was a parent of the child. That proof is in the form of the passport of the child, the birth certificate, or the guardianship. The statement is true in the case of a third person traveling with the child, not so if the person is the mother or the father. Imagine if every parent had to get a notarized letter from the consulate to travel with child. Good business for the consulate. The mother will have no problem on this end if proof can be presented. I cannot speak for US Migration officials, but onless things have changed in recent years, this did not apply to the US as my husband has traveled alone with our baby boys, and no one questioned us passing through Migration.

It would not be the first time the US State Department publishes incorrect information. The travel advisory says that the Dominican Migration Department has sent US travelers traveling without passports to the US Embassy to get their passports in order to leave the country, for instance. According to Migration inspectors here, there has not been the first case of this.

May I suggest you get a second opinion from another person in AA, especially since he says the Dominican authorities wont let you in. Will try to remember tomorrow to double check with Migration at the airport for you.

You may be right, D. I checked other sources and came with this from Debby's Dominican Travel, who cites as their source the Canadian Consulate:

This information was provided by the Dominican Consulate in Toronto, Ontario in April, 2001. Note that children under 14 years of age travelling alone or with non-parents needs a notarized letter from the parents that has been legalized by the Dominican Republic Consulate in order to enter and leave the DR. A child under 14 travelling with one parent that has legal custody of the child and the same last name does not need any authorization from the other parent. In cases of a custody dispute or other circumstances, it is urged that you call the Dominican Consulate for detailed instructions due to the fact that the DR has been getting stricter by the day with minors. Children over 14 can travel alone as long as they have their own passport, without any written permissions. You should also verify to see if there are any other requirements of the airline in order to board from your country of origin.

Click to expand...

I tried to check for such info on the Dominican embassy website and the DR Mingration Dept website, but enither offered this sort of info (someone should point out to them the shortcomings in the info they provide -- hint, hint).

Regards,
Keith

travel with children

last year I travelled from Puerto Plata to Germany and back with my 6 year old daughter, without my husband. I didn't have any papers from my husband with me, neither did anybody ask for it.
Was I just lucky?

As I suspected, the US State Department travel note is publishing incorrect information. I checked with Mrs. Mendez, deputy director of Migration. She says that only proof of parenthood is needed, and the child, regardless of age, can travel with a single parent. The requirement for the notarized letter only applies in the case of a third party traveling with the child, regardless of the person being a grandmother or aunt, uncle, etc. And in this case, the requirement is only if the child is under 13 years of age. If the child is 13 years, then he/she can travel alone or with a third person with no additional documentation than that would be required of an adult.

D, hope you emphasized to Mrs. Mendez that this type of information should be provided by Migracion on their website, and in a form where it can be easily found and understood. It also should be provided on the various Dominican embassy websites (couldn't find it on the website for the DR embassy in the US). When the DR government does not provide readily available, clear and easy-to-understand information, people will turn to the only alternative sources available, which in this case were wrong.
Best Regards,
Keith