Can a American Citizen Take Her Kids Out Of The DR??

For what it's worth......

If she and her children have passports, then she should simply buy tickets and return to the USA, leaving her Dominican ex-husband stewing in his own juices.
If the children don't have passports, she should apply for same or have them added to hers simce they are minors.
She doesn't, as far as i know, need an exit visa to leave as an American Citizen. It would behoove her to verify this through the American Citizens Assistance Group at the Embassy. All that would take is a phone call to the Embassy.
Her problem is really the macho sob she was married to. He has certain rights as the father of the children, but I don't think he can prevent her from travelling back to the States.

Texas Bill

Texas Bill said:

I don't think he can prevent her from travelling back to the States.

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that would depend on the terms of the divorce re: custody of the children. without knowing the details it is hard to offer appropriate advice.

mob

mobrouser said:

that would depend on the terms of the divorce re: custody of the children. without knowing the details it is hard to offer appropriate advice.

mob

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Were they ever married?

Tell your friend that the DR is not an Arab country. She has as much right as her husband when it comes to her children. She needs to find out if her ex-husband put a restriction on her departure or as it is called in the Dr impedimento de salida. Nevertheless, to be sure that she wont have a problem she should talk to the US Embassy in Sto Dgo.

miguel said:

A very good friend of mine is trying to take her 3 kids out of the DR but is having some problems.

This is the situation:

She has been divorced for over 3 years and have 3 kids, 9, 11 and 13. The 3 kids are american citiziens and so is she. Her ex-husband is telling her that he needs to sign so kind of paper in order for her to be able to leave the country. She has no family or friends in the DR and wants to come back to her country(US) to live with her kids permanently.

Anybody knows what are her options??.

Thanks.

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Persmission

miguel said:

She has custody of the kids.

Stodgord, no, there's no restrictions on her departure (impedimento de salida).

They were married in the DR.

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Yeah but you have to realize that if HE doesnt want her to take the children he could say taht she is kidnapping the kids therefor she wouldnt be able to take them out of the country without the persmission of the father.

I believe that when traveling with minors you do need permission of both parents unless you have a legal paper saying you have sole custody of the children.

When i got my Legal papers to come to the STATES when i was younger and moved to the US with my mother i needed a legal paper SIGNED and NOTIRIZED by my father approving adn giving his permission for me to leave the country. I'm not sure if the same thing would apply to her case since all her children are US CITIZENS but if she doesnt have SOLE custody and the children minors being minors she might need something from him.

EM23 :bandit:

I have traveled numerous times back and forth with my 2 daughters. Their father is dominican. They travel on their US passports and never has there been any problem. The first couple of times they used birth certificates and the only ? was "Did you like Tenares"

Was no problem for me

My son was born here in the DR and I have taken him to the USA twice with me without his mother. Both times I used his American passport only and there were no questions asked. Saw no reason to use his Dominican passport.

miguel, your friend needs to discuss her divorce agreement with the lawyer she used. even with sole custody her ex-husband would still have visitation rights so there may be something in the agreement that guarantees him access to the children or prevents them from leaving the country.

check this thread also: http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32974&highlight=migracion

not to seem too nosy, but is he genuinely interested in the children, or just being an a$$hole?

Loptka, were you flying on one-way tickets? that may be what migracion looks for.

mob

{Edited so nobody calls me a horse's ***.}

Bill, I don't think that Papa is an SOB. I just think he wants to see his kids. We don't have the full story from this lady, and we don't have Papa's , and it's not our business.

I think Papa missed his chance though, unless he can get his hands on the kids U.S. passports and disappear them (the PASSPORTS, not the kids, OK?). His chance to deny them leaving the DR was when he was required to give consent for the kids to be issued a US passport.

see this>

http://travel.state.gov/family/abduction_dominicanrepublic.html

GringoCArlos said:

{Edited so nobody calls me a horse's ***.}

Bill, I don't think that Papa is an SOB. I just think he wants to see his kids. We don't have the full story from this lady, and we don't have Papa's , and it's not our business.

I think Papa missed his chance though, unless he can get his hands on the kids U.S. passports and disappear them (the PASSPORTS, not the kids, OK?). His chance to deny them leaving the DR was when he was required to give consent for the kids to be issued a US passport.

see this>

http://travel.state.gov/family/abduction_dominicanrepublic.html

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Mea Culpa!!!

I spoke out in outrage and shouldn't have.
There are times when my senses are tied up with my responses.
To those of you whom I seemingly insulted,
MY SINCERE APOLOGIES,
Please forgive.

Texas Bill

Every time I take my Dominican/Canadian daughter (she has a Canadian passport) out of the DR, I need a letter signed by a lawyer saying that my ex husband is aware that she is traveling with me. Last time I traveled I was asked for the paper here when leaving and also when entering Canada. I am pretty sure I read a law about this somewhere, I will look into it!

This is what I found so far...will keep looking...

LA AUTORIZACION PARA VIAJAR
Art?culo 116.- Ning?n ni?o, ni?a a adolescente podr? viajar fuera del pa?s s? no es en compa??a de su padre, madre o responsable. Cuando el menor viajare con personas que no son sus padres, ser? necesario la presentaci?n de una autorizaci?n debidamente legalizada por un notario p?blico. En ausencia de los padres la persona responsable presentar? declaraci?n jurada de la guarda del o de la menor.

more....almost the same...

VIAJE DE MENORES AL EXTRANJERO


La ley dominicana prev? que ning?n ni?o, ni?a o adolescente podr? viajar fuera del pa?s si no es en compa??a de su padre, madre o responsable. Cuando el menor viajare con personas que no son sus padres, ser? necesario la presentaci?n de una autorizaci?n debidamente legalizada por un notario p?blico. En ausencia de los padres la persona responsable presentar? declaraci?n jurada de la guarda del o de la menor.

Cuando exista desacuerdo entre los padres o representantes legales del ni?o en cuanto a la autorizaci?n para viajar, el tribunal ser? competente para otorgar los permisos a ni?os, ni?as y adolescentes para salir del pa?s.

En la pr?ctica actual, no se requiere la autorizaci?n anteriormente descrita. No obstante, hay que tomar en cuenta de que la Ley lo dispone y de que en cualquier momento dicha autorizaci?n puede ser requerida por las autoridades gubernamentales correspondientes.

juanita said:

Every time I take my Dominican/Canadian daughter (she has a Canadian passport) out of the DR, I need a letter signed by a lawyer saying that my ex husband is aware that she is traveling with me. Last time I traveled I was asked for the paper here when leaving and also when entering Canada. I am pretty sure I read a law about this somewhere, I will look into it!

This is what I found so far...will keep looking...

LA AUTORIZACION PARA VIAJAR
Art?culo 116.- Ning?n ni?o, ni?a a adolescente podr? viajar fuera del pa?s s? no es en compa??a de su padre, madre o responsable. Cuando el menor viajare con personas que no son sus padres, ser? necesario la presentaci?n de una autorizaci?n debidamente legalizada por un notario p?blico. En ausencia de los padres la persona responsable presentar? declaraci?n jurada de la guarda del o de la menor.

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That's strange. I've travelled out of the DR with my son, who holds a GB passport and whose father is Dominican, several times and never been asked for anything. In your case, juanita, could it be because you're divorced? The law you quote refers to children travelling without either of their parents.

I thought I noticed that the law changed recently, to make it necessary for one parent to show consent from the absent parent, so we should see what Fabio Guzman has to say about this.

Chirimoya said:

That's strange. I've travelled out of the DR with my son, who holds a GB passport and whose father is Dominican, several times and never been asked for anything. In your case, juanita, could it be because you're divorced? The law you quote refers to children travelling without either of their parents.

I thought I noticed that the law changed recently, to make it necessary for one parent to show consent from the absent parent, so we should see what Fabio Guzman has to say about this.

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Miguel,
In the past decade there were a barrage of cases where one partner (or ex-partner) and/or their proxies (often a grandmother or an aunt) took children into exile (from DR to US) without consent of the other parent, often the result of unresolved marital/custody disputes. During the last Fernandez administration a new law was passed to try curb this problem.

It does apply to children of parents that are not divorced, too. We learned of it from experience since my child was delayed at the Las Am?ricas airport once while returning to the US, even though he was accompanied by his grandmother, because he was lacking "the letter".

Grandma's or the kid's citizenship had nothing to do with it. If the adult is not the legal guardian of the child then the child will be prevented from boarding the plane leaving the DR. Never mind that in our case just talking to "el general de turno" took care of it all in a few minutes and they didn't miss their flight, but that was serendipity. Since then, whenever our child has traveled to the DR alone or with anyone other than either one of his legitimate guardians/parents we have had to send him with a consular affidavit signed by both of us authorizing his travel, and more specifically his "departure" from the DR without us. In the past we have had to specify in the letter which person(s) he is authorized to travel with. Our son and both his parents are US citizens, so it is not limited to Dominicans.

So, normally, if the kids travel with one or both parents, there is no need for any letter. I gues Miss Chiri has a good point (as always) in that if the kids travel with only one divorced parent they then may need a letter from the other parent. How would the "agente de migraci?n" know this lady's marital status? I don't know. Flying off without proper permission could be grounds for allegations of kidnapping.

- Tordok

The quotes by Juanita are correct although the article numbers correspond to the old Minors Code of 1994. The relevant provisions in the new Code (Law #136-03) containing these quotes are Articles 204 to 205. Article 204 (Article 116 in the old Code ) has an additional Paragraph which states the following:

?If one of the parents plans to leave the country with a child, the written consent of the other parent will be required.?

If the other parent refuses to grant the authorization, the traveling parent can go to court to obtain the authorization to travel with the child (Art. 205).

obtaining proper consent when immigrating to Canada

Does anyone know what immigration Canada will require if I sponsor my wife (not married yet) to come to Canada with her 2 children and the children's father is deceased.

Is a death certificate mandatory? My wife to be was never actually married to the father, only common law. Is there any other type of document that might be acceptable to the canadian immigration that will allow her to bring her children without having the death certificate?

Does she need something that says she has sole custody. I felt the birth certificates and passports might be enough.

Thanks for your help...