Emergency medical visa/documentation

thomasfrank

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Mar 27, 2005
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Hello,
I am an administrator of a rural clinic in the DR, and I am trying to bring a patient to the States for heart surgery. The child is as of now undocumented. His mother wants to declare him and the father, though alive, does not support the child. His heart condition is serious and he needs surgery urgently. Can anyone tell me how I can go about getting him a Visa and Passport in the least amount of time possible. What are the steps from declaring him to putting him on the plane? Is there a special process for temporary visas for medical emergencies?
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Thomas
 

Mirador

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Apr 15, 2004
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I suggest you check in first with the Hospital General Materno Infantil de la Plaza de la Salud, in Santo Domingo. They do all kinds of open heart surgery operations on kids, and if your child applies, their social services program will cover it free of charge...
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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I have to agree with Mirador

The process to declare a child is now fairly long and complicated. This is just one of the tens of thousands of NON-Existing people in the DR. They are beyond the pale.

Late declarations of children have to go to Santo Domingo and go before a judge now..

How is it you are managing a rural clinic?

HB :D:D
 

thomasfrank

New member
Mar 27, 2005
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Thanks for your responses. I have checked with the cardiologists at La Angelita children's hospital, and the severity of the child's heart problem is such that surgery cannot be performed here. I may have found an organization in the states that can perform the surgery, but getting the child a visa is my responsibility.

The declaration obviously makes this more difficult. I assume it is impossible to skip this step, so do you know where I could start? Is the process of declaring the child different from getting his citizenship papers, or do these things happen together? What office I might go to in the capital to gather information? I know nothing about this, so any leads at all would be appreciated.

Thanks so much

Thomas

To answer your second question, I work for a local NGO that has a small health clinic that serves a number of bateys and other communities in Monte Plata. We're a fairly small operation, so this is the first case we've had like this.
 

La Profe_1

Moderator: Daily Headline News, Travel & Tourism
Oct 15, 2003
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If the organization you are using is not "Healing the Children" you might want to check with them as well.

I know that in some cases church records (ie. baptismal records) can be used. The Obispado in the Diocese where you are located should have a lawyer working with CEDAIL. Might be worth checking with them.

In Puerto Plata, we OFTEN get people coming in with paperwork needed to get children recognized.
 

thomasfrank

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Mar 27, 2005
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thanks for the leads

Do you know if vaccination records could also be used to get citizenship papers or a passport? That seems to be the only official document the family has as of now. I'll look into the babtismal records as well

La Profe_1 said:
If the organization you are using is not "Healing the Children" you might want to check with them as well.

I know that in some cases church records (ie. baptismal records) can be used. The Obispado in the Diocese where you are located should have a lawyer working with CEDAIL. Might be worth checking with them.

In Puerto Plata, we OFTEN get people coming in with paperwork needed to get children recognized.
 

Eddy

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Jan 1, 2002
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thomasfrank said:
Hello,
I am an administrator of a rural clinic in the DR, and I am trying to bring a patient to the States for heart surgery. The child is as of now undocumented. His mother wants to declare him and the father, though alive, does not support the child. His heart condition is serious and he needs surgery urgently. Can anyone tell me how I can go about getting him a Visa and Passport in the least amount of time possible. What are the steps from declaring him to putting him on the plane? Is there a special process for temporary visas for medical emergencies?
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Thomas
How about the organizations mentioned in the following thread. Perhaps they can be of assistance.
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39252&highlight=foundation+children
 

expatsooner

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Aug 7, 2004
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You could also check with the Carol Morgan School community service director. I know some of the students translate between the families and patients who are operated on by doctors who come once a year to volunteer their services by doing corrective heart surgery. Sorry I can't think of the organization right now but I'm sure she could give you a contact name and number.
I hope everything works out well for the child.
 

La Profe_1

Moderator: Daily Headline News, Travel & Tourism
Oct 15, 2003
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Sorry, I don't know if vaccination records would work. However, I checked here with the CEDAIL attorney and she says with some documentation it is now easier to get a child declared than in the past.

The pertinent Obispado is Ban?, and the CEDAIL representative is Cecilia.

PS. Are you working with Healing the Children? If so, they might also be able to help with the emergency medical visa for the US.
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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yahoomail.com
The Group Doing Cardiac Surgery In Children is "Heart Care Int."

Call the Clinic "CEDIMAT" in the Plaza de la Salud,Santo Domingo,and ask to speak to the Heart Care International representative. 565-9989
They have performed hundreds of heart surgeries at no cost to the patients or their families!