Sending Birth Certificate to the US

I've PMed a couple members about this, but I figured I'd post a post and cast a wider net for answers...

I am applying for my residency and I have completed everything in the process except for getting my BC legalized (it's already been translated by a Judicial Interpreter). The information I was originally given said that since my BC was an original, not a copy, that I didn't need to send it back, but now apparently I do!

So my questions...HOW exactly do you send it back? I read that I need to send a SASE, so I'm going to UPS today to see if they even sell prepaid (American) postage envelopes. Does anyone know if any other companies in Santiago sell these? To be honest, I'm a bit surprised that I have to do this, I figured the DR Consulate would have some type of system to send mail back to the DR.
When I send my BC and I write a letter requesting the service, what is it that I ask the Consulate to do? Verify that it's a real BC? Certify it? Legalize it?
Also, how much will this service cost? And how do you pay for it? I'm guessing stuffing pesos in the envelope won't work
And for those of you that have done this, which consulate would be best? I figured Puerto Rico, since it's closer and hopefully cheaper haha, but I also thought NYC since it's high volume I would assume they handle this a lot. Miami was my original choice, but I've heard they don't accept these by mail and you need to present it in person, which is not an option for me.

I would really appreciate any help I can get, I want this sent off ASAP so I can finally submit my papers!!

Just wanted to post an update:

Someone who's been through this process sent me the information for the consulate in Miami. I couldn't get in touch with them through email or phone and then I heard a rumor saying now they require people to deliver these documents in person. So I figured I would just move on to the NYC consulate, since I've been there before to get my visa, and I know they're fairly efficient. They gave me the details, but I couldn't figure out how to get a prepaid postage envelope in the DR, the people at FedEx and MailBoxes Etc. had no idea. I also couldn't find a place to get a money order. The consulate said Ban Reservas or Banco Popular; we went to those banks, along with 4 other banks and Western Union and all of them said they didn't do money orders. Called the consulate again, they said get a certified check at Ban Reservas. The bank manager was hesitant about this and told us to get a name for the check. Called the consulate again to find the name of the head of the department (which I was a bit iffy about). This time, they didn't know what to tell me. Finally after a week of wasted time and phone minutes, they said "You know what, you really need to just have someone come in and do this." At this point, I just gave up and decided to do just that--I sent it by FedEx to my father in the US and he went there. Of course the price is $70 just for that little stamp, but that's if you can wait 3-4 and then make another trip back..my Dad didn't want to go the NYC another time, so for them to do it that day, the price went up to $100 (in cash, the consulate doesn't accept checks or credit cards). I'm just grateful I had someone in the US to do this for me.

He sent it to me, I took another trip down to the capital to get two more sellos at the Canciller?a and Procuradur?a. After I got the stamps, we went to Migraci?n to submit the paperwork but apparently we got there too late (10:00 or 10:30) and they had no more tickets. I had no idea we needed to get there at 7:00 (since we're not from the capital) and no one told us they only do 40 people a day--which adds up to about 1 person per employee an hour lol. We kept calling Migraci?n to check but none of the 6 or 7 numbers in the gu?a were answered. I finally went on the website and found the number. My capitaleno friend went to turn in the paperwork the next day (by the way, the price has gone from 500RD to 600RD and now apparently it's 1000RD) and paid the fee but then they didn't accept my papers since I had only included copies of the receipts for my medical exam and my overstay taxes. I thought that was crazy that the copies of the receipts weren't enough, especially since Migraci?n has the actual originals on file and they can see in the computer I've paid the taxes and taken the medical exam...but oh well, looks like we're going to Santo Domingo tomorrow and crossing our fingers that nothing else goes wrong.

I knew from the get-go that doing this by myself would lead to a lot of headaches lol so I'm not complaining too much. But I just wanted to tell my story so that anyone else doing it themselves can see how it is.

Update:

Went to Migraci?n today at about 9:00ish (left Santiago at 5:30 but ran into some terrible traffic--worse than usual--maybe there was an accident?) Again, we were told we were too late. For those of you going, I would recommend getting there at 7:00, maybe 8:00AM at the latest. Fortunately, the woman remembered us and knew we had traveled, so she let us talk to a woman in the office. She gave us a little ****, lol, but then gave us the Golden Ticket. We didn't wait too long, maybe 30/45 minutes. When they called our number, only one person was allowed into the room, so if you go with a lawyer/friend/whatever, one of you will need to wait in the salon. The girl checked all the papers, gave us our form (One weird thing, she checked that we didn't hand in a work contract, even though I attached my contract and a copy of an old paycheck), and told us to come back in 3-4 months. Hopefully the rest of this is smooth sailing, after all these hassles! Not holding my breath though

travel1000, I applied for my provisional residency, not my permanent one. I just used my husband as my sponsor, if you're married or have Dominican relatives, just have one of them do it and then you don't have to deal with the Declaraci?n Jurada and the testigos...