Living abroad; how to get birth certificate/passport/cedula

[JhnMtsFN]

Hello guys I'm 17 and I was born in the DR (Yamasa) to American parents so I have my Consular Report of Birth Abroad (FS-240) stating I acquired U.S. citizenship at birth. I recently changed my name and had the FS-240 amended to reflect that and I also wanted to acquire my Dominican documents. I don't have my birth certificate because my parents said they lost it. I was wondering how to go about obtaining my birth certificate, my passport and my cedula and also how to have these reflect my name change. I live near NYC if it helps.

Thank you all.

 

[bienamor]

Were both of your Parents american if so
Did they have legal residency/citizenship here in the Dominican Republic?

If they did not have legal residency or citizenship here in the DR then you probably are not eligible for Dominican Citizenship. Just because you were born here does not entitle you to citizenship unless at least one of your parents was either a legal resident or citizen. Otherwise they were in transit and you are in the same boat with lots of Haitians.

 

[JhnMtsFN]

Were both of your Parents american if so
Did they have legal residency/citizenship here in the Dominican Republic?

If they did not have legal residency or citizenship here in the DR then you probably are not eligible for Dominican Citizenship. Just because you were born here does not entitle you to citizenship unless at least one of your parents was either a legal resident or citizen. Otherwise they were in transit and you are in the same boat with lots of Haitians.

Both of my parents have their cedulas and I know for sure my dad has a Dominican passport so I presume I also acquired Dominican citizenship at birth.

 

[Matilda]

Did your parents register your birth at the Dominican civil registry? If so you should be able to get a copy of your Dominican birth cert from any Registro Civil using the cedula number of either of your parents. Once you have that it is easy to apply for your cedula and passport. If they did not then you need to get a copy of your US birth cert, apostilled and translated into Spanish and take it to the JCE together with one of your parents cedulas to have a Dominican birth cert issued.
With that you can then get your cedula and passport. http://jce.gob.do/Registro-Civil/Pr...-de-dominicano-instrumentada-en-el-extranjero

Also you can do it all free of charge in the US.
What is required to declare children of Dominicans born abroad?

All children of Dominican parents are Dominicans provided that they are registered in the Dominican Republic. This registration process can be started without cost at any Dominican Consular Office considering that at least one parent is Dominican. Both parents must appear with the child at a Dominican Consular Office and must present the following documentation: a recent photograph of the child (size 2 x 2 inches, white background), Dominican Identity Card (Cédula) of the parents, Dominican Passport of the parents, Dominican Birth Certificate of the parents, Original Birth Certificate of the child issued by the Civil Registry Office where the child was born, Marriage Certificate if the parents are married to each other, one (1) Witness.

For the Birth Declaration to be duly registered, parents must request a transcript of the Birth Certificate Declaration given by the Consular Office at the “Junta Central Electoral” of the Dominican Republic. If the declaration is issued before the 60th day after the child’s birth it will be considered “oportuna”, after the 60 days “tardía”.

17) What is required of children of Dominican parents born abroad to acquire the Dominican nationality?

Option A: Declare the minor in a Dominican Consular Office and then request a transcript at the “Junta Central Electoral” of the Dominican Republic.

Option B: Request a transcript of the Birth Certificate issued by the Civil Registry Office in the country where the child was born.

Documentation requirements: Birth Certificatetranslated into Spanish and both the original and the translation notarized and Apostilled by the proper authority, Dominican Identity Card (Cédula) of the Dominican parent, Identity Card of the non-Dominican parent (if applicable), letter from the Dominican parent addressed to the “Junta Central Electoral” requesting the transcript of the Birth Certificate so that the child can acquire the Dominican citizenship.

This documentation must be presented for transcript authorization at the “Junta Central Electoral” in the Dominican Republic (located in the Plaza de la Bandera, National District). After paying the Transcript Authorization’s fee, you must choose a Civil Registry Office, where you want the Birth to be registered.

After 15 days you must pick up the Transcript Authorization at the “Junta Central Electoral”, and present it at the chosen Civil Registry Office for them to proceed with the transcript of the Birth Certificate. After paying the transcript fees you may request the Dominican Birth Certificate of the child.

In case the parents can not do the process personally in the Dominican Republic, a third person may be entrusted to conduct the process.

http://drembassyusa.org/consular-f-a-q/

Matilda

 

[NALs]

Simply having Dominican cedula and passport isn't an automatic proof that they had legal residence in the DR. Thousands of people gained Dominican cedulas and passports because someone bribed someone else for those documents and then each succeeding generation got Dominican cedulas/passports on the basis of the previous generation up until the generation that committed the fraud. Guess what? All those Dominican cedulas/passports are suppose to automatically be rescinded the moment the fraud is detected (in other words, they automatically become void), because an illegal act can't produce legal rights under Dominican laws.

In short, there were (and still are) thousands upon thousands of people that their entire lives thought were Dominicans when in reality they weren't. The fact that they had Dominican documents 'proving' that they were Dominican complicated the matters, because they don't understand how can a fraudulent act from generations ago impact the legitimacy of the documents they own claiming they are Dominicans.

The DR government attempted to rectify this recently with a plan that was attacked from inside and outside the country, many claiming it was 'unconstitutional' and that it was 'retroactive,' when in reality it was simply reinforcing what the Dominican laws have always been based on, but due to corruption for generations certain representatives of the authorities looked the other way and sold the documents.

My point is that you have to make sure your parents were legal residents during the time they lived in the DR. Simply having a Dominican cedula and passport means nothing if it derives from an original fraudulent act. Given that you want to gain your Dominican documentation, if there was an illegality committed by your parents, be forewarned that it will come to light and it will negate their Dominican documentation and whatever rights you thought you had to gain Dominican documentation as an inheritance from your parents.

However, if they gained their documents legally, you have nothing to worry.

 

[NALs]

Since you are 17 years old, perhaps you might not fully understand how can legal documents not be legal in the DR. If that's the case, imagine the following.

There's a long row of standing dominoes. If you knock any domino within the row that is not the very first one, lets say that knocking down represents an illegal acquisition of Dominican documents, then every single domino from there to the end will also fall. However, the dominoes before the one you knocked down remain standing. Every single new domino that is placed at the end of the line will automatically fall on the basis that the previous domino has already fallen.

Guess what?

If its detected that the fallen dominoes correspond to the domino that you knocked down (the fraudulent act), the fallen nature of all the dominoes starting with the initially knocked down will automatically stand up again because the fallen action (legal rights) emanate from a fraudulent act (the knocked down domino somewhere in the line).

In order for all the fallen dominoes (generations affected by the original fraudulent act) to gain the legal rights, the legal situation of the original knocked domino needs to be fixed. There are legal mechanism to fix this and once that is done, the legal rights will flow down the entire descendancy.

If, however, there's no way to fix the problem, the entire descendancy remains in illegal status and has two options: one, start the process of gaining legal residency (because they are legally foreigners, not Dominican) and, if they want, they can then initiate the naturalization process as described in Dominican law. The second option is to do nothing and stay in the illegal status with the possibility of being deported any time soon to the country of origin (which remits to the country from where the generation that committed the fraud was/is originally from.)

 

[Wishing you well]

Am really wondering - why some of us assume that the cedula and passports of his parents are illegal?

His parent could've been Dominican born/naturalized American with dual citizenship at the time of his birth.

Things we know for sure:

- Kid was born in the DR

- Parents were Americans

- Parents have cedula and Dominican passports

To add anything else to the mix is assumption

 

[JhnMtsFN]

Am really wondering - why some of us assume that the cedula and passports of his parents are illegal?

His parent could've been Dominican born/naturalized American with dual citizenship at the time of his birth.

Things we know for sure:

- Kid was born in the DR

- Parents were Americans

- Parents have cedula and Dominican passports

To add anything else to the mix is assumption

Thank you! My parents are naturalized American citizens before I was born in the DR and they confirmed that they registered me and that I had a Dominican birth certificate so I guess now I have to go to the consulate with them and their Dominican documents to attempt to find mine.

Once again, thanks everyone!

 

[Wishing you well]

Simply having Dominican cedula and passport isn't an automatic proof that they had legal residence in the DR. Thousands of people gained Dominican cedulas and passports because someone bribed someone else for those documents and then each succeeding generation got Dominican cedulas/passports on the basis of the previous generation up until the generation that committed the fraud. Guess what? All those Dominican cedulas/passports are suppose to automatically be rescinded the moment the fraud is detected (in other words, they automatically become void), because an illegal act can't produce legal rights under Dominican laws.

In short, there were (and still are) thousands upon thousands of people that their entire lives thought were Dominicans when in reality they weren't. The fact that they had Dominican documents 'proving' that they were Dominican complicated the matters, because they don't understand how can a fraudulent act from generations ago impact the legitimacy of the documents they own claiming they are Dominicans.

The DR government attempted to rectify this recently with a plan that was attacked from inside and outside the country, many claiming it was 'unconstitutional' and that it was 'retroactive,' when in reality it was simply reinforcing what the Dominican laws have always been based on, but due to corruption for generations certain representatives of the authorities looked the other way and sold the documents.

My point is that you have to make sure your parents were legal residents during the time they lived in the DR. Simply having a Dominican cedula and passport means nothing if it derives from an original fraudulent act. Given that you want to gain your Dominican documentation, if there was an illegality committed by your parents, be forewarned that it will come to light and it will negate their Dominican documentation and whatever rights you thought you had to gain Dominican documentation as an inheritance from your parents.

However, if they gained their documents legally, you have nothing to worry.

The less you could do is apologize to the OP for such condescending reply with no merits.