A Reuters news release dated Friday, June 5 states that "quickie divorces on the Internet may be a total scam". Several Internet sites are promising three-day Dominican divorces that are "fast, easy, legal and inexpensive." The sites promote the service which according to them allows U.S. citizens to file for divorce by proxy in the DR. The Reuters release tells the case of one person who paid US$1,700 to a company that would send the paperwork to the Dominican Republic, where a lawyer, invested with special power of attorney, would file for divorce by proxy. A Dominican court would supposedly grant the divorce, then mail the decree back to the U.S. The downside of it all is that Dominican law requires one of the spouses to be physically present in the Dominican Republic for the divorce to be valid in the States. As the Reuters story states, proxy divorce is invalid in the U.S." Dominican law states that it is possible to get a special divorce if you are a foreigner or a Dominican citizen not resident in the Dominican Republic and you are divorcing by mutual consent. Among the requirements is that at least one of the spouses personally appear at the hearing with the other represented by a special power of attorney. The appearing spouse needs to present to the court an identity card, such as a passport, identity card, social security card, or driver’s license. According to Dominican law, it is not possible to complete a divorce in three days. Michael Jackson and Mariel Carey both visited the Dominican Republic to get their quickie divorces here.
