The director of the Department of Passports Iris Antonia Guaba says that Deisy Toussaint was not denied a passport because of her last name, as she is claiming. Toussaint is the daughter of a Haitian mother and Dominican father, but unlike her siblings her father has not recognized her, and her mother obtained her own documentation irregularly. Toussaint is one of many people who are now being asked to legalize their situation. Guaba says that she has the option of her father recognizing her, or her mother could apply for residency. She said that the review of her case showed she was the daughter of a foreigner and thus could not be issued a Dominican passport.
The Department of Passports is requiring all foreigners who are children of Dominicans to present their parents’ birth certificates in order to prove their lineage. This applies for new passports as well as for renewals. [This is important to know so that applicants who could be affected request the documents for submission to the Passport office prior to applying for the renewal to avoid delays.]
Guaba says that Toussaint’s case has nothing to do with the new Constitutional Court ruling 168-13 but is part of a process that was already underway as the authorities in charge of civil registration and documentation seek to ensure that all Dominican documentation is correct. The Dominican civil registry and passports were known to have issued documents irregularly, the most notorious cases involving international criminals and forged identities for baseball players.
Guaba added: “She does not qualify because the birth certificate was issued for a daughter of a foreigner who was not registered in the foreigners book as should have happened.” She said the passport officers also determined that the birth certificate was incomplete, as it does not have her mother’s Dominican ID number and thus does not meet requirement Art. 24 of the Law 659 on civil state documents that establishes that birth certificates need to indicate the ID (cedula) number of those declaring the child. She said the document was sent to the Central Electoral Board (JCE) in 2011 with instructions for it to be regularized, but the declaring mother does not appear in the JCE registry. She said that Toussaint’s case is one of 120 that the Department of Passports has identified with irregularities.
She said it is merely a matter of nationality that has nothing to do with Constitutional Court Ruling 168-13 and regretted the intention of attributing the irregularities to the ruling.
Guaba said that this work is being done to ensure that Dominicans have secure and trustworthy passports in order to avoid international problems.
Toussaint is a case of a young girl whose mother immigrated to the Dominican Republic and her daughter, despite her mother’s undocumented status, was able to enjoy free Dominican public services and become a university graduate. She now needs to legalize her status by making the most of the fast track options now being offered to anyone who can demonstrate long-standing residence in the country. The director of Passports has advised her to get her birth father to recognize her as his daughter. If that were to happen, she would automatically qualify for Dominican citizenship.
Pasaportes explica su negativa a emitir pasaporte a Toussaint