To get a Dominican Republic passport, you book an in-person appointment with the Dirección General de Pasaportes (or a Dominican consulate if you live abroad), bring your Cédula and supporting documents, pay the fee, and complete biometric capture at the appointment. The standard adult passport costs $125; a 10-year VIP electronic passport costs $200. The same basic process applies whether you’re a first-time applicant, renewing, or replacing a lost document, though the paperwork and cost shift depending on which one.
Who Can Apply
Only Dominican citizens can get a Dominican passport. Citizenship comes from birth in Dominican territory (with exceptions), from at least one Dominican parent if you were born abroad, or from naturalization. If you were born abroad to a Dominican parent, your birth must be registered with the Dominican Civil Registry before a passport application can move forward.1Constitute Project. Dominican Republic 2015 Constitution
Documents You Need
Gather these before you schedule anything:
- Original birth certificate issued by the Dominican Civil Registry (Oficialía del Estado Civil). If you were born abroad to Dominican parents, the foreign certificate must first be transcribed into the Dominican registry.
- Cédula de Identidad y Electoral, the national ID card required for every passport transaction.
- Your previous passport, if you have one. Officials will verify and cancel it before issuing the new document.
- Two recent passport photographs, 2×2 inches (50mm × 50mm), white background, face filling 70–80% of the frame from chin to crown, no glasses, no jewelry, no headgear except for religious reasons, neutral expression with mouth closed.
- Proof of fee payment, made by credit or debit card during appointment booking or at a Banreservas branch.
Renewal applicants can usually skip the birth certificate because the Dirección General de Pasaportes already has the record from the earlier issuance.
Booking the Appointment
Inside the Dominican Republic, appointments are booked through the official portal at citas.pasaportes.gob.do. You’ll enter your Cédula number, date of birth, preferred office, and contact details. Offices operate in Santiago, Puerto Plata, La Vega, Higüey, San Pedro, and several Punto Gob service centers in and around Santo Domingo.2Dirección General de Pasaportes. Citas-Pasaportes
Two timing rules trip people up. Once you create the appointment, you have 30 minutes to complete online payment or the system cancels it. Once paid, the fee stays valid for 60 calendar days. Miss the appointment or fail to appear inside that window and the fee is neither refundable nor transferable, so you pay again.2Dirección General de Pasaportes. Citas-Pasaportes
If you live outside the country, contact the nearest Dominican consulate. The steps are the same (documents, biometrics, payment), but scheduling systems and wait times vary by post, and consulates may add handling or shipping fees.
What Happens at the Appointment
You have to appear in person. No one can go for you, because the appointment includes biometric capture: a digital photograph and fingerprint scans that are encoded into the passport. An official reviews your documents and matches your identity against the Cédula database. Missing or mismatched information sends you home to fix it and rebook.
Fees
The Dirección General de Pasaportes lists the following fees through its authorized service partner for 2026:3VFS Global. Apply for a Passport
- First-time adult passport: $125
- Adult passport renewal: $125
- Minor’s passport (6-year validity): $133
- 10-year VIP passport: $200
Standard Passport or VIP E-Passport
The Dominican Republic issues two formats. The traditional machine-readable passport is booked through the main appointment portal. In late 2025, the government began rolling out a biometric electronic passport with an embedded chip storing the holder’s facial image and fingerprint data. The e-passport is booked through a separate portal (citas-e.pasaportes.gob.do) and carries the $200 VIP fee for a 10-year validity period.2Dirección General de Pasaportes. Citas-Pasaportes
Both formats are valid for international travel. The e-passport may move faster through automated border gates in countries that read chips, but it doesn’t change your visa requirements or which countries you can enter.
Renewing an Existing Passport
Renewal uses the same appointment, biometric, and payment steps as a new application, but with less paperwork. You typically bring the current or recently expired passport, your Cédula, updated photos, and the application form. The birth certificate is generally waived because your record is already on file. The fee is $125.3VFS Global. Apply for a Passport
Many countries require at least six months of remaining validity for entry, so don’t cut it close. Starting the process when your passport has around nine months left leaves room for scheduling and processing.
Replacing a Lost or Stolen Passport
Losing a passport adds steps and cost. File a police report where the loss or theft happened. More important on the Dominican side is a sworn declaration of loss (Acta Notarial de Pérdida), signed before a notary or at a Dominican consulate if you’re abroad. That declaration is submitted with your replacement application.
The Dirección General de Migración charges a certification fee of RD$4,000 for lost passport cases, on top of the standard issuance fee.4Dirección General de Migración. For Loss of Passport Expired Verification also takes longer, because officials have to confirm your identity without the original document.
If your passport goes missing while you’re traveling, contact the nearest Dominican consulate right away. They can issue an emergency travel document to get you home, and the full replacement is handled from there.
Passports for Children
Every child needs their own passport for international travel regardless of age, and the child has to appear in person for biometric capture. The fee is $133 for a passport valid for six years.3VFS Global. Apply for a Passport
Parental consent is the main hurdle. When both parents share custody, both should be present. If one parent cannot attend, a legal document proving guardianship or a notarized power of attorney is typically required, and the power of attorney must include the Cédula information and signature of the absent parent.5VFS Global. Passport Services Information Sole legal custody has to be shown with a court order or equivalent documentation.
One separate requirement catches many families: a passport alone doesn’t let a minor leave the country without both parents. Dominican law also requires an exit authorization (Certificación de Salida de Menores) from the Dirección General de Migración when a minor travels without both parents. Parents sometimes get the passport and forget the authorization, and the child is stopped at the airport.6Dirección General de Migración. Certification of Departure of Minors
Dual Citizenship and Travel
The Dominican Republic fully permits dual citizenship. Article 20 of the Constitution states that acquiring a foreign nationality does not mean losing Dominican nationality.1Constitute Project. Dominican Republic 2015 Constitution Holding both passports is legal on the Dominican side.
If you also hold U.S. citizenship, U.S. law requires American nationals to use their U.S. passport when entering and leaving the United States. You can travel on the Dominican passport for entry into the Dominican Republic and for trips to other countries, but any leg touching American soil is done on the U.S. document.7U.S. Department of State. Dual Nationality
Where the Passport Lets You Travel
The Dominican passport ranked 65th on the 2026 Henley Passport Index, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to about 72 destinations. Coverage includes much of Central and South America (Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua) along with South Korea, Japan, Singapore (electronic travel authorization), Israel, Turkey, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Georgia. The list mixes true visa-free entry, visa-on-arrival, and online travel authorizations.
Visas are required for the United States, Canada, the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, Australia, and China. Those applications involve interviews, financial documentation, and processing times that can run several weeks. Entry rules change, so verify the current requirements with the destination country’s embassy or consulate before booking travel.