If you were born outside the Dominican Republic to a Dominican mother or father, you are already a Dominican national under the country’s constitution. Learning how to get Dominican citizenship by parents is really about registering that existing right: you transcribe your foreign birth certificate into the Dominican civil registry, then apply for the cédula and passport. Most of the work can be started from a Dominican consulate in the United States.
You Already Qualify by Birth
Article 18 of the 2015 Dominican Constitution recognizes as Dominican anyone born abroad to a Dominican mother or father, even if the country of birth granted a different nationality automatically. Maternal and paternal lineage carry equal weight, and it does not matter whether your Dominican parent was living in the country when you were born or what immigration status they held elsewhere.1Constitute Project. Dominican Republic 2015 Constitution
Because the right exists at birth, the JCE is not deciding whether to grant you citizenship. It is recording a fact. That framing matters when you hit paperwork friction: you are entitled to be registered once the documents are in order.
Dual nationality is fully permitted under Article 20, so claiming Dominican citizenship will not put your U.S. passport at risk, and U.S. law does not require you to choose either. A Dominican parent can also start the transcription for a child under 18; the formal declaration of intent about dual nationality is a separate act reserved for the individual after turning 18.1Constitute Project. Dominican Republic 2015 Constitution
Documents You Need
The Junta Central Electoral (JCE), the Dominican civil registry authority, sets specific requirements for transcribing a foreign birth certificate. Gather these before starting:
- An original, current birth certificate from your country of birth, bearing an apostille from the competent authority. In the United States, that is typically your state’s Secretary of State office. The Dominican Republic is party to the Hague Apostille Convention.
- A certified Spanish translation if the birth certificate is not already in Spanish. The translation itself must be legalized, and the exact chain depends on who prepared it.
- A clear photocopy of the Dominican parent’s cédula de identidad y electoral or current Dominican passport.
- A photocopy of your current foreign passport or ID, required for applicants over 15.
If your Dominican parent is deceased, expect to provide their death certificate and documentation of their Dominican nationality. The JCE can request additional documents beyond the standard list.
Apostille
Each U.S. state issues apostilles through its Secretary of State (or equivalent). The usual path is a certified copy of your birth certificate from the state vital records office, submitted back to that same state for apostille certification. Fees generally run $10 to $20 per document. Some states offer walk-in service, others are mail-only and can take several weeks. If your certificate was issued by a city or county, the state may require an intermediate certification from the county clerk before it will apostille it.
Translation
The legalization rule depends on who does the translation. A Dominican consulate can translate the document, but that translation must then be legalized by the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A translation done in the United States must be apostilled. A translation done by a Dominican-based interpreter must be legalized by the Dominican Attorney General’s office. Confirm the exact chain with the consulate handling your case before paying for translation work; this is where the process most often stalls.2Junta Central Electoral. Transcripcion de Acta de Nacimiento
Transcribe Your Birth Certificate at the JCE
The central step is the transcription of your foreign birth certificate into the Dominican civil registry. That transcription creates your Dominican birth record (acta de nacimiento), and without it you cannot obtain a cédula or passport.
You can file directly with the JCE in the Dominican Republic or through a Dominican consulate abroad. The standard filing fee is RD$4,000, roughly $65 to $70 USD, with an expedited “VIP” option at an additional RD$2,000.2Junta Central Electoral. Transcripcion de Acta de Nacimiento
Filing From the United States
You do not need to travel to Santo Domingo to start. Dominican consulates in the U.S. handle document intake and initial transcription filing. Consulates operate in:
- Washington, D.C. (Embassy Consular Section)
- New York, NY
- Miami, FL
- Boston, MA
- Chicago, IL
- Glendale, CA
- New Orleans, LA
- San Juan and Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Services, fees, and turnaround times vary by location. Call ahead to confirm document requirements and whether appointments are needed. Some consulates accept certain submissions through online portals, but in-person visits are still required for biometric collection.
Cédula and Passport
Once the JCE issues your Dominican birth certificate, you can apply for two identity documents.
The cédula de identidad y electoral is the country’s primary ID and also serves as your voter registration card. Applying requires an in-person appearance at a JCE identification center (Centro de Cedulación) with your Dominican birth certificate and a blood type certificate from a reputable laboratory. At the appointment, the JCE captures all ten fingerprints, takes a photograph run through facial recognition software, and records your signature. Each cédula shows a unique identification number along with your blood type, profession, and province of origin.4Department of State. U.S. Visa: Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country – Dominican Republic
Dominican passport applications also require biometric capture: photo, fingerprints, and signature. Through a U.S. consulate, the standard adult passport fee is about $125 USD, with VIP options for longer-validity passports adding $25 to $50.5VFS Global. Passport Services Information
Plan for at least one consulate visit for biometrics, and potentially a second if the cédula and passport are handled through different offices.
What It Costs
Fees come from several agencies, so budget across the whole chain rather than any single step:
- State apostille: $10 to $20 per document.
- Certified translation: $30 to $80 per page, with wide variation by provider.
- JCE birth transcription: RD$4,000 (about $65 to $70 USD), or RD$6,000 expedited.
- Dominican passport: about $125 USD for adults through a U.S. consulate.
- Consulate service fees: vary by location and may sit on top of the JCE and passport fees.
Roughly $300 to $500 covers the full process from the United States, depending on how many documents need translation and whether you pay for expedited handling. Travel costs are separate if any step requires a trip to the Dominican Republic.
How Long It Takes
Timing depends mostly on how quickly you assemble apostilled and properly translated documents. The JCE transcription can move in a few weeks once the file is accepted, but the full start-to-finish timeline is typically two to six months. Common bottlenecks are the translation legalization chain and consulate backlogs; high-traffic offices like New York and Miami tend to run slower than smaller posts.
What Claiming Dominican Citizenship Does Not Change
Becoming a Dominican citizen does not create new U.S. tax obligations by itself. The United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of other nationalities, so your U.S. filing situation stays the same. If you later open Dominican bank or financial accounts, standard U.S. rules apply: any U.S. person whose foreign financial accounts together exceed $10,000 at any point in the year must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) on FinCEN Form 114, due April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15, filed electronically through FinCEN rather than with your tax return.6Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
The Dominican Republic uses a territorial tax system. If you hold citizenship while living in the U.S., the country generally will not tax your U.S.-source income; foreign-source income becomes taxable in the Dominican Republic only starting from the third year of tax residency there.
Dominican military service is voluntary, so citizenship does not expose someone living abroad to a draft. Dominican citizens abroad can vote in national presidential elections at embassies, consulates, and designated polling stations under JCE rules, provided they are registered and hold a valid cédula.