2
May

If you would like to marry in the Dominican Republic, either because you are a foreigner and your significant other was born and lives in this beautiful land bathed in sun and sea, or because both you and your significant other are foreigners who want to get married on the seashore; you need to know what you need to do and what documents you would need to provide in order to marry without setbacks under the laws of the Dominican Republic:

1. Choose a Civil Status Office (or Civil Registry in other countries). Usually there is one for each Municipality.
2. Determine the requirements.
3. Request a reservation day for the Civil Judge to perform the marriage.

Once this is done, you will need to comply with the following requirements:

1. Obtain an apostilled Birth Certificate for each foreign spouse. If it is a document from a country that is not part of the Hague Apostille agreement, it must be duly Apostilled or legalized.
2. If at least one of the spouses is divorced, the recent Divorce Certificate must be filed. If it is a foreign document in a language other than Spanish and coming from a country that is not part of the Hague Apostille agreement, it must be duly translated into Spanish and Apostilled or legalized.
3. Present an apostilled Sworn Certificate of Unmarried Status (proof of identity and living status).
4. Foreigners must provide a photocopy of their current Passport and a photocopy of the National Identity Document (known in Spanish as Cédula).
5. Comply with the minimum age requirement by Dominican law, or provide an apostilled notarized authorization from the parents or legal guardians.
6. Physically attend the Ceremony Act.
7. Present two witnesses and two godparents with a National Identity Document or Cédula.
8. Pay the fees established by the Civil Status Office.
9. Once married, the Civil Status Office will deliver a Marriage Certificate. In order to be able to use this certificate abroad, you would need to have it apostilled at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Chancellery of the Dominican Republic.

Important things to keep in mind regarding Marriage in the Dominican Republic

• Same-sex marriage is not allowed in the Dominican Republic as of yet.
• It is possible for the Civil Judge to relocate to the location specified by the future spouses, as long as it was previously agreed. As a result, a beach wedding organized by a hotel, can go from dream to reality.
• In the Dominican Republic, civil and religious ceremonies are held separately. Consequently, if your dream is to have a religious marriage, you would need to make plans with the closest church of your faith and obtain all the pertaining information needed.
• If you have any concerns, it is always advisable to approach the Embassy or Consulate of the Dominican Republic, to seek all the answers you need and clear any type of doubts you might have, given that this is a very important event in your life.