Guidance

Dominican Republic: Knowledge Base profile

Published 29 August 2025

Version 2.0

About: Dominican Republic

This document contains useful information about the Dominican Republic which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff process passport applications.

Contacts

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Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 2.0
• published for Home Office staff on 14 August 2025

Changes from last version of this document

This document has been updated with formatting changes.

Dominican Republic: names

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in the Dominican Republic.

Names in Dominican Republic consist of:

• 1 or more forenames
• a double-barrelled surname (father’s surname, followed by the mother’s surname)

Change of name

Following marriage in Dominican Republic, a woman does not take her husband’s surname in place of her own name. She can add it to the end of her surname preceded by the word ‘de’.

Other surname changes are not allowed in Dominican Republic.

Forename changes are allowed in Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic: nationality

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about nationality in the Dominican Republic.

Dual nationality is recognised in Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic: legitimacy and parental responsibility

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about legitimacy and parental responsibility in Dominican Republic.

Legitimacy

Before 1 January 1995, Dominican Republic recognised a difference between legitimate and illegitimate births.

A child was considered:

• legitimate:
  • if their parents were married at the time of the birth
  • from the time of the marriage if the parents marry after the birth
• illegitimate if their parents never marry

Children born before 1 January 1995 and considered illegitimate on 31 December 1994 were subsequently legitimated ‘by operation of law’.

This means that all births in Dominican Republic (before or after this date) are considered legitimate by Dominican Republic, whether a child’s parents are married or not provided the father has acknowledged his paternity either voluntarily or through a court order.

Parental responsibility

Both parents have parental responsibility in Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic: adoption

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoption in Dominican Republic.

Adoption is legal in Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic: surrogacy

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about surrogacy in Dominican Republic.

Surrogacy is illegal in Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic: gender recognition

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about gender recognition in Dominican Republic.

Transgender citizens are not recognised in Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic: civil partnerships and marriage

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about civil partnerships and marriage in Dominican Republic.

Civil partnerships and same sex marriages are not allowed in Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic recognises:

• civil marriages
• Canonical marriages when performed by a Roman Catholic priest

Dominican Republic: documents

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about documents from Dominican Republic.

There is a central registry for births, marriages and deaths.

Birth certificates

All births must be registered with the Civil Registry Office within 60 days. Late registrations must be approved by a court order.

Any mistakes on a birth certificate are corrected through an order issued by the Civil Tribunal.

Hospital notifications are issued.

Marriage certificates

Where a catholic priest conducts the marriage, he is responsible for registering the marriage.

Copies of marriage certificates are kept at the Civil Registry Office.

Death certificates

All deaths must be registered by a next of kin or relative of the deceased.

Identity documents

Dominican Republic has a mandatory national identity card called cedula.