Procedures and Requirements to marry civilly in the Dominican Republic

Civil marriage in the Dominican Republic and throughout the world is a requirement met by two people who establish a couple and who wish to marry, said procedure is carried out before a judge in accordance with the law established by the Dominican state.

Documents and Requirements to marry civilly in the Dominican Republic

1. Birth certificate of each spouse.
2. If any of the parties is divorced, they must present the updated Divorce Certificate. If the document is foreign, it will have to be duly legalized and with the proper translation, this if it is the country of origin of the spouse(s) is not part of the Hague agreement.
3. Apostilled and/or legalized sworn declaration of singleness of both parties.
4. Citizens must meet the age stipulated in Dominican law (16 years for men and 15 years for women). If someone does not meet the required age, he will have to present a legalized authorization in which the parents or legal guardians of the minor grant him permission to marry. Said representatives or guardians must be present at the ceremony.
5. Choose two people as witnesses to the ceremony and two godparents, each one must have their current identity document.
6. Cancel the fees corresponding to the procedure established by the Civil Status Office.
7. Spouses, godparents and witnesses must be physically present during the ceremony.
8. At the end of the ceremony, the Civil Status Office will issue a Marriage Certificate as a Certificate of the fact. For said document to have international validity, it must be apostilled by the Dominican Chancellery.

How to perform a civil wedding

To perform a civil wedding in the Dominican Republic, the spouses must complete the following steps:

1. Choose the Civil Registry office where you want to perform the ceremony.
2. Request the requirements to perform the ceremony.
3. Reserve the day for the Judge to perform the marriage.

Where can you get married civilly?

In the Dominican Republic, a civil wedding can take place in the Civil Registry or in any external space outside the headquarters if the spouses so decide; for this, the place and time of said ceremony must be previously agreed upon with the Judge in charge of performing the marriage.

Civil marriage for foreigners

The requirements for foreign citizens to be able to marry in civil marriage are the following:

1. Apostilled and/or legalized birth certificate from the country of origin of the spouse(s).
2. Copy of the last entry stamps to the Dominican country.
3. Address of your Dominican residence, if you do not have it, you must pay a fine established by the laws of that country and present your tourist card.
4. If it were the case that one of the two contracting parties is divorced, they must present the divorce certificate duly apostilled and/or legalized from the country of origin.
5. Apostilled and/or legalized sworn statement of singleness from the country of origin.
6. Photocopy of current passport, and photocopy of the national identity document if you have it.
7. Citizens must meet the age stipulated in Dominican law (16 years for men and 15 years for women). If someone does not meet the required age, he will have to present a legalized authorization in which the parents or legal guardians of the minor grant him permission to marry.
8. Choose two people as witnesses to the ceremony and two godparents, each one must have their current identity document.
9. Cancel the fees corresponding to the procedure established by the Civil Status Office.
10. Spouses, godparents and witnesses must be physically present during the ceremony.
11. At the end of the ceremony, the Civil Status Office will issue a Marriage Certificate as a Certificate of the fact. For said document to have international validity, it must be apostilled by the Dominican Chancellery.

Note: all the mentioned required documents must be accompanied by their legal translation.

Cost of a civil wedding

The civil marriage before the Judge by the Civil Status Office in the Dominican Republic has different costs depending on the place that the spouses choose to perform the ceremony:

1. Within the registry of the Official Office: RD$ 3,000.00
2. Outside the Official Office: RD$ 10,000.00

There are also different rates for spouses as foreigners:

If both parties are non-resident foreigners, the fee to be paid is RD$20,000.00.

If one of the two contracting parties is a foreigner and does not reside in the Dominican Republic, they will have to pay the amount of RD$ 10,000.00.

If both parties are resident foreigners, they will have to pay RD$3,000.00.

If the wedding will take place outside the facilities of the Oficialía, as the case may be, the following fees must be paid:

If both parties are non-resident foreigners, the fee to be paid is RD$20,000.00.

If one of the two contracting parties is a foreigner and does not reside in the Dominican Republic, they will have to pay the amount of RD$ 15,000.00.

If both parties are resident foreigners, they will have to pay RD$10,000.00.

clarifications

Civil marriage is performed to formalize a relationship between two people, converting the two parties into spouses before the law of the Dominican Government and before the world with the certificate issued by the corresponding official and legalized before the Dominican Chancellery.