Dominican Nationality: Birth, Descent, and Law 1683 Naturalization

To become a Dominican citizen, you generally need to be born on Dominican soil, have at least one Dominican parent, or naturalize under Law No. 1683 after meeting one of its residency tracks. The Constitution sets the rules for birth and descent, and the Ministry of the Interior and Police administers naturalization applications for foreign nationals who want to acquire the status by choice.¹

Citizenship by Birth in the Dominican Republic

Article 18 of the Constitution grants nationality to anyone born on Dominican territory, with three exceptions. Children of foreign diplomats and consular staff do not acquire nationality at birth. Neither do children of foreigners considered “in transit,” a category the Constitution defines to include anyone residing in the country without legal authorization.¹

That second exception matters if you assumed birth on Dominican soil is enough on its own. It isn’t when the parents lack legal status. This is the doctrine the Constitutional Tribunal applied retroactively in Judgment TC-168-13 in 2013, and the constitutional language has not changed since.

Citizenship Through a Dominican Parent

If at least one of your parents is a Dominican national, you qualify regardless of where you were born. Nationality attaches even if you also acquire citizenship from your country of birth.¹

One procedural step applies to those born abroad. Once you turn eighteen, you must appear before the appropriate authority and formally declare whether you wish to hold dual nationality or renounce one of your nationalities. Skipping this step leaves your status unresolved at the moment the government expects you to confirm it.¹

Naturalization Under Law No. 1683

Law No. 1683, enacted in 1948, is the statute foreign nationals use to become Dominican citizens. It offers several tracks, and the residency requirement changes depending on your circumstances.²

Standard residency: two consecutive years of documented residence.
Marriage to a Dominican national: six months of residence, provided you are married to a Dominican citizen at the time of application.
Business or property ownership: six months of residence if you have founded and managed an industrial or agricultural business, or if you own real property in the country.
Agricultural settlement: three months of residence with a certificate of domicile, plus proof that you are cultivating at least thirty hectares of land.

All applicants must be of legal age and hold a valid certificate of domicile under Dominican civil law.²

Documents You Will Need

Applications go to the Ministry of the Interior and Police. The core file includes:

Your original birth certificate, apostilled by the issuing authority in your home country.
A recent criminal record check from your home country.
A medical certificate issued by authorized Dominican health professionals, confirming you are free from contagious diseases.
Certified Spanish translations of every document not already in Spanish, done by a legal translator registered with Dominican authorities.
The Ministry’s formal application, which asks for personal data, residency history, and a written explanation of why you are seeking nationality.

Missing translations or an unapostilled birth certificate are common reasons files get sent back before review.²

The Interview

After you file, the Ministry typically schedules an in-person interview within a few weeks. This is the substantive part of the process. The interview is conducted entirely in Spanish and tests your language fluency along with your knowledge of Dominican values, traditions, and culture. Struggling with conversational Spanish at this stage is a dealbreaker. The interviewer also weighs your stated reasons for seeking citizenship and how integrated you are into Dominican life.²

Presidential Decree, Publication, and Oath

Once the Ministry finishes its background investigation and clears the file, the President of the Republic signs a naturalization decree. The decree then has to be published in the Official Gazette, and you are responsible for paying the publication fee. If that fee goes unpaid for six months, the decree expires and becomes invalid. Do not let this deadline slip.²

After publication comes the oath of loyalty. The Minister of Interior and Police administers it if you reside in the National District; otherwise the provincial governor does. The ceremony produces a certified act of naturalization, with copies sent to the Ministry and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Only after taking the oath can you apply for a Dominican birth certificate and, after that, a cédula (national identity card). Timelines vary. The full process from filing to oath can take anywhere from several months to well over a year, depending on administrative backlogs.²

Do You Have to Give Up Your Current Citizenship?

No. The Dominican Republic permits dual nationality. Article 20 of the Constitution states plainly that acquiring a foreign nationality does not result in loss of Dominican nationality, and the reverse is treated the same way in practice: naturalizing in the Dominican Republic does not require you to renounce your original citizenship (though your home country might have its own rules).¹

Dual nationals can own property, conduct business, and hold most public offices, including elected positions, ministerial posts, and diplomatic appointments. One restriction is worth noting. To serve as President or Vice President, a dual national must renounce the acquired foreign nationality at least ten years before the election and must have resided in the Dominican Republic for the ten years preceding the election. Every other office remains open.¹

How Naturalization Can Be Revoked

Naturalized citizenship is not permanent in the way citizenship by birth is. Law No. 1683 gives the government several grounds to revoke it by presidential decree, and the decree must state which ground applies. The grounds include:²

Obtaining naturalization through false or fraudulent documents.
Taking up arms against the Republic or aiding an attack on it.
Participating in efforts to overthrow the government or assassinate heads of state.
Acts of ingratitude or indignity against the Republic, its leaders, or its institutions.
Moving abroad within one year of obtaining naturalization, or leaving the country for ten consecutive years without returning.
Accepting a function from a foreign government on Dominican territory without executive authorization.
Notoriously immoral behavior or acts contrary to public moral standards.

The consequences are severe. A former citizen loses the cédula, the right to reside in the country without a visa, and all political rights associated with nationality. Some of these grounds, particularly the disloyalty and immoral-behavior provisions, give the executive broad discretion, and that is worth understanding before you invest in the process.²

If you fit one of the naturalization tracks, the practical order of operations is straightforward: establish and document your residency, gather and translate your civil records, file with the Ministry, pass the Spanish-language interview, and follow the decree through publication and oath so the file closes cleanly.

1
Constitute. Dominican Republic Constitution
2
Refworld. Dominican Republic Law No. 1683 of 16 April 1948 Relating to Naturalisation