Name Change Order Apostille for Dominican Republic

This comes up mainly for Dominicans who changed their name in a Florida court, often after a marriage or divorce, and now find their cédula and Dominican acta don't match their U.S. passport. The Junta Central Electoral won't simply copy a foreign name change onto your Dominican records. Ask the JCE or a Dominican lawyer whether the change can be recorded, and whether a Dominican court must recognize it first. You'll need the order certified by the Clerk of Court, apostilled, with an apostilled Spanish translation.

A certified copy of the final judgment of change of name with the clerk's original certification and seal or official e-certification, complete with the judge's signature page. The former and new names must match your other records exactly. The state fee is $20, included in our price.

Request it from the clerk of the county that granted the change, online, by mail or at the counter. If you were born in Florida, the change is reported to Vital Statistics, and many foreign offices also want an updated certified birth certificate from VitalChek or the Bureau. Clerk and Vital Statistics fees are not included in our $220.

State fee for this document: $20 — included in our price. Full details on the name change order apostille page.

The Dirección General de Migración (DGM) handles residency and minors' exit permits. The Junta Central Electoral runs the civil registry through its Oficialías del Estado Civil and records births, marriages and deaths of Dominicans abroad, usually through the consulates. MESCyT recognizes higher-education degrees, the Dirección General de Impuestos Internos issues tax IDs and handles inheritance tax, and the Registro de Títulos records property transfers. MIREX authenticates Dominican documents, not Florida ones.

Dominican offices usually want the Spanish translation to carry its own apostille. The translator certifies the translation of the original and its apostille, a separate Florida notary notarizes that certification (the translator can't be the notary), and we apostille the notarized translation as a second document, so an original plus translation is our two-document price of $380. Some Dominican offices may instead want the translation made in the Dominican Republic; ask the office that will receive your file.

Minors' exit permits from the DGM are valid for 90 days once approved. For other documents, ask the receiving office how recent they must be; criminal-record certificates are the most time-sensitive, and freshly certified vital records avoid the pre-2014 signature problem.

Consular office serving Florida: Consulate General of the Dominican Republic in Miami; Consulate General of the Dominican Republic in Orlando.

$220 per document, $380 for two and $160 each for three or more — the state fee, request form, in-person filing in Tallahassee and FedEx shipping inside the U.S. are included. Shipping the finished apostille to Dominican Republic is a flat $100 per order.

Not included: whatever the issuing office charges for the certified copy or certificate, and notarization (online notarization is $40 for the first document — $10 notarization fee + $30 technology platform fee — and $20 for each additional one).