At some point, foreigners who decide to make the Dominican Republic their permanent home will consider applying for citizenship.
And the question that always arises is: “What is the difference between a natural citizen and a naturalized citizen?”
The only difference between natural-born and naturalized citizens is how they came to their citizenship status. A natural citizen is born in the Dominican Republic to Dominican parents or to parents with legal status. A naturalized citizen is a person who obtained citizenship through a legal process.
For example, a permanent resident who applies for and receives Dominican citizenship is considered naturalized. Both enjoy the same rights and can pass on citizenship to their children.
When it comes to passing on citizenship to your child, there is an additional step in the process for a naturalized citizen. A natural-born citizen can grant citizenship to his children. In this case, the foreign birth certificate of the natural citizen’s child is apostilled and presented together with the Dominican birth certificate and the national identification of the Dominican father.
The formal term for this process is transcription. Once due diligence is completed, the child is presented with a transcribed Dominican birth certificate, making him or her a Dominican citizen.
María Abreu is the CEO and Managing Attorney of Abreu & Associates, a law firm that practices exclusively in Dominican Republic immigration and nationality law. She is also the founder of Retire and Invest DR. This organization organizes conferences for foreigners interested in living, retiring and investing in the Dominican Republic. You can contact María at: mabreu@abreuimmigration.com.