Dominican Republic Civil Registration

Online Collections

 * 1801–2010 : at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1590-1928 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images. Dates and information vary by place/country, FamilySearch, (free); Also at MyHeritage ($)
 * 1591-1905 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images. Dates and information vary by place/country.
 * 1591-1905 Caribbean Marriage Index 1591-1905 at Findmypast - index ($)
 * 1790-1906 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images. Dates and information vary by place/country.

Offices to Contact
Junta Central Electoral (JCE) Headquarters Garantía de Identidad Democracia Av. 27 de Febrero corner Av. Luperón Industrial Zone of Herrera Santo Domingo, DN

Telephone for civil registration: 809-537-0188	637/633/638 Toll Free: 1 (809) 200-1959 Fax: (809) 518-1143 Email: [mailto:rai@jce.do rai@jce.do]

Each civil registrar (Oficial del Estado Civil) is required to keep a duplicate registry of the original records of birth, marriage, divorce, and death. At the end of each year, the original registry, together with its corresponding index book, is sent to the Central Office of the Civil State.

Historical Background
With the adoption of the Napoleonic civil code of 1804, the Dominican Republic began the practice of civil registration, creating the offices of the civil state (oficialías del estado civil) in charge of registering the events of birth, marriage, and death in the life of its citizens. However, only some civil registration books dating back to 1823 have been found in the Bayaguana Civil Registry (Oficialía del Estado Civil de Bayaguana). Before that time, the Dominican Republic was under Haitian dominion. It wasn’t until June of 1944 that the National Congress created civil registration law 659, which provided new regulations for the functionality of the civil registration institution.

One of the regulations was the creation of the Central Office of the Civil State (Oficina Central del Estado Civil), with civil registration headquarters in the capital city of Santo Domingo and one or more offices in each municipality. The registration of civil records was to be made in duplicate, and one of the original registers was to be sent annually to the Central Office for preservation.

Coverage and Compliance
The birth of a child in the Dominican Republic must be registered within 30 days of the birth. After that, it is considered a late registration and has penalties. To avoid the penalties, many children were not registered.

These civil registrations allow people to be identified as citizens and therefore able to receive governmental benefits in the future.

Birth Records

 * Name and gender of child
 * Date, place, and time of birth
 * Child’s legitimacy
 * Parents’ names and ages
 * Parents’ occupations and residence
 * Grandparents' names
 * Date, place, and time of registration
 * Registrant's occupation and residence

Marriage Records

 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names and ages of groom and bride
 * Marital status of groom and bride
 * Legitimacy of groom and bride
 * Parents' names and ages
 * Groom's residence
 * Bride’s legitimacy
 * Date of betrothal promise
 * Witnesses’ names
 * Witnesses’ age, marital status, and occupation
 * Name of civil official and/or marriage officiator

Death Records

 * Name and age of deceased (keep in mind that death records for women may be filed under their married name)
 * Marital status/spouse's name of deceased
 * Date, place, and time of death
 * Cause of death
 * Date and place of birth
 * Parents of deceased
 * Parents' origin and residence
 * Witnesses' names
 * Informant's name and age
 * Date, place, and time of registration
 * Informant's marital status, occupation, origin, and residence

Extract Forms
The following extract forms were created by Dr. George Ryskamp, JD, AG. These particular forms are designed to be used for Spanish research; however, they can help in other research areas, such as Italy, France, Portugal, etc. Click on the type of record form you would like to use and print it for your own files.

[[Media:Baptism_template.pdf|Birth/Baptism Extract Form]]

[[Media:Marriage_Template.pdf|Marriage Extract Form]]

[[Media:Death_Template.pdf|Death/Burial Extract Form]]

These forms are designed to help you quickly analyze and organize your documents. They can become a personal index for your family records.