DR law

[Cantaloulou]

Here is the situation:

My dominican husband I think is being played by his ex-wife (who has both Dominican and US citizenship). They had a son together while married. Their son was born in Puerto Rico for the obvious reason of getting US citizenship. They divorced and she left to llve in PR with their son. He has not seen his son since May 2007 when he was 3yrs old. Barely, can get to speak to him on the phone but once or twice a month.

Now, the ex-wife wants him to sign the DS-3053 form "Statement of consent or special circumstances: Issuance of a passport to a minor under age of 16". This form needs to be signed by a notary. She told him to have it signed and returned to her. If he doesn't, she threatened to have his last name removed from her son's name.

Questions:
1) Can the form be legalized by a dominican notary or does it need to be legalized at the US Embassy? If a dominican notary can do it, how much ±$ can it cost?
2) Does my husband have any legal recourses here in the DR to oblige his ex-wife to let him see his son?
3) Can she remove his name from her son's name?

Any feedback on this issue would be greatly appreciated...

[Hillbilly]

Custody will be settled in the US, do no worry about it.

Sign the papers...the notary is cheap.

Avoid hassles...

HB

[SantiagoDR]

From your statement:

(1) The son is in the U.S. (Puerto Rico).

(2) Your husband would like to see his son.

(3) The son can not travel without the "passport".

(4) Your husband is in the D.R.

(5) If the ex-wife brings his son to the D.R., he may have a better chance with the courts here.

I don't know the legal requirements, but she may have a problem taking the son back out of the D.R. without your husbands written permission.

Just something to think about and inquire about with a lawyer.


Don

[Cantaloulou]

Hillbilly: Per their divorce in the DR, they have joint custody

Don: You understood exactly! his son is in PR and to see him here the son needs to renew passport. Problem is I don't think his ex-wife is asking for him to sign the document to renew the son's passport in order to send him to the DR, I think she's planning to leave PR for the inlands of the USA, hence the need for the passport document...

I spoke to a DR lawyer on the phone and he seems to say that here in the DR, my husband has no legal recourse against his ex-wife as she is in PR... Also, he asked 400$US just to legalize the form which is in essence to confirm my husband signature!!! But, then I called the US embassy in SD and they said it would be free as it is a document for an american citizen (my husband's son)...

[SantiagoDR]

The son is ALREADY in the U.S. as he is in P.R.

He should not need a passport to travel to the mainland.

When traveling to the U.S. from the D.R. and going through P.R., P.R. is the first U.S. port of entry and one must go through immigration.

No passport is required to travel from P.R. to the mainland U.S. and there is no immigration when you reach the mainland.


As far as the $400 for the lawyer to notarize the document, it is another typical Dominican rip-off. They know you need it and want you to pay with blood.

Don

[Cantaloulou]

Thanks Don, guess we'll be heading to SD to the embassy as we are such as heck not paying 400$US for a service offered free by the embassy.

I'm upset for my husband though who dearly wants to see his son but his ex-wife is making it impossible for him to see him...

Thanks again!

[MikeFisher]

sorry to maybe sound rude,
but your husband, the loving father of his son, who has with his ex-wife joined custody of their son, did see his son the last time around half of the son's actual lifetime back in may 2007. did the husband/father try to see his son duing this time period and such been refused by the ex, or did he just not care and no that the wife want's some papers signed to move or travel with her son he wanna get some kinda revenge for what ever?
they have joined custody for THEIR son in PR, so if he tried to see his son since the last 2 years and a half there and the ex refused such, i guess he would have reported such to the propper authorities/court in PR.
if he just did not care about such since may 2007 i would ask "why he cares now"?
joined custody in PR means the family court for the case is in PR.

like Santiago said,
to travel to the mainland she will not need to pass immigrations services nor would be a passport required for a PR?US citizen.

sorry if i sound offensive,
but i don't get the point why a parent of a 5 1/2 years old child would after 2 1/2 years of desinterest be now interested in the child raised alone by the mother for most of the childs lifetime?
just curious,
at least it sounds weird to me by the reading of the OP.
Mike

[Cantaloulou]

My husband has always cared for his son since he was born but the issue is that after their divorce his ex-wife moved to PR with their son and my husband, who's dominican, is here in the DR. Without a visa he cannot travel to PR and dominican wages cannot really allow him to travel there anyways to see his son. Thus, his ex needs to send her son over here in the DR with a relative (which is easy to do as her parents have a secondary house in SD) and my husband paid plane ticket for his son's last visit. Problem is that his ex has not sent over son in last 2 1/2 yrs for a visit... And, it seems he's powerless and cannot do anything about it cuz she's in PR and he's here in the DR!!!

[MikeFisher]

wow, that's sad.
so once he allowed her to bring his son out of the Dr to PR she had all the advantages on her side.
sad situation.
good luck for him
Mike

[Cantaloulou]

Which brings me back to my original legal questions:

2) Does my husband have any legal recourses here in the DR to oblige his ex-wife to let him see his son?

3) Can she remove his name from her son's name?

Hoping Sr. Guzman jumps in on this thread...