Dominican Republic

In the Dominican Republic (DR), naturalization applications for those of foreign ancestry who had never been registered have been left pending indefinitely. The 2014 Naturalization Law stipulated that people could opt for naturalization after a period of two years. As it stands, over a decade has passed, and an administrative procedure has yet to be determined. Administrative obstacles to naturalization, like a passport from the country of origin, make naturalization through these means essentially impossible. The DR received recommendations from the CRC (2023), Human Rights Council (2019, 2024), CRPD (2015), and CESCR (2017) regarding the 2014 Nationality law and restoration of nationality for Haitian descended people and migrants. The temporary documents that were issued to parents who applied for naturalization were not considered valid for the purposes of birth registration, and thus children remained unregistered and stateless.