Dominican divorce certificate (inextensa) for USCIS

In the Dominican Republic, a divorce leaves two documents: the court’s judgment (sentencia) and the divorce record (acta de divorcio) issued by the civil registry office (oficialía del estado civil) once the divorce is pronounced. For USCIS, the one the State Department lists is the second. Many people search for it as the “acta inextensa de divorcio,” and that name has a history, because since 2025 the Junta Central Electoral (JCE) no longer uses it.

How a Dominican divorce record comes to exist

The State Department’s Reciprocity Schedule describes the path. We checked the copy the Wayback Machine archived on July 1, 2026. The petition is filed with the court for the filing spouse’s place of residence, and the judge issues a ruling. Once the ruling is final, it is registered, published and then pronounced by the civil registry office. The document the schedule names is the Acta de Divorcio, issued by the Oficialía del Estado Civil.

The JCE explains that step on its civil registry services and requirements page. The pronouncement (pronunciamiento) is the transcription of the operative part of the judgment into the registry office’s books. Only judgments issued by a court of last resort, or that have become final and binding, are pronounced. Once the transcription is entered, the registry office can issue the record.

Put another way, the judgment says the court dissolved the marriage, and the record says the civil registry entered it.

Inextensa, extract and the single format

Until June 2025, the divorce record came in two versions: the extracto, which summarized it, and the inextensa, which copied it in full. Since July 1, 2025, under Resolution 9-2025, as amended by Resolution 14-2025, the JCE has replaced both with one standard format for birth, acknowledgment, marriage, divorce and death records. Each new record costs RD$600, including at the JCE’s offices abroad. Older records with a QR code remain valid (official JCE notice).

For immigrant and K visas, the State Department specifies that the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo still requires the inextensa when the record predates July 1, 2025. Records issued after that date, without the label, are also accepted. If you have an old extract, the simplest fix is to request a new record in the single format.

Mutual consent or incompatibility

The JCE asks for different papers to pronounce each type of divorce, and some of them end up in the file you receive.

• Mutual consent (mutuo consentimiento): the registered judgment and a request filed by an attorney. The octava franca waiting period must pass between the judgment and the pronouncement.
• Incompatibility of temperament (incompatibilidad de caracteres): besides the registered judgment, the notice served within six months of the judgment, the summons for the pronouncement and certificates of no appeal. Those certificates come from the Court of Appeals and the Court of First Instance.

If you received those certificates with the judgment, they are worth translating: they are what shows the ruling became final.

Where a Dominican divorce gets complicated

Filing only the judgment. This is the most common case. Having the judgment gets you only halfway; the registry office record is what the State Department lists. If the pronouncement never happened, there is no divorce record to request, and that is worth discussing with an attorney before you file anything.

Looking in the wrong registry office. The office that pronounces is the one with jurisdiction over the court that issued the judgment. It may be different from the office where you married.

Remarriage. The Form I-130 instructions call for copies of documents showing that each prior marriage of the petitioner or the spouse was legally terminated. If you married again, the divorce record goes together with the new marriage certificate.

The dates. Judgment, registration, notice and pronouncement each have their own date, and they don’t match. The translation shows each one where it appears, because together they tell when the marriage ended.

If your divorce was granted outside the country, the logic changes; the general divorce decree guide explains which documents go with it.

How to request it from the United States

According to the State Department, the record is available at the registry office where the judgment was registered or at any service center of the Central Civil Registry Office. From the United States, the JCE serves the public at its service offices abroad, located in consulates such as New York, Paterson, Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Miami. Appointments are booked at citas.jce.gob.do.

About the apostille. The Dominican Republic acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention, in force there since 2009, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIREX) issues apostilles. USCIS regulations do not require one, and the State Department says Dominican civil documents do not need legalization for the visa.

Before you send us the document

Check what you have: if it is only the judgment, request the registry office record too. If the record predates July 2025, check that it says “inextensa” and has a QR code; if it is an extract or has no QR code, request a new one in the single format. Send us every page, including the certificates of no appeal if you received them, and tell us whether the divorce was by mutual consent or incompatibility.

Official source

Review the applicable federal requirement directly at 8 CFR § 103.2(b)(3) on eCFR .

Fidelis Certified Translations is an independent translation service and is not affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by USCIS or any U.S. government agency. Final acceptance of any document rests solely with the receiving agency or institution.