The renewal of expired ID (cedula) in the Dominican Republic in 2024 is postponed until October.

Based on materials from Listin Diario

Cedula: The Dominican Republic is transitioning from a simple plastic card with a photo to a full-fledged electronic document with an embedded chip.

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My ID expired in February 2024, and as a law-abiding citizen, I went to the civil registry office to renew it.

“Come in October,” the civil registry clerk replied. “Your ID is valid until the end of October 2024.” “It’s a pity that nobody knows about it except the civil registry staff,” I thought.

In the past, in 2023, I returned to the Dominican Republic from Istanbul with Lufthansa. The entry stamp to Turkey was in my Russian passport, so I bought the Lufthansa ticket with my Russian Federation passport.

After the events in February 2022, holders of Russian passports worldwide faced unprecedented difficulties in travel. Lufthansa staff at Istanbul International Airport began to refuse me boarding, even though everything was correctly arranged.

Only my ID with my permanent address in the Dominican Republic, along with my Dominican driver’s license, saved me. These two documents convinced Lufthansa staff that I was flying home. After 30 minutes of coordination with management, they let me board. Other Russian passport holders were less fortunate. As you understand, if at least one of the documents I presented had an expired date, I would still be at Istanbul Airport.

Now, with an expired ID until the end of October 2024, my movements were restricted. Because only the civil registry staff knew that the ID was valid. The inscription on the ID said that the document was not valid.

I think many expatriates living in the Dominican Republic who turned to the civil registry for renewal of their Dominican ID faced a similar problem.

Let’s see what the official website of the JCE (https://jce.gob.do/), the authority responsible for the Dominican ID renovation, says:

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As we can see, searching for information about the delay in exchanging identification documents on the official JCE website yielded no results.

Let’s stick to tradition and Google it:

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Google provides only one link to information on the official website (as we saw, the site’s own search function doesn’t work). Following the link to the only document available from the search, dated June 2022, we learn that the process of updating identification documents will begin in August 2024. Which, to put it mildly, is not true.

The communication department of the civil registry, to put it mildly, misinformed the public about the start date of the document renewal process.

The only material with a future date available at the time of writing this article is found in a Google search from the newspaper “Diario Libre”:

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From this material, we learn that it will only be possible to renew expired identification documents in October 2024. And that the new ID card will have a new design and an embedded electronic chip.

Since this is the only available information at the moment about the renewal of expired identification documents in the Dominican Republic, we are publishing the full material from “Diario Libre”. The link to the original is here.

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Cedula: changes that the new identification document will undergo:

Despite the fact that the current identification document expires this year in 2024, the Central Electoral Board (JCE) has established that it will remain valid for citizens to exercise their right to vote in both municipal and congressional as well as presidential elections.

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The process of updating the identification and electoral cards will begin on October 26 of the current year, 2024, with the issuance of a new document equipped with a microchip and other security measures aimed at addressing the deficiencies of the current document.

In advance, the Central Electoral Board (JCE) provided political parties with a report on the characteristics and the project itself for updating the identification (ID) and electoral cards. This report was submitted on December 21 with a deadline of 10 working days for providing feedback.

The current ID, which will be replaced after the elections, is made of plastic and can “delaminate,” meaning its elements can be separated. It does not have a microchip and is not electronic.

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The new identification card is expected to be equipped with a microchip and other security measures aimed at addressing the deficiencies of the current document. (EXTERNAL SOURCE)

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The material chosen for the new identification card is polycarbonate, which is used in most countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Finland, Mexico, Ecuador, and Uruguay. It facilitates the integration of security features that hinder their reproduction on other materials, such as windows with engraved and embossed effects.

Polycarbonate does not delaminate like the current ID material, and attempting to alter the data on it will result in destruction. It has a long service life and durability.

The photograph on the current ID has a dark background and does not comply with the specifications of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and it will be produced in shades of high-quality gray, “sufficient to identify the bearer,” as specified in a document accessed by Diario Libre. All data will be stored in color and printed on robotic devices at the only center operating in the country.

It is proposed that the citizen’s photograph will appear three times on the identification card, i.e., on the front side. The map of the Dominican Republic, currently located in the bottom left corner, will be placed above the photograph in the bottom left corner.

The integrated circuit or microchip embedded in the card will allow identity verification in offline mode. It will contain an electronic signature, be embossed with names, and allow biometric comparison of a fingerprint recorded on the chip with a live one captured within a few seconds.

The current identification cards and electoral cards expire this year in 2024, but according to the decision of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), they will remain valid for citizens to exercise their right to vote in both municipal elections in February and congressional and presidential elections in May.

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At the moment, this is the only information available on the timing of exchanging Dominican identification cards found through Google search.

We hope that this material has been helpful to expatriates and citizens of the Dominican Republic who have expired identification cards.

If this material receives enough likes or comments, we will reach out to the civil registry office and the manufacturer of the new identification card for further details.

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