Dominican Republic Embassy

Worst embassy in DC!
What they have working here is people without degrees and that barely speak correct spanish.
I was waiting for over two hours for my cedula, and two friends of the girl that was working there walked in and left in less than 15 minutes with their new ID in hand. I was so disgusted that they committed such an injustice in front of everyone that was patiently waiting for hours. They are the reason of my embrassment to say that I’m dominican at times. A bunch of unprofessional fucks.
They were all wearing casual clothes like they were «walking in the park» and it wasn’t an office «job».
The government shouldn’t be paying this useless people to do nothinggg. This is why the Dominican Republic will NEVER BE a successful country. Because of the corruption and that they put anyone with a friend of a friend at a position in any job.

I have decided to write a review of the Dominican Embassy because I have been extremely frustrated with the process to get a Cedula. I started the process by searching the embassy’s website and the phone number provided for the consulate section is incorrect. I called 10 different days and times before finally getting someone to answer the phone. Once on the phone, I asked what papers I needed and the days and times they are open to the public. I arrived at 9am on a Tuesday and it was closed, though they told me that they opened at 9:00am and closed at 3:00pm Monday through Friday. On that Monday, I waited for 30 mins for someone to arrive and finally open the consulate section. I had to wait for the representative to talk to everyone in the office about how she had a rough ride home the night before, before she was able to assist me. Once I was finally in her office with my birth certificate ready to start the process, we were interrupted multiple times and then was told that my birth certificate needed to be verified. She also stated that the birth certificate verification process would take from 1 to 30 days and I needed to call them to ask if my birth certificate is valid. Today is the 30^th day of the process and I have called multiple times (most times did not receive a response) following their protocol and today they continuously have asked me to call again in 30 mins because they have a staff meeting and are unable to assist me. I called 2 hours later and now they tell me that their internet is down and they will be unable to assist me today. This process is extremely frustrating and I am ashamed of my country. I was born and raised in Dominican Republic and have been unable to obtain a Cedula because of the incompetency of the embassy’s staff.

I was here for bureaucratic stuff so my review is going to be different. First I’m getting married in DR so I had to pull our entire background in order to get everything taken care of. You have to call at the right moment because getting in touch with them is hard. Even worse, the Spanish and English translations on the website DO NOT reflect what’s needed so that’s a pain in the ass when something is wanted but not stated on the website. But, they are nice and rather relaxed in that building. I wonder if all embassies are like this ²⁴⁄₇ — must be nice to be so… relaxed??? I got my translations and everything taken care of here. This was my first embassy session with a bunch of documents being brought in so I don’t have anything to compare it to. I’ll give it 3 stars. Heyyy, at least I learned something here — I learned about apostilles, and the work required to get one. You learn something new every day!!!

Situated at the foot of the Spanish Steps, this embassy was a hit.
Although the building could use a coat of fresh paint as my grandmother might say, the welcome was gregarious. The Dominicans bore the excessive heat of the day well, as they should. They’re Dominicans. Outside, a tented plethora of island foods was available for purchase. Upon entry, I was handed an ice cold Coca-​cola. Four sips in, and I realized that this was no ordinary Coca-​cola. It was a rum and coke! Glee!
(The rum was Dominican, of course, Ron Barceló Imperial. Yes, I asked, because even unmixed at the bottom of my glass, it was freakin’ divine.)
Inside, the embassy handed out a DR trivia quiz, which, once completed, entered you into a sweepstakes to win a trip to the DR… irrespective of the results of the quiz. Done.
Once upstairs, there was a promotional video about the DR featuring many MANY beaches. Go figure. It’s an island… Anyway, they were beautiful.
Still waiting for that call from the embassy telling me I won!

The embassy staff hosted a wonderful embassy day event. The staff was personable and attempted to educate visitors, like me, on all the country has to offer. I really loved all of the information on visiting the Dominican Republic and the government itself, which was provided for free, and the food and rum as well.
Also the embassy’s building is beautiful and houses lovely art and photography as well.
Now that I’ve visited the embassy, time to visit the country as well!