Haitian citizenship by descent: who qualifies, the law, and what it takes

Q: Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a parent?

Likely. A child of a Haitian parent is Haitian by origin, wherever the child is born. If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born: possible.

Q: Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a grandparent?

Possible. Article 11 does not stop at one generation, so a grandchild of a Haitian national qualifies once the parent in between is shown to have been Haitian at your birth. If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born: unlikely.

Q: Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Possible. Article 11 does not stop at one generation, so a grandchild of a Haitian national qualifies once the parent in between is shown to have been Haitian at your birth. If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born: unlikely.

Through a parentLIKELYNationality of origin (Art. 11)Through a grandparentPOSSIBLENationality of origin, generation by generation Through a great-grandparentPOSSIBLENationality of origin, generation by generation

Ways to apply: Nationality of origin (Art. 11)
Dual citizenship: Kept, however you apply

Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.

On this page

01Who qualifies
02Dates that matter
03Through your mother
04Keeping your citizenship
05Ways to apply
06The documents
07What it takes
08Where the records live
09Law changes
10Other options
11Sources

Who qualifies, generation by generation

LIKELY

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a parent?

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

A child of a Haitian parent is Haitian by origin, wherever the child is born.

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

What changes the answer

POSSIBLE
If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was bornNationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment
If your parent naturalised elsewhere before 2012, the old constitution treated that as a loss of Haitian nationality — the 2012 amendment repealed the ban on dual nationality and opened the way to resuming it, but your parent’s own position needs to be resolved first.

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a grandparent?

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

Article 11 does not stop at one generation, so a grandchild of a Haitian national qualifies once the parent in between is shown to have been Haitian at your birth.

What would settle itWhether your parent’s Haitian nationality, at your own birth, can be documented and transcribed.

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth; a Haitian parent’s own status runs the same way. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

What changes the answer

UNLIKELY
If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born
If your grandparent naturalised elsewhere before 2012 and before your parent was born, your parent was not born of a Haitian national under the rule in force then, which stops citizenship reaching you unless your grandparent has since resumed Haitian nationality.

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

Article 11 does not stop at one generation, so a grandchild of a Haitian national qualifies once the parent in between is shown to have been Haitian at your birth.

What would settle itWhether your parent’s Haitian nationality, at your own birth, can be documented and transcribed.

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth; a Haitian parent’s own status runs the same way. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

What changes the answer

UNLIKELY
If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born
If your grandparent naturalised elsewhere before 2012 and before your parent was born, your parent was not born of a Haitian national under the rule in force then, which stops citizenship reaching you unless your grandparent has since resumed Haitian nationality.

The dates that matter

2012
Nationality of origin runs to a person born of a Haitian parent; a parent who had lost Haitian nationality before the child’s birth under the pre-2012 rule was not, at that time, Haitian. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Haiti’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father. Where its reasons speak of mothers or fathers, they say:

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth; a Haitian parent’s own status runs the same way. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

Holding this citizenship alongside another is addressed by the law cited; check the current position before relying on it. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
The 1987 Constitution’s Art. 15 barred dual Haitian and foreign nationality; the 2012 amendment removed that article and replaced it with a dual-nationality regime, letting those who lost Haitian nationality by naturalising abroad seek to resume it. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth; a Haitian parent’s own status runs the same way. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

Open to you through a parent

LIKELY
Through a parent

The law

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

Nationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment

Open to you through a parent

POSSIBLE
Through a parent, if someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born

The law

The 1987 Constitution’s Art. 15 barred dual Haitian and foreign nationality; the 2012 amendment removed that article and replaced it with a dual-nationality regime, letting those who lost Haitian nationality by naturalising abroad seek to resume it. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

What would settle an unsure case

Whether your parent has resumed their Haitian nationality since 2012.

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

Open to you through a grandparent or a great-grandparent

POSSIBLE
Through a grandparent

The law

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth; a Haitian parent’s own status runs the same way. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
Nationality of origin runs to a person born of a Haitian parent; a parent who had lost Haitian nationality before the child’s birth under the pre-2012 rule was not, at that time, Haitian. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

What would settle an unsure case

Whether your parent’s Haitian nationality, at your own birth, can be documented and transcribed.
Whether your grandparent has resumed Haitian nationality since 2012, and whether your parent can then be registered.

The documents, as the rule lists them

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

Through a parent

Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate
Your birth certificate, transcribed into the Haitian civil registry at a Haitian consulate

Nationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment

Through a parent, if someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born

Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate
Your birth certificate
Proof of your parent’s steps to resume Haitian nationality

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

Through a grandparent or great-grandparent

Your grandparent’s Haitian birth certificate
Birth records linking each generation

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

Time: A few months to transcribe the birth into the Haitian civil registry and obtain a passport.
Cost: About $200–500: certified U.S. records, translation into French, and passport fees.
The hard part: None if your parent’s Haitian birth certificate (acte de naissance) is in hand; the transcription at the consulate is the process.
Who decides: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address.
The first record: Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate (acte de naissance), from A Haitian diplomatic mission (transcription of foreign birth records). File the foreign birth certificate for transcription at a Haitian embassy or consulate, then register the transcription with Haiti’s National Archives (ANH). ambassade-haiti.ca

How it’s filed

Where: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Fee: About $40
Decision: 1–6 months

What goes in the file (4)

Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate
Your parent’s valid Haitian passport
Your foreign birth certificate, apostilled and translated into French
A transcription request at a Haitian mission

What goes wrong (1)

$40 to transcribe a birth certificate, the same at the embassy and every Haitian consulate in the U.S. Pay by certified or cashier’s check to “Embassy of Haiti”; no cash or personal checks.

source ↗

Nationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment

Time: A few months to a year: your parent first resumes Haitian nationality lost before the 2012 amendment, then the birth is transcribed as usual.
Cost: About $300–700 across both steps.
The hard part: Documenting when your parent naturalised abroad, and that it happened before the 9 June 2012 amendment; missions handle resumption case by case, with no published checklist.
Who decides: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address.
The first record: Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate, and proof of the date they naturalised abroad, from A Haitian diplomatic mission. Bring the Haitian birth certificate and the foreign naturalisation certificate to a Haitian embassy or consulate to discuss resuming nationality. ambassade-haiti.ca

How it’s filed

Where: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Fee: About $40
Decision: 2–9 months

What goes in the file (4)

Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate
Proof of your parent’s naturalisation abroad and its date
Your foreign birth certificate, apostilled and translated
Your parent’s steps to resume Haitian nationality

What goes wrong (1)

The 2012 amendment repealed Article 13, which took Haitian nationality from anyone who naturalised abroad. Your parent resumes it at the mission with an ANH birth extract and a sworn statement of intent, and the mission prepares their passport application ($125). Once your parent holds that passport, your birth is transcribed for $40.

source ↗

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

Time: A few months once your parent’s own Haitian nationality, at your birth, is documented and transcribed.
Cost: About $300–600 across both generations.
The hard part: Showing your parent was Haitian, under Art. 11, at the time you were born — the same transcription process as a direct claim, one generation further back.
Who decides: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address.
The first record: Your grandparent’s Haitian birth certificate, from A Haitian diplomatic mission. File for transcription at a Haitian embassy or consulate with the grandparent’s Haitian birth certificate and the birth records linking each generation. ambassade-haiti.ca

How it’s filed

Where: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Fee: About $80
Decision: 2–9 months

What goes in the file (3)

Your grandparent’s Haitian birth certificate
Birth records linking each generation
Your foreign birth certificate, apostilled and translated

What goes wrong (1)

Article 11 passes nationality of origin from a parent born Haitian, so the mission registers one generation at a time: your parent’s foreign birth is transcribed first on your grandparent’s Haitian documents and your parent takes a Haitian passport ($125); then yours is transcribed on that passport. Two transcriptions at $40 each.

source ↗

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

birth
The commune’s bureau de l’état civil where the ancestor was born, or a Haitian diplomatic mission for transcription of a foreign birth
The foreign birth is transcribed at a Haitian embassy or consulate, then registered with Haiti’s National Archives (ANH).
Ask
In person, in French · request page ↗
Takes
4–17 weeks
Good to know (1)
- The mission issues the transcription act; it is then registered with the Archives Nationales d’Haïti (ANH), whose extract is the proof of citizenship the passport office asks for. Requests to the ANH from abroad go through the Foreign Ministry in Port-au-Prince, and the embassy follows up until the answer comes back.
source ↗

Translations

Into: French
Who may translate: Any certified translator
About: $20–$50 a page

The embassy registers a birth from the foreign birth certificate with a French translation. Haitian Creole is also an official language, but the mission asks for French.

source ↗

The passport

Where: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address, once the transcription is registered.
Fee: About $125
Time: 4–13 weeks

$125 for an adult passport (10 years) and $100 for a minor (5 years) at the embassy and every Haitian consulate in the U.S. Pay by certified or cashier’s check.
Bring the ANH birth extract (the new blue-and-red one), two IDs and two colour photos on white. Regular processing takes 30 days or more.

source ↗

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Haiti.

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

One residence program leads to Haiti without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

Income or savingsHaiti residence permit with employment or sponsor support
A non-Haitian may request a time-limited residence permit from Haiti’s Immigration and Emigration Directorate, supported by an employer or person guaranteeing the stay.

Every source on this page

1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

LawConstitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012) · Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
RecordsA Haitian diplomatic mission (transcription of foreign birth records): Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate (acte de naissance)
RecordsHow to file: Nationality of origin (Art. 11)
RecordsTranslations into French

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.

Ways to apply: Nationality of origin (Art. 11)
Dual citizenship: Kept, however you apply

Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.

On this page

01Who qualifies
02Dates that matter
03Through your mother
04Keeping your citizenship
05Ways to apply
06The documents
07What it takes
08Where the records live
09Law changes
10Other options
11Sources

Who qualifies, generation by generation

LIKELY

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a parent?

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

A child of a Haitian parent is Haitian by origin, wherever the child is born.

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

What changes the answer

POSSIBLE
If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was bornNationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment
If your parent naturalised elsewhere before 2012, the old constitution treated that as a loss of Haitian nationality — the 2012 amendment repealed the ban on dual nationality and opened the way to resuming it, but your parent’s own position needs to be resolved first.

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a grandparent?

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

Article 11 does not stop at one generation, so a grandchild of a Haitian national qualifies once the parent in between is shown to have been Haitian at your birth.

What would settle itWhether your parent’s Haitian nationality, at your own birth, can be documented and transcribed.

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth; a Haitian parent’s own status runs the same way. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

What changes the answer

UNLIKELY
If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born
If your grandparent naturalised elsewhere before 2012 and before your parent was born, your parent was not born of a Haitian national under the rule in force then, which stops citizenship reaching you unless your grandparent has since resumed Haitian nationality.

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

Article 11 does not stop at one generation, so a grandchild of a Haitian national qualifies once the parent in between is shown to have been Haitian at your birth.

What would settle itWhether your parent’s Haitian nationality, at your own birth, can be documented and transcribed.

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth; a Haitian parent’s own status runs the same way. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

What changes the answer

UNLIKELY
If someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born
If your grandparent naturalised elsewhere before 2012 and before your parent was born, your parent was not born of a Haitian national under the rule in force then, which stops citizenship reaching you unless your grandparent has since resumed Haitian nationality.

The dates that matter

2012
Nationality of origin runs to a person born of a Haitian parent; a parent who had lost Haitian nationality before the child’s birth under the pre-2012 rule was not, at that time, Haitian. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Haiti’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father. Where its reasons speak of mothers or fathers, they say:

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth; a Haitian parent’s own status runs the same way. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

Holding this citizenship alongside another is addressed by the law cited; check the current position before relying on it. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
The 1987 Constitution’s Art. 15 barred dual Haitian and foreign nationality; the 2012 amendment removed that article and replaced it with a dual-nationality regime, letting those who lost Haitian nationality by naturalising abroad seek to resume it. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth; a Haitian parent’s own status runs the same way. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

Open to you through a parent

LIKELY
Through a parent

The law

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

Nationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment

Open to you through a parent

POSSIBLE
Through a parent, if someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born

The law

The 1987 Constitution’s Art. 15 barred dual Haitian and foreign nationality; the 2012 amendment removed that article and replaced it with a dual-nationality regime, letting those who lost Haitian nationality by naturalising abroad seek to resume it. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

What would settle an unsure case

Whether your parent has resumed their Haitian nationality since 2012.

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

Open to you through a grandparent or a great-grandparent

POSSIBLE
Through a grandparent

The law

Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at birth; a Haitian parent’s own status runs the same way. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
Nationality of origin runs to a person born of a Haitian parent; a parent who had lost Haitian nationality before the child’s birth under the pre-2012 rule was not, at that time, Haitian. Constitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012), Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)

What would settle an unsure case

Whether your parent’s Haitian nationality, at your own birth, can be documented and transcribed.
Whether your grandparent has resumed Haitian nationality since 2012, and whether your parent can then be registered.

The documents, as the rule lists them

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

Through a parent

Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate
Your birth certificate, transcribed into the Haitian civil registry at a Haitian consulate

Nationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment

Through a parent, if someone in your family became a citizen of another country before the next person in your family was born

Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate
Your birth certificate
Proof of your parent’s steps to resume Haitian nationality

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

Through a grandparent or great-grandparent

Your grandparent’s Haitian birth certificate
Birth records linking each generation

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

Time: A few months to transcribe the birth into the Haitian civil registry and obtain a passport.
Cost: About $200–500: certified U.S. records, translation into French, and passport fees.
The hard part: None if your parent’s Haitian birth certificate (acte de naissance) is in hand; the transcription at the consulate is the process.
Who decides: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address.
The first record: Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate (acte de naissance), from A Haitian diplomatic mission (transcription of foreign birth records). File the foreign birth certificate for transcription at a Haitian embassy or consulate, then register the transcription with Haiti’s National Archives (ANH). ambassade-haiti.ca

How it’s filed

Where: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Fee: About $40
Decision: 1–6 months

What goes in the file (4)

Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate
Your parent’s valid Haitian passport
Your foreign birth certificate, apostilled and translated into French
A transcription request at a Haitian mission

What goes wrong (1)

$40 to transcribe a birth certificate, the same at the embassy and every Haitian consulate in the U.S. Pay by certified or cashier’s check to “Embassy of Haiti”; no cash or personal checks.

source ↗

Nationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment

Time: A few months to a year: your parent first resumes Haitian nationality lost before the 2012 amendment, then the birth is transcribed as usual.
Cost: About $300–700 across both steps.
The hard part: Documenting when your parent naturalised abroad, and that it happened before the 9 June 2012 amendment; missions handle resumption case by case, with no published checklist.
Who decides: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address.
The first record: Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate, and proof of the date they naturalised abroad, from A Haitian diplomatic mission. Bring the Haitian birth certificate and the foreign naturalisation certificate to a Haitian embassy or consulate to discuss resuming nationality. ambassade-haiti.ca

How it’s filed

Where: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Fee: About $40
Decision: 2–9 months

What goes in the file (4)

Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate
Proof of your parent’s naturalisation abroad and its date
Your foreign birth certificate, apostilled and translated
Your parent’s steps to resume Haitian nationality

What goes wrong (1)

The 2012 amendment repealed Article 13, which took Haitian nationality from anyone who naturalised abroad. Your parent resumes it at the mission with an ANH birth extract and a sworn statement of intent, and the mission prepares their passport application ($125). Once your parent holds that passport, your birth is transcribed for $40.

source ↗

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

Time: A few months once your parent’s own Haitian nationality, at your birth, is documented and transcribed.
Cost: About $300–600 across both generations.
The hard part: Showing your parent was Haitian, under Art. 11, at the time you were born — the same transcription process as a direct claim, one generation further back.
Who decides: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address.
The first record: Your grandparent’s Haitian birth certificate, from A Haitian diplomatic mission. File for transcription at a Haitian embassy or consulate with the grandparent’s Haitian birth certificate and the birth records linking each generation. ambassade-haiti.ca

How it’s filed

Where: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Fee: About $80
Decision: 2–9 months

What goes in the file (3)

Your grandparent’s Haitian birth certificate
Birth records linking each generation
Your foreign birth certificate, apostilled and translated

What goes wrong (1)

Article 11 passes nationality of origin from a parent born Haitian, so the mission registers one generation at a time: your parent’s foreign birth is transcribed first on your grandparent’s Haitian documents and your parent takes a Haitian passport ($125); then yours is transcribed on that passport. Two transcriptions at $40 each.

source ↗

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

birth
The commune’s bureau de l’état civil where the ancestor was born, or a Haitian diplomatic mission for transcription of a foreign birth
The foreign birth is transcribed at a Haitian embassy or consulate, then registered with Haiti’s National Archives (ANH).
Ask
In person, in French · request page ↗
Takes
4–17 weeks
Good to know (1)
- The mission issues the transcription act; it is then registered with the Archives Nationales d’Haïti (ANH), whose extract is the proof of citizenship the passport office asks for. Requests to the ANH from abroad go through the Foreign Ministry in Port-au-Prince, and the embassy follows up until the answer comes back.
source ↗

Translations

Into: French
Who may translate: Any certified translator
About: $20–$50 a page

The embassy registers a birth from the foreign birth certificate with a French translation. Haitian Creole is also an official language, but the mission asks for French.

source ↗

The passport

Where: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address, once the transcription is registered.
Fee: About $125
Time: 4–13 weeks

$125 for an adult passport (10 years) and $100 for a minor (5 years) at the embassy and every Haitian consulate in the U.S. Pay by certified or cashier’s check.
Bring the ANH birth extract (the new blue-and-red one), two IDs and two colour photos on white. Regular processing takes 30 days or more.

source ↗

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Haiti.

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

One residence program leads to Haiti without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

Income or savingsHaiti residence permit with employment or sponsor support
A non-Haitian may request a time-limited residence permit from Haiti’s Immigration and Emigration Directorate, supported by an employer or person guaranteeing the stay.

Every source on this page

1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

LawConstitution of Haiti, 1987 (as amended 2012) · Art. 11 (nationality of origin) and Art. 12 (dual nationality, replacing the former Art. 15 ban)
RecordsA Haitian diplomatic mission (transcription of foreign birth records): Your parent’s Haitian birth certificate (acte de naissance)
RecordsHow to file: Nationality of origin (Art. 11)
RecordsTranslations into French

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.

Who qualifies, generation by generation

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a parent?

What changes the answer

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a grandparent?

What changes the answer

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

What changes the answer

The dates that matter

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Dual citizenship with your home country

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The law

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The documents, as the rule lists them

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

Nationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

How it’s filed

Nationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment

How it’s filed

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

How it’s filed

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

Translations

The passport

Recent and pending changes

If descent doesn’t reach you

Every source on this page

Check your family for Haiti.

Who qualifies, generation by generation

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a parent?

What changes the answer

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a grandparent?

What changes the answer

Can you claim Haitian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

What changes the answer

The dates that matter

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Dual citizenship with your home country

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The law

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The documents, as the rule lists them

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

Nationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

How it’s filed

Nationality of origin, after resuming under the 2012 amendment

How it’s filed

Nationality of origin, generation by generation

How it’s filed

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

Translations

The passport

Recent and pending changes

If descent doesn’t reach you

Every source on this page

Check your family for Haiti.