U.S. Embassy in Haiti

The Department of State assists U.S. citizens imprisoned overseas and works to ensure their fair and humane treatment.

The Department of State helps the family and friends of U.S. citizens who die abroad. We inform the U.S. citizen’s next-of-kin of the death and we provide information on arrangements for local burial or the return of remains to the United States and on disposition of estates and personal effects. We also issue a Consular Report of Death Abroad, an official record of death.

The Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues works to resolve and prevent cases of international parental child abduction and to help children and families involved in abduction cases. For more information, see our international parental child abduction page on travel.state.gov.

The Department of State helps U.S. citizens who are victims of crime overseas. We connect crime victims with police and other services and provide information and resources to assist with physical, emotional, and/or financial injuries from crime.

The disposition of Remains in Haiti is defined by the local authorities (Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Health, Justice of the Peace, Commissaire du Gouvernement), the family members (next of kin) and the funeral homes. The HUEH (Hôpital de l’Université d’Etat d’Haïti) contains a morgue with limited refrigerated capacity. However, the remains of loved ones are rarely left at the HUEH morgue and are most of the time transferred to the refrigerated morgues of funeral homes responsible for burial and/or shipment of the remains.

The United States Government has no higher responsibility than to serve and protect its citizens, including those who reside or are temporarily abroad. The American Citizen Services (ACS) Unit provides prompt, courteous, and efficient services to United States Citizens and other clients, consistent with U.S. laws and regulations.

The United States is a party to the Hague Adoption Convention, an international treaty which seeks to ensure that intercountry adoptions are made in the best interests of the child and that safeguards are in place for their protection. All adoptions in another country must take place according to both U.S. and local laws for the adopted child to be eligible to immigrate to the United States. You should work with a U.S. adoption service provider specifically authorized to facilitate intercountry adoption. You can find more information about authorized adoption service providers and the intercountry adoption process at travel.state.gov and are invited to direct questions to Adoption@state.gov.

If you have a child outside the United States the child may have acquired U.S. citizenship at birth if the requirements under the Immigration and Nationality Act have been met as of the time of your child’s birth. To determine whether your child acquired U.S. citizenship at birth and to document that, you can apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) for your child. You may also choose to just apply for a U.S. passport for your child, although one benefit of a CRBA is that, unlike the U.S. passport, it does not expire and may be used as proof of acquisition of U.S. citizenship at birth. A full validity, unexpired U.S. passport is also proof of U.S. citizenship.

On January 3, 2011, the Department of State began issuing a new Consular Report of Birth Abroad (FS-240). You may request multiple copies of this document at any time. As of December 31, 2010 the Certificate of Report of Birth (DS-1350) is no longer issued. All previously issued FS-240 and DS-1350 documents are still valid for proof of identity, citizenship and other legal purposes.

American citizens who wish to be married in Haiti should first pay a visit to the Civil Registrar where they wish to get married. The Civil Registrar will request proof of identity and a list of potential witnesses. A mandated blood test and four-to-five day waiting period is often waived for American citizens but may be required by the Civil Registrar.