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 the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line 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 the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line 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 the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born: unlikely.

Through a parentNationality of origin (Art. 11)Through a grandparentNationality of origin, generation by generation Through a great-grandparentNationality of origin, generation by generation

Routes: Nationality of origin (Art. 11)
Dual citizenship: Kept on every open route

The stamps assume no one in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born. What changes each answer is below.

On this page

01Who qualifies
02Dates that matter
03Mothers’ lines
04Keeping your citizenship
05The routes and the law
06The documents
07What it takes
08Where the records live
09Law changes
10Other doors
11Sources

01Who qualifies

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 the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line 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 door 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 the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line 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 breaks the chain to 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 the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line 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 breaks the chain to you unless your grandparent has since resumed Haitian nationality.

02Dates that matter

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)

03Mothers’ lines

How mothers’ lines were treated

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)

04Keeping your citizenship

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)

05The routes

Every route, and the law behind it

Nationality of origin (Art. 11)

Open 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 through a parent

POSSIBLE
Through a parent, if someone in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line 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 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.

06The documents

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 the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line 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 no one in the line became a citizen elsewhere before the next birth: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter that none exists.

07What it takes

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: Not confirmed: no official fee was found
Decision: 1–6 months

What goes in the file (3)

Your parent's Haitian birth certificate
Your foreign birth certificate, apostilled and translated
A transcription request at a Haitian mission

What goes wrong (1)

Unverified: a published fee schedule for transcription of a foreign-born child's birth.

Checked 26 September 2026 · 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: Not confirmed: no official fee was found
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)

Unverified: a standard process or published fee for resuming Haitian nationality lost before the 2012 amendment; missions handle these case by case.

Checked 26 September 2026 · 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: Not confirmed: no official fee was found
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)

Unverified: a standard process for a two-generation nationality-of-origin case; missions handle these case by case.

Checked 26 September 2026 · source ↗

Estimates are honest ranges from official fee tables and what families report; where a fee or time could not be confirmed, it says so.

08Where the records live

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)
- Unverified: a standard turnaround for transcription; the mission processes on request without a published service-level time.
Checked 26 September 2026 · source ↗

Translations

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

U.S. records are apostilled and translated into French for the Haitian mission; Haitian Creole is also an official language, but French is what missions ask for in practice.

Checked 26 September 2026 · source ↗

The passport

Where: A Haitian embassy or consulate for your address, once the transcription is registered.
Fee: Not confirmed
Time: 4–13 weeks

Unverified: current passport fee and turnaround for a first application filed abroad.

Checked 26 September 2026 · source ↗

09Law changes

Recent and pending changes

The legislative watch has no pending bill or recent ruling recorded for Haiti.

The watch re-reads the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person re-checks the rule before anything here moves.

10Other doors

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.

11Sources

Every source on this page

1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing. Records and filing checked 26 September 2026.

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) · checked 26 September 2026
RecordsTranslations into French · checked 26 September 2026

Not legal advice. Postern’s rulebook is written from the statutes and tested against documented cases; where the law is unsettled, the answer says “possible” or “unsure” 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

How mothers’ lines were treated

Dual citizenship with your home country

Every route, 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.