That sounds ridiculous. I got mine without paying anything. I got a friend who spoke Creole to go with me to the department in charge of it, filled out a form and got it within an hour
I ended up doing it myself in person while I was on vacation there. It took only 10 minutes and it was entirely free. Watch out for some lawyers, they are crooks and take advantage of the situation. "Never helped better than by yourself !' Very easy process.