Canadian Family Planning a move to the DR

Hello Everyone, I am new to this Forum although I have been reading posts for almost two years while researching our move. Who are we? We are a Canadian family of 3.5 (baby number two on the way). I have traveled all through central america and many parts of the Caribbean. I lived for a year on a sailboat as a teenager with my parents, sailing through all of Mexico and Central America. It was there that I gained a love for all things Latin. Later in my early twenties I lived in Haiti for 2 years as a volunteer. That experience forever changed my life. I speak English first, then French (all of my High school years were in French) and Haitian Creole and Spanish fluently. I have a background in Construction and Civil Engineering/Land Development. My beautiful wife who is Latina and from El Salvador spent her childhood in El Salvador and then moved to Canada with her family. She speaks English and Spanish fluently and bits and pieces of any language she ever had a chance to study either in University or elsewhere. My wife is a Social Worker. We both love different cultures and love to travel and have quite a bit since we got married. After our first son was born we moved to Belize to work with a volunteer organization there. We chose to speak only Spanish with him since he was born, he'll learn English later. He is two and I'm pretty sure he considers himself to be Latino even though he's as white as I am. We now have another boy on the way and plan on making the break from our cold Canadian winters once life has returned to as normal as it can be with a baby and a toddler. Probably when baby number two is about 4 months. We have decided to give the DR a shot for at least eight months... or longer...

Here's what we're are thinking, Renting in Puerto Plata or thereabouts for the first while while we get ourselves settled in. We're not stuck on there specifically and sometimes feel that we would prefer a smaller city. But who knows. We would like to volunteer with some existing humanitarian organizations to see what some of the local difficulties and needs might be and then from there if the DR is a fit for us we would like to start our own humanitarian effort working with the people there. Dominican and Haitian alike.

We look forward to meeting many of you in the near future.

MJP35

Thanks for all of the response so far. My wife has been to the DR with her family and they went all over. Her aunt is married to a Dominican that lives in Higuey? I think it is. I might be wrong about where he lives. When in Samana her impressions were that she thought it was beautiful but very underdeveloped. I dont know if she actually got to Las Terrenas. I have only been to Quanaminthe/Dajabon, so my knowledge of the DR is so far limited. Judging from the back and forth between LTSteve and Africaida it sounds like LT is touristy but not to the extent of Puerto Plata and area. This might not be a bad thing because I don't know that we want to be the only expats where we settle in. I think without having actually lived in the DR we are safe not to decide where for now. The reason behind picking Puerto Plata for a start (first couple of months) was because we would like to be near the ocean away from the capital and Punta Cana area but still somewhere that we could use as a base to explore. My question is and maybe this could be for those who also have small children. How easy is it to travel the north coast with a family in tow? How long from say Puerto Plata to Nagua? Nagua to Las Terrenas? We've done some marathon trips in Central America with our first son so I'm talking more travel time, road conditions preferred modes of transportation etc. Also not having residency proposes some issues with getting a Drivers licence, would it be completely crazy to buy a car and hire a driver? Or do I have better options? My thinking is that the cost of buses and taxis would quickly add up for a family of four who plans on travelling the north coast (and everywhere else) quite a bit. Thoughts?

Also, @Luperon I didn't know having a trust fund was prerequisite to living in the DR. How's yours doing? We will have $2500 monthly income while there and a decent amount of savings.

Not looking to work. LT seems a bit far so not our first choice, as I said we are going to test the waters and visit many areas before settling on one. I have years of volunteer experience in places worse off the the DR (Haiti... enough said), as does my wife who is a Social Worker and understands first hand how difficult humanitarian work can be. People who choose that line of work don't do it because its easy.

I started another post looking for advice on what to bring for our small family (especially the two kids), it was suggested that I close it to avoid confusion. I have included my post:

"Hello all, just looking for some advice from young families already living in the DR on what to bring with us when we move there later this year. We will have a 2.5 year old and a baby and with us. We will be in the Puerto Plata area to start and then may move as we get to know the country better. Past experience living in other Latin American countries has shown us that you can get anything you need as long as you are willing to pay the price. Should we bring nothing and buy there? Can we expect reasonable prices or should we budget for prices higher than in Canada? Also where are good places to find baby items, i.e. cribs, clothes, toys?"

@ Lobo Tropical, no indecision, it’s just that from experience we've learned that every country has its own idiosyncrasies and are trying to plan carefully before we come. Nothing more than prudence.

Thanks,

MJP35

Thoughts on Thomasj's post. Checked the DR embassy of Canada website and it says. Tourist card for 60 days plus one time renewal for another 60. After that what? Should I do as suggested and get visa prior to coming? Problems with this are the requirements. I don't fit into any of these:

1. Indication of the ties to the country, which can be any of the following:
   1. Dominican by birth or son/daughter of a Dominican citizen
   2. Married to a Dominican or a legal permanent resident of the Dominican Republic
   3. Have a work contract, legalized by the Ministry of Labor of the Dominican Republic.
   4. Retiree (must prove with appropriate documentation)
   5. Entrepreneur or investor

MJP35