Newcomer - Buying in Las Galeras - Very Excited

Welcome from a fellow NYer who never got mugged, nor broken into

Frequent visitor to LT, but was in LG in January, a little too quiet for me, but stunning.

Good luck !

Welcome to DR1.

Great decision! And you know, there are always (jealous) people who know better. Enjoy Samana and Las Galeras.

Keep us posted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a lot of popcorn waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Please do not make the same mestake I did. You have to stay in the contry for at least six months to apply for a residency. The over stay fine is
going to be a thing of the past. This is going to not work anymore do not put your money some where that you can not stay .
A house in the DR and you can only stay 30 is a huge wast of money.

welcome to the Isle.
great location, beautiful. if you buy a stand alone house, you need someone living there while you are away.
as for the residency stuff, in case needed, get the detailed up to date info from the DR Embassy in your country, you need to start the process there.

have fun

Mike

Be aware that you must stay at least 6 months to be a resident. Be aware of what is coming befor you make a big mistake.

Boowow said:

Hello All,

We are buying a small house in Las Galeras - I know we will have a bunch of folks saying we made a mistake.

We have done our research - will rent the house when we can - don't expect to make income as much hold our own and it will pay for upkeep.

LG is for us, never been more than once to most vacation spots - but Las Galeras keeps coming back.

Love just the beach and NOTHING ELSE.

Safety is a concern - but we are from NYC - we get it - been mugged and had our apartment broken into!!!

If I could I would pack it in and move today (wind chill -10F)

I know we have a lot to learn - I have been reading all I can and in no way expect it to be easy.

I'm excited and nervous and appreciate all the help and input I can get.

Boowow

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Welcome to the DR!

yacht chef said:

Please do not make the same mestake I did. You have to stay in the contry for at least six months to apply for a residency. The over stay fine is
going to be a thing of the past. This is going to not work anymore do not put your money some where that you can not stay .
A house in the DR and you can only stay 30 is a huge wast of money.

Click to expand...

What is the latest with overstaying or not overstaying 30 days? What are they doing if you stay over the 30 days now ? Is their any differences if you are married to a dominican, your child was born in the dominican or your mother is dominican ?

If you leave and come back how long do you have to be gone? If you made a trip to Haiti, Puerto Rico or Cuba. Could you do 30 days then a short trip in one of those places then another 30 days?

If the 30 days is strictly enforced I think it would hurt them financially.

Welcome and good luck. The DR can be a really great place to live and play.

Do not minimize the financial risk of property ownership without having the legal ability to reside here. You could find yourself in a situation where you not permitted full access to that which you own.

The LAST thing anyone coming to the DR to live is about being thrown out of the Country for Immigration issues. Will never happen.

Sky,

This exact thing happens everyday and every country in the world. Those who go to Belize, Panama, Canada, the US, Australia, Bermuda etc to live and fail to meet or complete the requirements for residency are shown the door. It is only reasonable to accept that someday the same will be true for the DR. Legal residents will not be impacted by these changes. Those who are not legal will continue to wonder when their number will come up.

Cdn_Gringo said:

Sky,

This exact thing happens everyday and every country in the world. Those who go to Belize, Panama, Canada, the US, Australia, Bermuda etc to live and fail to meet or complete the requirements for residency are shown the door. It is only reasonable to accept that someday the same will be true for the DR. Legal residents will not be impacted by these changes. Those who are not legal will continue to wonder when their number will come up.

Click to expand...

And that number tends to come up pretty fast if somebody drops a dime on you.

Casual visiting is allowed under the country's guidelines

but living there more than the allotted 'visiting' time will draw penalties...

same all over the world..........

basically, you become a squatter.... or poacher... depending on the viewpoint
illegal on both counts

to own a property/house you do not necessarily need a full residency. the new Immigrations rules contain different kidns of Visa for different needs. again, contact the next DR Embassy in your country, tell them what you have in mind, so they tell you the requirements to go that way. not any different from other countries. investors/property owners, pensioners, snowbirds etc etc are welcome in the DR and will also be welcome in the future. the only ones who get their doors closed are the illegals who do not bother to invest a dime nor minute to get their papers in orden since many years/decades. again, not any different to the norms at other countries. sure you can keep a low profile and hide from the authorities, avoid to get a drivers license or medic insurance etc etc etc, some will come thru by that for decades, til the last breath, others will find themself sooner or later in a situation where they get "accidentally" checked or involved in a accident/assault/medical issue etc and then they are on their way to the home-wonderland which sure will welome them with a house and car and a full fridge and many warm hugs.
for the ones who are used to hide from authorities, most likely they did the same back home for their reasons also, thats fine, it is your decision to take your chances and live that way.
but those squatters are the minority, the exception from the rules.
very most foreigners simply check the requirements before they move to a foreign country and comply with the laws, the same as very mostpeople back home in their countries do.

Mike

Mike, what are you talking about! There are no visa's for different needs. Snowberds long term vachens and people who want to come and go are
Fuucked. You and said this your self. I hope the op see's this befor thy make a big mistake.

Yacht man....

you're boat is leaking

read and re-read our posts.... visitors can do as they please re ownership etc.....
BUT BUT
if you decide to move here - permanently, too long.... you need to man up for the papers

tourists and visitors are safe

interlopers are not

I repeat-
Casual visiting is allowed under the country's guidelines

but living there more than the allotted 'visiting' time will draw penalties...

same all over the world..........

basically, you become a squatter.... or poacher... depending on the viewpoint
illegal on both counts

Everyone has different situations. In my situation I am able to stay over a month but not planning on living in the DR anytime soon if ever. I don't have a problem following the rules but what is the rule if I am able to stay over a month but not going to live there. I can stay between one and two months normally and on a rare occasion three months.

you have no issues..... just a visitor who may/may not own a car or property

neither is of any consequence....

just what the country likes......