Is it actually a bad thing to acquire dominican citizenship?

snoopy15 · Jul 18, 2015

I know after years of living here I should be entitled to dominican citizenship. But in a legal point of view, are you actually better off without having it?

I am a british citizen and I remember reading somewhere online where it says that if you get in a problem with the law here (get arrested or whatever, I never being in a problem with the law, thank god), the british embassy wouldn't interfere in it because I am a dominican citizen and I will have to deal with it myself.

Should I get the dominican citizenship or not?

HUG · Jul 18, 2015

snoopy15 said:
I know after years of living here I should be entitled to dominican citizenship. But in a legal point of view, are you actually better off without having it?

I am a british citizen and I remember reading somewhere online where it says that if you get in a problem with the law here (get arrested or whatever, I never being in a problem with the law, thank god), the british embassy wouldn't interfere in it because I am a dominican citizen and I will have to deal with it myself.

Should I get the dominican citizenship or not?

The British Embassy would not interfere whether you're a British citizen or not. If you get into strife with the law then you are dealing with it yourself. Don't think being British abroad holds you any weight or benefits you when need help, it doesn't.

xstew · Jul 18, 2015

HUG said:
The British Embassy would not interfere whether you're a British citizen or not. If you get into strife with the law then you are dealing with it yourself. Don't think being British abroad holds you any weight or benefits you when need help, it doesn't.

Sorry to say you are wrong on the British part. American yes the American embassy will turn you over to any Government for even the smallest car accident. Being an expat for all of my working life all the U.S. expats would go to the British embassy for help. The British ambassador would stand in the door and say you will take this man over my dead body !Sorry to say that's the way it used to work maybe things have changed for the worse. Can anyone get verification on this over time things change.

airgordo · Jul 18, 2015

xstew said:
Sorry to say you are wrong on the British part. American yes the American embassy will turn you over to any Government for even the smallest car accident. Being an expat for all of my working life all the U.S. expats would go to the British embassy for help. The British ambassador would stand in the door and say you will take this man over my dead body !Sorry to say that's the way it used to work maybe things have changed for the worse. Can anyone get verification on this over time things change.

Does that Include murderess, drug dealers and pedophiles as well?...

xstew · Jul 18, 2015

airgordo said:
Does that Include murderess, drug dealers and pedophiles as well?...

No that is for honest people that fall into problems not of their own making. You must be joking or are of little mind and less importance to the world !

bob saunders · Jul 18, 2015

The advantages of acquiring Dominican citizenship depend on your personal circumstances. The passport isn't of any particular value, but the tax regime is better than many countries. The DR doesn't tax foreign pensions and as a Dominican citizen supposedly your banking information is secure. If you own property/business interests here then being a citizen makes a number of things easier including inheritance. The best thing is you don't have to renew residency, thus saving money and vast amounts of time.

Meemselle · Jul 18, 2015

You need to find out if you can hold dual citizenship. I know Americans can hold dual citizenship under certain circumstances:

Although the U.S. government does not endorse dual citizenship as a matter of policy, it recognizes the existence of dual citizenship and completely tolerates the maintenance of multiple citizenship by U.S. citizens. In the past, claims of other countries on dual-national U.S. citizens sometimes placed them in situations where their obligations to one country were in conflict with the laws of the other. However, as fewer countries require military service and most base other obligations (such as the payment of taxes) on residence and not citizenship, these conflicts have become less frequent.

I don't know about you Brits and I'm not looking it up for you.

LTSteve · Jul 18, 2015

snoopy15 said:
I know after years of living here I should be entitled to dominican citizenship. But in a legal point of view, are you actually better off without having it?

I am a british citizen and I remember reading somewhere online where it says that if you get in a problem with the law here (get arrested or whatever, I never being in a problem with the law, thank god), the british embassy wouldn't interfere in it because I am a dominican citizen and I will have to deal with it myself.

Should I get the dominican citizenship or not?

Are you giving up any benefits from Britian? If you travel, at all, I would rather have a British Passport. As an ex-pat as long as you have residency I don't think having a DR passport is of much benefit. Can you hold dual citizenship? I wouldn't bother.

Black Dog · Jul 18, 2015

snoopy15 said:
I know after years of living here I should be entitled to dominican citizenship. But in a legal point of view, are you actually better off without having it?

I am a british citizen and I remember reading somewhere online where it says that if you get in a problem with the law here (get arrested or whatever, I never being in a problem with the law, thank god), the british embassy wouldn't interfere in it because I am a dominican citizen and I will have to deal with it myself.

Should I get the dominican citizenship or not?

This IS correct and when Ian Worthington was the British Ambassador here he explained this in a meeting he held for British ex-pats. I was there and heard it first hand from him!

bob saunders · Jul 18, 2015

LTSteve said:
Are you giving up any benefits from Britian? If you travel, at all, I would rather have a British Passport. As an ex-pat as long as you have residency I don't think having a DR passport is of much benefit. Can you hold dual citizenship? I wouldn't bother.

Only a couple of countries require you giving up current citizenship to acquire another one. Britain is not one of them. The main benefits are financial as - no more costly residency renewal, and time, no more running around getting paperwork and waiting for government officials. Even once you have your DR citizenship there is no more of that crap. There is no requirement once you have DR citizenship to use a Dominican Passport.

Black Dog · Jul 18, 2015

Correct, you don't give up your British citizenship but the British government (the embassey) will not get involved in any problems or disputes you have in a country where you hold citizenship.

Matilda · Jul 18, 2015

If you hold dual citizenship, in this case DR and British, then when you are in the DR you are considered to be Dominican, and when in the UK you are British. In addition, if you travel you will be treated as a citizen of the country you are nearest to. For example if you go to Haiti you will be considered Dominican.

When it comes to embassy assistance, the above answers are all correct. When you are in the DR the British embassy will not help you. To help with your decision, you should know exactly what help the embassy gives you at the moment. If there is a major incident such as massive earthquake or war for example, they will help British citizens. However, should you be arrested the embassy does not interfere in the judicial process of the country, so would not get you out of jail. They will visit you periodically and provide you with a list of english speaking lawyers. I would think you have a better chance getting out of jail as a Dominican.

All of the other benefits of citizenship have been detailed already apart from the fact that you can vote, you can hold political office (apart from President and vice president). Also in the event of your death, you will not have to have an autopsy as a Dominican - foreign residents do.

Matilda

snoopy15 · Jul 18, 2015

Thanks everybody.

Do any of you know if you can be resident and hold a Dominican cedula? Or for you to have a dominican cedula you must be a citizen?

Matilda if you were me, what would you do, would you acquire the dominican citizenship or just forget about it?

For the time I have been here I never got any assistance from the british embassy and as now if I was to get into a legal problem (let's say I got arrested), I would probably just reach my dominican contacts (I am pretty fluent in spanish and I am a popular guy here), I wonder if I am probably better off just getting the dominican citizenship.

Also, if I go to Colombia, will I be treated as dominican instead of british because Colombia is closer to DR than England is?

Matilda · Jul 18, 2015

I am acquiring citizenship as I live here, married to a Dominican, and no intention of living anywhere else. The financial reasons alone are well worth it given the high cost of residency and the hassle of renewing it. Plus being able to vote and not being chopped up when dead. I cannot see any good reason not to go for it. I assume if you go to Columbia they would treat you as Dominican - assuming you tell them that you have dual citizenship.

Matilda

Black Dog · Jul 18, 2015

If you are not married to a Dominican don't you have to have residency for a period of time before you can apply for citizenship? It sounds as though the OP doesn't.

Luperon · Jul 18, 2015

Matilda said:
I am acquiring citizenship as I live here, married to a Dominican, and no intention of living anywhere else. The financial reasons alone are well worth it given the high cost of residency and the hassle of renewing it. Plus being able to vote and not being chopped up when dead. I cannot see any good reason not to go for it. I assume if you go to Columbia they would treat you as Dominican - assuming you tell them that you have dual citizenship.

Matilda

If you tell them

Matilda · Jul 18, 2015

Black Dog said:
If you are not married to a Dominican don't you have to have residency for a period of time before you can apply for citizenship? It sounds as though the OP doesn't.

You need to have residency married or not now - although is only 6 months if you are married to a Dominican.

Matilda

irishpaddy · Jul 18, 2015

then that would also include most of the british royal family

airgordo said:
Does that Include murderess, drug dealers and pedophiles as well?...

KateP · Jul 20, 2015

snoopy15 said:
Thanks everybody.

Do any of you know if you can be resident and hold a Dominican cedula? Or for you to have a dominican cedula you must be a citizen?

When you get your residency (temporary or permanent), you get a cedula that states your nationality and on the back it says NO VOTA.

HUG · Jul 20, 2015

xstew said:
Sorry to say you are wrong on the British part. American yes the American embassy will turn you over to any Government for even the smallest car accident. Being an expat for all of my working life all the U.S. expats would go to the British embassy for help. The British ambassador would stand in the door and say you will take this man over my dead body !Sorry to say that's the way it used to work maybe things have changed for the worse. Can anyone get verification on this over time things change.

Yes, things were different years ago, and things have changed for the worse.
I would rather you say 'I THINK you are wrong on the British part', because you in your thought are indeed very wrong.
There are lots of Brits trapped in situations all over the workd right now and the British Embassy can do squat.
Can someone verify if this has changed over time, you ask? I just have, I am a British Citizen, I have lived all over the world and I have found myself in situations I'd expect them to intervene, yet couldn't. No, being British used to stand for something.

So before you go dismissing first hand experiences, even over recent years in DR, you'd better get your facts right, or you might end up looking like a plonker! oops, too late:cheeky:

Nothing more annoying than someone quite confidently dishing out misinformation, then asking for anyone who knows, lol.

Is it actually a bad thing to acquire dominican citizenship?

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