renewal of residencia through office in Puerto Plata

BelgianMik

Active member
Jul 9, 2015
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I tried to renew my residencia online and had to chose a migration office and saw in that list the office of Puerto Plata.  So I called the office to ask this and it is a new thing. You can send all the papers online and chose the office in Puerto Plata.  When they check it, they call you and you can bring the original papers to the office in Puerto Plata.  They check it again and send it to Santo Domingo. And you get a code here in Puerto Plata and with that code you can go and get your residencia right away in Santo Domingo without a hassle. That way you know all the papers are ok and already there. You just have to pick up you residencia. 
 
Feb 7, 2007
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There is no advantage in this, because the check is already done when you submit the paperwork online. You still have to go to SD to get your residency card. Going via a local office is just one another unnecessary step and additional delay in renewal for you. I would opt to just go directly to SD once you get online approval.
 
Feb 7, 2007
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But in any case if you decide to do it via a local office, be sure to post your experience and all time information it took for each step, as well as how long it took to go through the process in SD after you got that code. Thanks.
 

BelgianMik

Active member
Jul 9, 2015
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There is no advantage in this, because the check is already done when you submit the paperwork online. You still have to go to SD to get your residency card. Going via a local office is just one another unnecessary step and additional delay in renewal for you. I would opt to just go directly to SD once you get online approval.

A friend of mine had his residencia renewed 2 months ago (when it was the normal way: online and afterwards to Santo Domingo). He send everything online, it was approved and he got a confirmation that he could come to Santo Domingo with the original papers. 
.....when he went to immigration in Santo Domingo, they accepted his papers and said that he could come back in 2 days, because they where too busy and didn't have time to check the papers immediately. .....  
If you do it through the office in pop, you would avoid at least this. 
But I will let you guys know how it went.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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do it, tiger, and let us know how it went.

i gotta say that the migracion rules seem to change more frequently than a teen girl's super size tampax. i cannot count how many small adjustments we have seen between october - when i did my residency - and now. a bit confusing.
 

cavok

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Jun 16, 2014
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Supposedly, the papers are checked and you don't receive the approval confirmation until they are. When I renewed my temporary 3 months ago, the first step of "checking the papers" at DGM just seemed to involve the gal making sure you had the papers and marking off a "checklist" - passport, copy of cedula, copy of residency, fotos, original insurance policy, etc.

I was number 13, but they skipped over a couple people because they didn't pay for VIP and I was at the payment window about 25 minutes later. If you don't pay for VIP you're not guaranteed to get your residency card that day.

The big bottleneck when I was there was for the digital foto and fingerprints. Only one person doing that and it took about 5 minutes each, so they can only process maybe a dozen in an hour. Then it took ridiculously long for them to print out the residency card. Total time about 3 hours.

Not sure how this will speed things up much, but I hope it works out and would recommend you bring a copy of all papers with you just in case they get "lost in the mail".

I'd feel a whole lot better about it if they were actually issuing the residency and cedula right there in Pto. Plata. Maybe some day(?). There are way too many residents here in the DR now for them to try to continue doing it all in Sto. Dom.
 
Feb 7, 2007
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I did my 4th renewal exactly 2 months ago and it was exactly as Cavok said. For me it took about 75 minutes from depositing/checking papers till payment (but I got in at 11 am) and was out by 3 pm. So 4 hours total, and I still made it to Junta to get the cedula the same afternoon.
 

visitante

Member
Jun 5, 2010
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I see no mention above about the medical exam. I need to renew my permanent residency next month (last one done 4 years ago). Is there no longer a medical required that has to be done in SD, which generally meant you need at least two trips to SD?
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
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I see no mention above about the medical exam. I need to renew my permanent residency next month (last one done 4 years ago). Is there no longer a medical required that has to be done in SD, which generally meant you need at least two trips to SD?

Yes you still need medical for permanent residency renewal.

And still the only place to do that is Santo Domingo at one and only one location?

Permanent Residency in the DR : def: Where permanent is not permanent, but must be renewed.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
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Is the medical exam still only possible in Santo Domingo? That would mean there would still be at least two trips to be made to Santo Domingo.
 

BelgianMik

Active member
Jul 9, 2015
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Is the medical exam still only possible in Santo Domingo? That would mean there would still be at least two trips to be made to Santo Domingo.
No, you can now do the medical exam here in Puerto Plata, I just asked them. (when you step in to their office you also see a paper hanging that they do the renewals and also medical exams)

So I applied for my renewal last week Tuesday. Yesterday I got confirmation that I could deposit the papers here in Pop. I did that this morning.
Now I have to wait untill they call me (they said it will probably be Friday or next Monday) and when I get the call, I have to go to the office here and pay the 5000 pesos and then I can go to Santo Domingo. I will keep you guys informed when I went to Santo Domingo.
 

BelgianMik

Active member
Jul 9, 2015
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Where do they have the medical exam done in Puerto Plata?

I didn't ask them where, they only told me you can do it here in Pop now, that they have their lab here (I didn't have to do it now).
The migracion office is at calle Beller, their Phone number is 809-261-1618. They will tell you. They are very quick to answer the Phone, not like in Santo Domingo
 

DR Solar

Bronze
Nov 21, 2016
1,626
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Latest experience. Finished yesterday. What a royal pain. Had our atty. fill out and do all the paperwork. Had 3 passport photos of front and side each. Got an appointment date and went to S.D. to deposit papers. Needed our passports too. They kept our Res. cards. Got appointments for medical. ONE right next door and another for my wife across town? WTF? We had medicals our last renewals but had to do them again this time too.

Wait 2 weeks and get another appointment date and show up at 7:30AM; doors open at 8. Atty. talked to someone and gave more papers. Wait for them to check and then pay cashier and get number. Go thru security for photo. Wait to be called to get card. Should have taken 2 hours at most being first few people inside and figured we go get Cudula right after and do home.

NOPE.... our files got lost and after 3.5 hours we started making a big fuss and calling people with connections. Took another hour (?) to find our files sitting on an empty desk. Manager did them in 2 minutes; took us to front of the line of cashier, pushed the security people aside and got photos with instructions... "Print NOW!" We went out front and she shows up to the pickup window and we are called straight to the window to sign and get. It only took 5 hours and everyone that came in with us long gone.

Waited till the next morning, costing another nights stay, to get our Cedulas in about 15 minutes. So sit around the bus station for 3 hours waiting for the POP bus.

Such fun can only be shared. Being legal residence for over 20 years ya think that we would know that if they can find a way to screw you up.... they will certainly do so.

Of course... the rules will change before I finish writing this.

Good Luck. lol
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
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DR Solar, and you were in Santo Domingo!!. I do hate that place. It seems like with much of the work to renew residency now possible in Puerto Plata, that it will be easier than it has been by only being able to do things in Santo Domingo.

I don't want to go through renewal again. I am going to start my journey to become naturalized. However, what an amazing pain in the butt it seems to be to get my original birth certificate apostilled in NY (not NY CITY, that is different) because of the method needed to do so. Almost as much of a run around as getting DR residency. The private company the generates birth certificates that NY hired does not generate them for apostill. So, you get an original in one office, bring it to a second office, get it notarized but not on the same day, go back to second office when it is notarized, bring it a third office for the apostille maybe on the same day.. The birth certificate seems like the most difficult part of doing what I need.
 

BelgianMik

Active member
Jul 9, 2015
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ok, so I got my new residencia and cedula last Friday (it could have been sooner, but I didn't have much time).
So I filled it in online first, then when it was approved, I gave my Original papers to Migration here in POP.
When they checked it, they phoned me up and I payed the 5000 pesos (also here in POP). And then they said that after 7 days I could go to Santo Domingo to get my new residencia, but they also said that it is better to wait a couple of days longer because we are in the DR after all. So I waited 11 days and on Friday I went to Santo Domingo with only the ticket of payment and the one paper I got in POP that I gave all my originals. I went their and explained them that I had done everything in POP, gave them the prove of payment and the paper and indeed, everything was ok and I only had to wait to get my picture taken. So I got my picture taken and afterwards got my residencia.

For me: you don't have to pay the VIP to get it the same day, so it is a bit cheaper and it goes a bit faster then before when you had to wait in line in Santo Domingo to give the papers, then another line to pay etc, but that isn't that much of a difference. For me the really good thing is that when you go to Santo Domingo, you don't get any new surprises that they changed something last minute and that not everything is ok. When you go their, you go without stress, because everything is already approved.