So, my friend who has been going through an arduous task of getting legal finally got his residency. He had such meaningful requirements as having to provide copies every page of his passport - including the cover and blank pages. You know - the cover, which has no useful information and is the same as every other US passport. *This* is one of the many things that held up his process....with no notification; he only found out after a lot of phone calls and visits to investigate what his latest holdup was.
On his way out from getting his card, he asked the lady about the process to get a cedula. She told him he can't get a cédula because he's here for religious purposes (he's a missionary). He wanted to get a cédula in order to get a Dominican driver license in an attempt to be as legal as possible. He remarked "but that means there's no way I can be a legal driver, because I need a cédula to get a license," and got the typical Dominican shrug.
We subsequently asked Abreu about this, because we have another friend whose cédula plainly lists his occupation as "Misionero". Her reply was that now, no one who comes here on an NM1 (Business, Multiple Entries) visa and obtains residency can get a cedula - because the government "doesn't consider you a resident in the truest sense.". This is presumably because your residency depends on the job at hand.
So, the Dominican Consulate in Miami says the *only* way one can legally move here is via NM1 visa, converted to residency once in-country and by proving all the standard solvency requirements, guarantor, repatriation insurance, etc. They actually wrote in their email specifically NOT to apply for any other visa, as it won't be approved for them, nor anyone else, by the Miami Consulate. Heck, they argued that the 60-day Residency Visa (which is specifically for purpose of entering the country to begin process of establishing residency) doesn't even exist, despite being listed on their own website as the proper way to progress (no surprise either, since their website was fully erroneous in 2014, and hasn't updated since....they changed the aesthetic facade, but copied/pasted the same bad info). The NM1 visa is the same for anyone coming here for a job assignment, etc.
So under this law, anyone who isn't coming as a retiree or investor will be prevented from being a legal driver? The NM1 is the most broad-scoped, commonly used visa.
Not sure why I expect anything to make sense any more, especially from a country who is "cracking down on over stays", but still giving instructions in the Migración office to just pay-as-you-leave. I swear it no longer even seems like poor organization or ignorance. It's as if someone is actively scheming up ways to make the process more ridiculous.
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On his way out from getting his card, he asked the lady about the process to get a cedula. She told him he can't get a cédula because he's here for religious purposes (he's a missionary). He wanted to get a cédula in order to get a Dominican driver license in an attempt to be as legal as possible. He remarked "but that means there's no way I can be a legal driver, because I need a cédula to get a license," and got the typical Dominican shrug.
We subsequently asked Abreu about this, because we have another friend whose cédula plainly lists his occupation as "Misionero". Her reply was that now, no one who comes here on an NM1 (Business, Multiple Entries) visa and obtains residency can get a cedula - because the government "doesn't consider you a resident in the truest sense.". This is presumably because your residency depends on the job at hand.
So, the Dominican Consulate in Miami says the *only* way one can legally move here is via NM1 visa, converted to residency once in-country and by proving all the standard solvency requirements, guarantor, repatriation insurance, etc. They actually wrote in their email specifically NOT to apply for any other visa, as it won't be approved for them, nor anyone else, by the Miami Consulate. Heck, they argued that the 60-day Residency Visa (which is specifically for purpose of entering the country to begin process of establishing residency) doesn't even exist, despite being listed on their own website as the proper way to progress (no surprise either, since their website was fully erroneous in 2014, and hasn't updated since....they changed the aesthetic facade, but copied/pasted the same bad info). The NM1 visa is the same for anyone coming here for a job assignment, etc.
So under this law, anyone who isn't coming as a retiree or investor will be prevented from being a legal driver? The NM1 is the most broad-scoped, commonly used visa.
Not sure why I expect anything to make sense any more, especially from a country who is "cracking down on over stays", but still giving instructions in the Migración office to just pay-as-you-leave. I swear it no longer even seems like poor organization or ignorance. It's as if someone is actively scheming up ways to make the process more ridiculous.
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