When applying for a residency permit applicants must be aware that, although related, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Immigration Department are 2 different institutions with different policies when it comes to granting visas and residency permits.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs current policy is that residency visas will only be granted to applicants who: a) have close relatives who are legal residents or Dominican citizens; b) Qualify under one of the investment programs as Investors (US$200,000.00), Rentistas (US$2,000.00/month); Retirees (US$1,500.0). Exceptionally, the Ministry might grant visas to applicants who can proof that they have invested in the country through a business (setting up a corporation) or a real estate property (no matter how small or how cheap). These last two options are not a 100% certain and will likely depend on the motivation letter and whoever works on your application.
Once the applicant obtains a visa, he/she must submit the application to the Immigration Department. And while it is very unlikely that the Immigration Department will reject an application for temporary residency (unless there is a problem with medical exams or background verification); it is a very different story if the applicant wishes to go for the investment route.
The Consulate will probably grant a visa to any applicant who can prove that he/she is retired, or has an investment; however, the Immigration Department will require that the pension documents are legalized with the Apostille (it?s proven difficult for applicants receiving benefits from social security in the US), and that the rentistas show proof of having received the rent for the last 5 years.
As for the US$20,000.00 investment, the law indicates that the investment may be a direct investment in a real estate property or a corporation; however, to the date, the Investment Center of the government (CEI-RD) has refused to certify any direct investment on real estate and the Immigration Department would not accept any application without the CEI-RD?s certificate.
The information on our webpage and any article you may find online are only meant to be general guidelines and I do not recommend anyone to start investing time and money on a venture without having at least a proper consultation with an attorney specialized in the field.
On a final note, the Director of the Investment Department was deposed yesterday, thus the criteria and policies may change in the near future.