Residency Visa for overstayers.... our journey

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belgiank

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Jun 13, 2009
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Upon request of several DR1'ers, I will post our experience awaiting the implementation of the new laws...

Having lived here for 3 years, we always planned to get residency. Every trip I took to Belgium, I tried to sort out all of the paperwork, but never quite managed it in the timeframe I had.

With the info Hilbilly provided us, we decided to make an appointment with his contact/lawyer in SD, and experience what she had to tell us. I did not have high hopes (because of our paperwork, not Hillbilly), and expected the cost to be tremendous.

We met on tuesday with the lady in question (and as I suspected, knowing Hillbilly, she was a very handsome lady). We talked about an hour, and she explained us the following:

  • If you are a longtime overstayer here, there is an opening for you to get your residency visa in the DR
  • This window is not determined. It can close tomorrow, next week, next month or whatever
  • In order to be approved, you will have to prove a number of things
  • You will have to prove your stay here by the stamps in your passport, by bank-accounts, contracts with local companies (f.e. Edenorte, Cable, Orange, Claro, etc...), or with matriculas for your cars, motos, etc...
  • You have to have your birth-certificate. She can arrange the translation, stamps, etc...
  • You need to show a source of income. Either here, or in your home country. Like pension, or whatever
  • You need to get a conduct of good behavior from here, which she takes care off (providing you are not a wanted criminal, of course)
  • You need to provide complete copies of your passport (all pages), and if you cannot, because of a renewal, she will request the documentation from the migracion department (at an extra cost)

The total cost for this, including her fees, is around 350$ per person. This may vary from person to person, depending on the documents you possess. As my wife and I originate from different cities, my birthcertificate was an international one (including Spanish), and hers was in Dutch. Hence her bill was a bit higher, because of the translation (we are talking 1,200 rds here).

Expected time-frame is cc. 10 to 15 days.

Mind you... THIS IS NOT THE RESIDENCY, this is the visa to get a residency. That work starts afterwards. She was unable to put a cost on that one, as yet. She said that, as most of the paperwork was already done, she expected it to be a lot cheaper than before, but no promises there.

All in all, it was a very positive experience, and we expect a good ending as well. If we calculate what it would have costed us, having to return to Belgium, stay there for an extended period of time (hotel, as we have no place there), renting a car, having to run between all departments, and the embassy, we will have saved a huge amount of money.

If you want more info, you are welcome to pm me or Hillbilly.

BelgianK
 
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Jenny429

New member
Oct 10, 2005
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So this is for a visa. Maybe this is far fetched as I have seen JW people cross the Haitian border and come back. Is this even possible?! No matter what to get residency we need to have a visa, correct?
 
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mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
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elizabetheames.blogspot.com
belgiank said:
Upon request of several DR1'ers, I will post our experience awaiting the implementation of the new laws...

Having lived here for 3 years, we always planned to get residency. Every trip I took to Belgium, I tried to sort out all of the paperwork, but never quite managed it in the timeframe I had.

With the info Hilbilly provided us, we decided to make an appointment with his contact/lawyer in SD, and experience what she had to tell us. I did not have high hopes (because of our paperwork, not Hillbilly), and expected the cost to be tremendous.

We met on tuesday with the lady in question (and as I suspected, knowing Hillbilly, she was a very handsome lady). We talked about an hour, and she explained us the following:

  • If you are a longtime overstayer here, there is an opening for you to get your residency visa in the DR
  • This window is not determined. It can close tomorrow, next week, next month or whatever
  • In order to be approved, you will have to prove a number of things
  • You will have to prove your stay here by the stamps in your passport, by bank-accounts, contracts with local companies (f.e. Edenorte, Cable, Orange, Claro, etc...), or with matriculas for your cars, motos, etc...
  • You have to have your birth-certificate. She can arrange the translation, stamps, etc...
  • You need to show a source of income. Either here, or in your home country. Like pension, or whatever
  • You need to get a conduct of good behavior from here, which she takes care off (providing you are not a wanted criminal, of course)
  • You need to provide complete copies of your passport (all pages), and if you cannot, because of a renewal, she will request the documentation from the migracion department (at an extra cost)

The total cost for this, including her fees, is around 350$ per person. This may vary from person to person, depending on the documents you possess. As my wife and I originate from different cities, my birthcertificate was an international one (including Spanish), and hers was in Dutch. Hence her bill was a bit higher, because of the translation (we are talking 1,200 rds here).

Expected time-frame is cc. 10 to 15 days.

Mind you... THIS IS NOT THE RESIDENCY, this is the visa to get a residency. That work starts afterwards. She was unable to put a cost on that one, as yet. She said that, as most of the paperwork was already done, she expected it to be a lot cheaper than before, but no promises there.

All in all, it was a very positive experience, and we expect a good ending as well. If we calculate what it would have costed us, having to return to Belgium, stay there for an extended period of time (hotel, as we have no place there), renting a car, having to run between all departments, and the embassy, we will have saved a huge amount of money.

If you want more info, you are welcome to pm me or Hillbilly.

BelgianK
Click to expand...

so there is a 350 dollar fee for a visa to GET a residency?????????
 
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HumbleHindu

New member
Jan 14, 2010
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350 USD fees looks reasonable because I remember that I had paid 150 dollars just for the visa alone in the DR Embassy in India last year. But that was not even a resident visa.They gave me one year multiple entry business visa.
 
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PlantaFULL

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Oct 21, 2004
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The actual expense for the Residence Visa should be U$ 90 or Euro 90 (see here: Portal de Servicios Consulares de la Rep?blica Dominicana)

What the Cancillaria will charge when and if they issue the Visa here in DR, is not known yet since this is somewhat irregular. The extra expenses have to do with documents that the lady may still need to get translated, legalized, etc. This will vary from case to case. I paid less then the OP ($250) because I already have all my documents translated and apostilized.

The lady in question is very correct and transparent when it comes to showing what costs she will incur and what part of the bill is her personal fee.
 
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sweetdbt

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Sep 17, 2004
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For those who have already been dealing with this lawyer. I understand that she speaks little or no English. Is this correct, and did you get the impression that this is a transaction which could be completed by someone such as myself with a growing, but still somewhat limited command of the Spanish language?
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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sweetdbt said:
For those who have already been dealing with this lawyer. I understand that she speaks little or no English. Is this correct, and did you get the impression that this is a transaction which could be completed by someone such as myself with a growing, but still somewhat limited command of the Spanish language?
Click to expand...
I doubt it.

This transaction-that is, securing a Residency Visa without returning to your home country-needs a little salesmanship to the Consulate people and that requires language skills and some connections.

I doubt just showing up at the Cancilleria will get the desired results without some 'splaining. The lawyer in question knows is fairly well connected.

I wrote about what I learned HERE last week.
 
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sweetdbt

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Sep 17, 2004
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I understand it is not something I could handle myself. My question was in regard to doing it with the assistance of the lawyer in light of possible language barriers.
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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sweetdbt said:
I understand it is not something I could handle myself. My question was in regard to doing it with the assistance of the lawyer in light of possible language barriers.
Click to expand...
She understands more English than she speaks (I can relate.)

Find a bilingual friend and take them along.
 
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belgiank

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Jun 13, 2009
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As Planta stated, the price varies from case to case, and depends on what papers you already have,whether they are translated, legalized, etc... The lady actually gives you a detailed spreadsheet with all the expenses, and her personal fee.

To give you an idea... if you do not have your expired passport(s) anymore which you used to enter and leave the DR, she will have to request a legal document from the immigration department stating your entries and departures. Per entry and departure the cost for this is 2,600 rds. In order to get a new passport from Belgium, you have to turn in your old one, so this was one of the extra expenses for us.

The lady speaks very little English. My Spanish is not too bad, and we understood each other quite well. If your Spanish is poor, I would advise you to take a friend with you who can translate.

BelgianK
 
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belgiank

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Jun 13, 2009
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Just a quick update on our progress.

Although I had confidence in our lawyer, you never can be sure in the DR. For all we knew, she could have accepted the money of hundreds of "innocent" gringos, and ordered her brandnew Porsche Cayenne. So I was relieved she contacted us by email, and by phone asking for some additional documents and to answer some questions.

The additional documents were:
- a copy of all pages of our passports (although completely empty...) as immigration requested this.
- a letter from our bank in Belgium, stating our monthly income.

and we needed a witness (with Cedula) who could confirm that Acira and I have been a couple for as long as he knows, as she has to draw up "un Acto de Declaraci?n Jurada de Uni?n Libre".

There is no request for additional funds, although I am sure there will be a small addition for a translation, and the document stated above.

So, after about 10 days, she is making progress and working on our case.

Thank you, HB, for the good advice and contact.

BelgianK
 
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karlheinz

New member
Oct 2, 2006
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I can totally agree with BelgianK - I too am using this lady for my Residency Visa. The costs are mostly for translations and legalizations of documents. I had to provide copies of both my old and new passports to show the dates / time frames I have been in the DR. Also my birth certificate had to be translated from german to spanish, I provided copies of my retirement and social security earnings, plus my teaching salary (US University), copy of my cars title (matricula). She also called after about a week later and needs more documents but I have seen the ones that have already been completed so she is definitely doing exactly what she said she would do. In my case I have to return to the US to get my Certificate of Naturalization and a letter of good conduct from the US since I didn't bring either of those and finally a letter of guarantee from a Dominican Citizen for economic solvency. Since my spanish is somewhat limited I had a friend / translator go with me at the last meeting which was a really good idea since it cleared up everything I had questioned.
 
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mike l

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Sep 4, 2007
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Great to hear!

Unfortunately I was advised to apply outside the DR

No problem as it is a great excuse to eat real food !
 
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