Living with tourist visa, is it possible?

There is really no such thing as a 3 year tourist visa. After your tourist card expires you are just here illegally and as of now can pay the penalty fee when you leave.

As for the other questions. How would they know?

There are people that have lived here for 20 or more years as a tourist. And they come and go like everybody else. They just pay what they have to when they leave and come back with a tourist card.

Not especially recommended, but very feasible.

No...this topic has never come up before...

There are two principle answers to your question (maybe more):

1) YES - If yes is the answer you want goto YES below
2) NO - If no is the answer you want, goto NO below

YES

Yes you can purchase a one way ticket to the DR. Your 30 day tourist visa is either included in the cost of your airline ticket or you purchase it upon arrival for $10. There is no mechanism to extend a tourist visa beyond 30 days. For 30 days you have legal status in the country. When that period of time is up, it is expected that you go home. Since you arrived with a one way ticket, you're not going home so you go about getting a place to live and putting down roots.

While your visa is valid, you may legally drive here on your foreign DL and if you get into legal trouble here during that period, at the very least you have one less thing to explain to the judge.

If you don't leave after 30 days, you are in the country without legal status. (using the word "illegally" seems to offend all those who currently enjoy this carefree life choice).

There are many things you can still accomplish here to make day to day life enjoyable. There are somethings you cannot accomplish. I'm not going to make two lists for you. I will say this. If you find yourself standing before a DR judge at some point, the very first question they will ask even before, "who are you", will be "where are your documents?" No documents? Well, use your imagination.

When you do decide to leave this island paradise you will be asked to pay a fine/fee based on how long you overstayed your tourist visa. If you have at least one kid with a piggy bank, you can probably afford these fines/fees. This may not always be the case.

NO

The proper way to move to the DR, just like any other country on the planet is to apply to live here. This process begins in your home country at the closest Dominican Embassy to where you live. Contact them for the details.

Unlike the people who chose the option above, after you become a "resident" you can not be capriciously asked to leave at an inconvenient time without "due process". A Judge may actually ask your name before declaring you guilty if you are a resident.

There are benefits to being a resident, these may or may not be important to you. I will not tell you what decision you should make or even lecture you. You already have an opinion on the subject of people who come to your country and choose not to leave when they are supposed to. Use that as a place to start when considering your options.

Summary:

There are two camps here on DR1. Those who are residents with status and those who aren't. Having recently gone through the process I will leave you with the following observation: On any single day at the DR Govt office where foreigners apply for residency in Santo Domingo, there are many times more foreigners in attendance applying for legal status then than there are people on this forum advising newcomers that it is not necessary.

For the time being, it is possible to live here without legal status. The degree of inconvenience you might encounter is something you will have to consider when making your decision on which path to follow. While it may be possible to live here without status today, tomorrow, next month or next year...that may not always be the case. Without status any change made to the status quo will have an effect on your daily life here. You need to decide just how much uncertainty your lifestyle will tolerate.

Good luck

Also, that PDF that was quoted is, by the filename, the better part of 7 years old.

Been here for 3 years as a "tourist"... No visa, no residency, nada... I stay Under the radar.
Renting an appartment, bought furniture, got an operation, etc... No trouble at all...
No traveling back to Qu?bec either, but that's my decision... I know it will cost a bundle if or when I want to visit Qu?bec but I accept that fact.

And all that time, working as a freelance translator and having my money deposited in my Scotia bank account in Qu?bec...
When I need money, I go to the Scotia bank ATM.. So far so good, so I don't intend to change anything.

Why fix it if it's ain't broken ? Maybe one day the sh*t will hit the fan, but for now, I just enjoy my simple life.

Cdn_Gringo said:

Yes you can purchase a one way ticket to the DR.

Click to expand...

While it may be possible to purchase a one way ticket to the DR and many people do this, it is not in accordance with the regulations that the airlines are required to follow with respect to the DR. The airlines are supposed to ask you for proof of residency/citizenship in the DR if you are flying to the DR on a one way ticket. The airline could be fined heavily for allowing travel on such a ticket for a non-resident or non-citizen. While your chances of being asked to produce a return ticket are small, it does not mean it will never happen. This has been discussed extensively on this forum. It seems that the airlines from Canada are the most lax.

absolutely true on all counts , Windy

I am with Charlise above. 3 years as a tourist or illegal as I go back and forth to the states every 3 months. I do hope they increase the overstay fine and penalize me more as the approx $30 fine for a 90 day stay is way too low. Make me and other illegals become residents by not allowing us to reenter in the future and govt will lose many $millions.

Re enter with a one way ticket Spirit Airlines appears to have changed their policy. If you dont have a round trip with them they now force you to see an Agent and buy the return ticket before they let you fly. On their end it is their typical ploy for more money as they never did this before with me. My usual tactic of just saying I am flying back on American airlines didnt work.

STOP IT! Why are you EVEN dealing with this person? I had a similar question just the other day, but understanding--and respecting--as I do, the community, I took the time to search older threads and archives to find the answer to my question. I cannot stand this intellectual laziness and the enabling attitude that allows repeat, repeat, repeat threads and schtoopid gummed up replies.

Sorry. My vent may be out of proportion to the actual issue. But damn, Mods. I've been a board moderator/admin, and rules is rules.

Meemselle said:

STOP IT! Why are you EVEN dealing with this person? I had a similar question just the other day, but understanding--and respecting--as I do, the community, I took the time to search older threads and archives to find the answer to my question. I cannot stand this intellectual laziness and the enabling attitude that allows repeat, repeat, repeat threads and schtoopid gummed up replies.

Sorry. My vent may be out of proportion to the actual issue. But damn, Mods. I've been a board moderator/admin, and rules is rules.

Click to expand...

This happens frequently on DR1 because the search function is so poor. It is actually better to use Google to find such threads on DR1.

I wasn't asked to support my entitlement for a one way ticket on a Cdn airline . Point taken though. As with everything else, what works for one may not work for all.

its a crapshoot... WestJet has asked me and not asked me, same for JetBlue at JFK, same for United
they do post a warning before buying the ticket that it calls for a return flight

not a well enforced rule , it seems

Meemselle said:

STOP IT! Why are you EVEN dealing with this person? I had a similar question just the other day, but understanding--and respecting--as I do, the community, I took the time to search older threads and archives to find the answer to my question. I cannot stand this intellectual laziness and the enabling attitude that allows repeat, repeat, repeat threads and schtoopid gummed up replies.

Sorry. My vent may be out of proportion to the actual issue. But damn, Mods. I've been a board moderator/admin, and rules is rules.

Click to expand...

Wow GRUMPY! The search function is HORRIBLE especially for people who don't come on dr1 that often! Don't read the post if it ****es you off! We are here to help people aren't we?!

frankduc, what is the technical reason you would limit your time in the DR to no more than 182 days?

Meemselle said:

STOP IT! Why are you EVEN dealing with this person? I had a similar question just the other day, but understanding--and respecting--as I do, the community, I took the time to search older threads and archives to find the answer to my question. I cannot stand this intellectual laziness and the enabling attitude that allows repeat, repeat, repeat threads and schtoopid gummed up replies.

Sorry. My vent may be out of proportion to the actual issue. But damn, Mods. I've been a board moderator/admin, and rules is rules.

Click to expand...

Do me a favor and search and compare the overstay fees against the headaches and cost of getting a legal status. The things that annoys people is the profound processes and the costs. Yes it's much easier if you find right lawyer but it isn't easy. Everything takes double/triple the time then you want/expected it be done and I don't know the current process but getting multiple temporary and permanent residencies, is very costly for some especially if you go through lawyer that would charge equal amount for renewals.

Yes there is always another way if you are not looking for permanent status. But in my case it requires established company and pre-approval from DR Labor Department and I don't think there's legit company that would sacrifice their status for no good reason or chum-change.

Do a search and do the math and it isn't very difficult to see. Exit fee vs process/cost. Unless government wants to upset temporary residents that spend millions and add about thousand dollars to exit fee and possible jail time, I think there will always be a lot of people question the exit fee vs cost/headache.