A Novel for Mike F.
All the back and forth here on DR1 being completely ignored; The average foreigner who was contemplating applying to the regularization program should have been able to, with just an hour or so of research, figure out exactly what the plan would give them. I am sure some were given incorrect information from a source they considered reliable that turned out not to be. Verify, verify and then verify again. The Govt website seems to have been pretty accurate in this instance.
A Haitian, especially a Haitian that was "interned" in the cane fields and their descendants are considered a special class and could be handed the keys to the front door. Some long time resident Haitians born in the DR with some attempt to have their birth registered might not get a set of keys but would be allowed to stay with a cedula and all the benefits that comes with that.
Recognizing that other foreigners who have set up shop here in the DR and have lived here almost continuously since before 2011 need some sort of redress, they were given an option too. These would be the Haitian and non-Hatian foreigners who essentially chose to ignore the processes in place for them to apply for residency and are not necessarily seen as an aggrieved class deserving of an easy cedula, citizenship etc. These foreigners would however face a lot of turmoil and potential upset if they were forced to leave suddenly after all this time.
It was always clear to me, that the regularization plan was a mechanism to forestall the possibility of deportation for a period of time while the actual process in place for residency is undertaken by those who still wish to reside here. It is my understanding that if all of the required documentation can be gathered without leaving the DR, then there is no requirement for plan members to pay for and get a residency visa stamped into their passport in their home country. It may not be possible for some to do all that is required from within the DR, so back home they go if that is what they have to do, but still no passport visa required when they return to submit their application.
There is an other subset of foreigners here. These are the people who simply cannot meet the requirements for a residency permit. These are the transients who need to work to support themselves as they do not generate the minimum income necessary from a foreign source or do not meet the age requirement or some other stipulated provision. These people should have flocked en mass and applied to the plan. This gives them an additional two years to do whatever they want to do before having to think about this issue again. Maybe they can qualify then or maybe the rules will change or another extension is offered who knows.
As is often the case here, good solid information can be hard to come by, especially for those who have difficulty in Spanish. The process that is in place one day, may suddenly change with the appointment of a new Minister of Migracion or just because someone thinks of a better way of doing things. That is the Dominican way and anyone here for more than 5 years already knows this from experience.
We are now in the post plan time frame and as usual, there seems to be a lack of direction from the Govt for those who wish to take the next steps to obtain legal residency, which was the reason for apply to the regularization plan in the first place. I haven't check to see if the Migracion web pages are back on line or still being updated. All of the standard recommendations still apply. Due to the complexity of the situation, irregular status, then a regularization plan member now applying for residency, hire a competent DR lawyer to get you your first cedula and residency card, even if your Spanish is perfect and you have a General renting your estudio.
Let your lawyer find the information, deal with the functionaries, handle any changes that happen mid-course. You didn't want to deal with the process years ago when it was relatively simple and cheap. Trust me, you really do not want to be dealing with all that these days, when it is not always so easy and straight forward. If you are a masochist have at it. If you don't have a few extra dollars in your pocket for a lawyer, you might have a tough time getting a residency application accepted and approved.
In due course I suspect that all this new required information will become available. Someone is not going to super nice tack a copy to your front door. You will need to seek it out and more importantly, verify it for accuracy. Be prepared to act quickly before the process is subsequently amended as usually happens from time to time.
If you are in a rush to get started, talk to a lawyer. Not a lying thieving lawyer, with an office in the back half of the fruit stand near the airport, but a lawyer in real building with glass windows and air conditioning. Lawyers love written contracts. Have one drawn up detailing what the lawyer's responsibilities are, what you are expected to provide, what the end result is to be and how much you will have to pay and when. Half up front the balance on acceptance of your application in SD for example.
The people who look for shortcuts, pay the cheapest amount possible to someone guy named Jose who says he can help are often the ones who get screwed. To get your money, the car salesman will tell you the car has never been in an accident, the insurance salesman will insist you are completely covered no matter what and the unsavoury lawyer will always say, "don't worry, I'm on it" week after week with no results to show. Get it in writing and get on with it. Someone who tries to apply for residency all by themselves in this climate of uncertainty, I won't go so far as to call foolish, but I do think you could be getting into a situation where you may quickly find yourself all turned around.
Applying for residency here has never been as easy as getting a passport at home. I don't think this premise will change anytime soon so be prepared to work at this for the next 8 to 12 months, step by step, day by day. A lot of that time spent waiting. If you were told and believed that the regularization plan would give you residency and a cedula for free, bypassing all of the detailed steps that others are forced to endure, then firstly your expectations were unreasonable and I can fully understand how someone could be easily cajoled into believing what they were told - you wanted it to be true. It sounded good, it sounded easy, it sounded cheap. Warning bells should have gone off. This is the DR, you may be able to get good, easy or cheap but never all three. The intent and the intended results of the regularization plan were published on the Migracion website. The Govt pretty much delivered what they said they would. Those who thought otherwise, were misinformed somewhere along the way.
