Residency Visa questions

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Tonchi

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I am moving Jan 1 and would like to have the residence visa when I arrive. From the DR Embassy website it says

Criminal Record Certificate issued by the appropriate authorities of the country in which the person resides at the time of application....

Is this just the local police department clearance letter, or does it have to be FBI?

Second question. I know nobody in the DR right now except my real estate agent. What do you do about the Notarized letter of guarantee?
 
AlterEgo

AlterEgo

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First of all, you must apply from your home country at the nearest Dominican consulate, are you aware of that?

Many applicants hire an attorney in DR [Guzman Ariza is excellent for immigration work], and I believe the attorney provides the letter.
 
M

miguel james

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If you are a US citizen FBI and it takes about 11 to 13 weeks. Only thing you can do is print the fingerprint card out from the internet take it to the local police station and they will do it for you for a fee.
 
W

windeguy

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miguel james said:
If you are a US citizen FBI and it takes about 11 to 13 weeks. Only thing you can do is print the fingerprint card out from the internet take it to the local police station and they will do it for you for a fee.
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It would appear that Tonchi is going to have to return home to get the necessary documents since the OP arrives before the FBI report is normally ready. Unless it can be sent to the OP from the US, or is it needed in the US to start the procedure at the closest embassy?
 
A

AnnaC

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Tonchi said:
I am moving Jan 1 and would like to have the residence visa when I arrive. From the DR Embassy website it says

Criminal Record Certificate issued by the appropriate authorities of the country in which the person resides at the time of application....

Is this just the local police department clearance letter, or does it have to be FBI?

Second question. I know nobody in the DR right now except my real estate agent. What do you do about the Notarized letter of guarantee?
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Like others have said you need to start the application in your own home country which I assume is the USA since you mention the FBI. Taken from the Dominican Embassy in the United States:

Criminal Record Certificate issued by the appropriate authorities of the country in which the person resides at the time of application. This document must be notarized, translated into Spanish and both the original and the translation Apostilled. Alternatively, once the original document is Apostilled it can be sent for translation by the Consular Section (see translation services). Not required for minors.

The answer to your second question: Original guarantor letter in Spanish from a Dominican citizen or legal resident residing in the country whereby he/she certifies the applicant?s moral and economic conditions and that he/she will be accountable for living expenses and repatriation, if necessary, the same must be signed in front of a Notary Public with two witnesses, then duly certified by the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (known as Procuradur?a General de la Rep?blica).

As AlterEgo said you can contact our resident lawyer Fabio Guzman's office


Good luck
 
drstock

drstock

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Interestingly, I recently started the process in the UK and although I had to have the documents apostilled, I did not have to have them translated. I think it is different in the USA for some reason - maybe the people at the embassy there don't speak English!
 
R

RG84

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May 21, 2010
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AnnaC said:
Like others have said you need to start the application in your own home country which I assume is the USA since you mention the FBI. Taken from the Dominican Embassy in the United States:

Criminal Record Certificate issued by the appropriate authorities of the country in which the person resides at the time of application. This document must be notarized, translated into Spanish and both the original and the translation Apostilled. Alternatively, once the original document is Apostilled it can be sent for translation by the Consular Section (see translation services). Not required for minors.

The answer to your second question: Original guarantor letter in Spanish from a Dominican citizen or legal resident residing in the country whereby he/she certifies the applicant’s moral and economic conditions and that he/she will be accountable for living expenses and repatriation, if necessary, the same must be signed in front of a Notary Public with two witnesses, then duly certified by the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (known as Procuradur?a General de la Rep?blica).

As AlterEgo said you can contact our resident lawyer Fabio Guzman's office


Good luck
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Don't forget you have to get the documents Legalized also. Which means you have to pay a tax first and it can only be paid at BanReserv. 500 pesos per document is what I was charged.
 
H

HUG

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I think it is quite different for the those from the states compared to us Brits. Criminal record check, under a week from the local county police force, for instance. Other than that Guzman took care of literally everything else. Expensive and a long wait, but painless.
The OP might have someone to courier the papers out to him, expensive piece of paper if not.
 
T

Tonchi

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Nov 17, 2015
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I am in the US and most of the documents are not a problem
If it takes an Fbi fingerprint check, would it be correct to start the process in Miami, give them every document except the background check, and then finish it in Puerta Plata?
 
Cdn_Gringo

Cdn_Gringo

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Tonchi,

No you can't do that as you need the crim check to get the residency visa stamped into your passport that allows to actually file the application with Migracion after you arrive in the DR.
 
L

LTSteve

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Jul 9, 2010
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Tonchi said:
I am moving Jan 1 and would like to have the residence visa when I arrive. From the DR Embassy website it says

Criminal Record Certificate issued by the appropriate authorities of the country in which the person resides at the time of application....

Is this just the local police department clearance letter, or does it have to be FBI?

Second question. I know nobody in the DR right now except my real estate agent. What do you do about the Notarized letter of guarantee?
Click to expand...

It is not the FBI. It is from the State where you live. If you lived in NY State than you would call the nearest State Police to do a criminal background check and get digit fingerprints. This does not take 3 months but you need to do this before you leave for the DR and have the document and others in hand. You can come to the DR on a 30 day tourist card and I believe you can renew it for an additional 30 days. The application for residency can take 6-12 months minimum to get a cedula ID Card. Go on-line and you can find all kinds of info on the documents needed for the residensy process.
 
AlterEgo

AlterEgo

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LTSteve said:
It is not the FBI. It is from the State where you live. If you lived in NY State than you would call the nearest State Police to do a criminal background check and get digit fingerprints. This does not take 3 months but you need to do this before you leave for the DR and have the document and others in hand. You can come to the DR on a 30 day tourist card and I believe you can renew it for an additional 30 days. The application for residency can take 6-12 months minimum to get a cedula ID Card. Go on-line and you can find all kinds of info on the documents needed for the residensy process.
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You're behind the times, this is not correct.

We were told that for Americans it had to be FBI now.

Furthermore, it's been awhile now that the tourist card purchased at entry is good for *60* days, overstay fees kick in at day 61.
 
I

Irie

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From recent experience, I worked with VetConexx (FBI approved channeler) based out of MN (I'm from another state). Once I had a good set of prints.......long story, I had my results electronically in just a couple of days. The hard copy version was delivered in about 7 business days.

I then used a recommended channeler from their site for the apostille process. Again, hard copy results where delivered to my door in a matter of days.

It can be a little costly depending on your budget, but the timeliness was worth it imo.
 
AlterEgo

AlterEgo

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Irie said:
From recent experience, I worked with VetConexx (FBI approved channeler) based out of MN (I'm from another state). Once I had a good set of prints.......long story, I had my results electronically in just a couple of days. The hard copy version was delivered in about 7 business days.

I then used a recommended channeler from their site for the apostille process. Again, hard copy results where delivered to my door in a matter of days.

It can be a little costly depending on your budget, but the timeliness was worth it imo.
Click to expand...

Good info Irie, thank you.
 
T

Tonchi

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Nov 17, 2015
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Ok,,
I live in Miami and a live scan finger print service in Ft Lauderdale provides an expedited FBI check. Seriously, I got my prints taken at noon today, and the FBI results and clearance letter are already in a two day express mail letter to me. Total cost $96.

I realize it needs to be apostilled, but it definitely doesn't take 12 weeks as was suggested. I can also see the results online right now, but that is not necessary for the visa.
 
T

Tonchi

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Nov 17, 2015
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Update..
After getting my prints taken on Thursday I have my FBI report in hand by Saturday. The key to getting it so quick was using the MyFbiReport website to find a live scan location. The live scan sends the prints directly to the FBI and the back to the channeler by that same afternoon. Everything will be sent off to the apostille tomorrow.
 
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