Requirements for provisional residency

hansbert

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Mar 1, 2002
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Iwould like to know if the requirements as to the assets owned in the country by a foreigner and the minimum duration of staying in the DR until application for a residence visa may be filed with the foreign ministry are still the same under the PRD administration as the ones applied under the PLD administration. In other words: Until August 2000 a foreigner to be able to sucessfully apply for a residence visa was required to prove that he had entered into the country at least one year before the date of his application and that he owned assets of minimum 500'000 RD Pesos in the country. Does the PRD administration among others require the same conditions to obtain a residence visa or has anything changed ?
 

Alain

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Feb 12, 2002
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Provisional residency

I got residency a few years ago (before 2000). When I filed for Provisional I had been in the country for about 45 days. I NEVER DID invest anything close to 500,000 pesos in DR. I only had a bank account with a few 1000's pesos.

I good lawyer (maybe the term "resourceful" is more appropriated) should be able to arrange something for you. You'll never have to take care of anything or speak to anyone but to him/her. Of course the more legal documents you already have, the better. I know someone who requested provisional residency in 2000 and all he had was a birth certificate and a passport, with no money in the bank, and he got his residency. Yes, the rules can be bent a little especially if you know the right people.

A friendly advice: DO NOT file for residency on your own unless you're a masochist or something. Find a good lawyer specialized in residencies. He'll know where to go and what to say. It's more expensive than doing it yourself, but it's worth every penny of it. Also expect longer delays than what is stated in the legal section (often about 6 months). But from the moment you request residency you're legal. Use your lawyer's receipt as proof.
 

hansbert

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Mar 1, 2002
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According to a logical interpretation of the information given by Dolores it seems that at present, under the PRD administration, a foreigner interested in obtaining provisional residency contrary to the requirements before August 2000 may sucessfully apply for the residence visa although he does not meet the requirement of having been in the country or having continuously travelled to it since a minimum of 1 year as from his first date of entry provided only that he can prove assets of a value of at least 500000 RD Pesos in the country. In addition to that possibility, based on the above mentioned information, it should also be possible to file for a residence visa provided only that one meets the one year requirement without the obligation to produce evidence for assets of 500000 RD Pesos. My question excludes any favours of public servants of the consular department and strictly abides to the legal requirements: Does the consular department really accept at present both of the mentioned possibilities as a valid base to file for a residence visa ?
 

Fabio J. Guzman

DR1 Expert
Jan 1, 2002
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There are two issues here:

1) How different administrations interpret the solvency requirement in the residency process.

2) Whether a residency visa is required before obtaining provisional residency.

The law only establishes that the applicant should provide proof of solvency. What constitutes solvency is an internal matter which is changed more often than we would like by the Foreign Ministry.

On the second point, under the last Balaguer administrations (1990-1996), the Immigration Department waived the requirement of a residency visa to apply for residency. Presently, the same is happening. The Immigration Department, as a dependency of the Ministry of the Interior has been known to have differences of opinion on this and other issues with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
 

hansbert

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Mar 1, 2002
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Thank you very much Mr. Guzman for your expert answer to my question.Given a more flexible interpretation by the present government as to the amount of
funds an applicant for provisional residency has to own (including that the 500000 RD Pesos requirement of the former government does not apply any more) how would you recommend to proceed with regard to the solvency requirement
in filing the application for provisional residency directly with the Dept. de Extranjer?a of the Direcci?n General de Migraci?n?