IMO these three seem to be the most recommended Residency lawyers but I have not seen a recent thread dedicated to lawyers.
There are a lot of factors.. Cost, office location, language spoken, various nations, speed, ease and of course results.
Are some better at residency than citizenship?
Factoring in all things, who do you think CURRENTLY the best? And why.
Specifically if you have a favorite for a DR Residency/Citizenship combo service, if that exists, for a US man married to Dominican woman that spends Dominican time mostly in Santiago. English speaking language lawyer near Santiago best but the language and location are not a requirement.
Of course PMs are appreciated too, if need be.
Thank you.
Note: long post to cover most details.
As a Canadian married to a Dominican man, I was with Guzman for my first temp. residency (did one renewal on my own), and also for my citizenship which got completed 3 months ago. Can't comment on the others, have not used their services. IMO services from Guzman:
- very professional
- everyone in the office speaks very good english (some paralegal speak French)
- located in SD, also have offices North and East.
- Have paralegal with you at every step: immigration office, medical, JCE for cedula.
- Prepare your questions, they will explain requirements, steps, etc.
-Ask for VIP service at immigration, ie same day service. You can do multiple steps in one visit to SD, for ex. deposit your file at immig. and go for medical.
- I had all my can. documents translated at consulate and legalized here, so less expensive (but they can do that for you if you wish)
- contract includes all details of their services clearly. Did one contract for residency and separate one for citizenship. Requirements from Immigration and Min. Interior y Policia change constantly, asking for more and more documents... reason why to hire the lawyer because they keep uptodate.
- Guzman will do all follow-ups for you.
- Citizenship is done 6 months after you have your residency. New file, new paperwork, a lot of requirements. Need a lot of patience for this one.
- Paralegal goes with you to Interior y Policia with your file (ask for a full copy). Note that MIP wants to see you and speak to you, make sure you are part of the conversation and understand their requests and comments. Paralegal is there to translate for you. Ask your questions to be clear. Will be at least 6 months wait before you get your interview date.
- After you pass the interview and written test at MIP, you get your date for swearing in ceremony (usually last Thursday of each month). Then last step is your new citizen cedula at JCE, with new photo and new fingerprints.
- If your spanish is not fluent, I would recommend to get a lawyer (did not hear anyone speak english at any government offices). Exception for renewal of temp. residency which is done on line (uploading your docs. on immigration website) plus one visit at their office to deposit original docs, get new residency card and go to JCE for new cedula.
- Estimated cost: about $2000 us for residency and a bit more for citizenship. If you budget $5000us for both, you should be ok.
- Cost will vary depending if you do some of the docs yourself. If you compare with other lawyers, make sure to compare apple to apple.
All in all, I give them 9.5 on 10.
Hope that helps.
JDF
Sent from my SGH-T999V using Tapatalk