A few residency questions from the UK

nickkieswetter

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Aug 6, 2003
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Hi Guys

I was kinda hopeing that you could help me out with a couple of questions I have regarding living in the DR?

Firstly after visiting the country 6 times my fiancee, child and I have decided we would like to live in the DR permanantly!! but we keep getting conflicting information regarding a couple of key points. (btw. we are currently resident in the UK)

Firstly, Do we actually need to get a residency visa at all? particularly if we dont intend on taking up any form of employment?

Secondly, If we do decide that a residency visa is important is it better that we are marrid first?

Thirdly, How eas is it to open a bank account and deposit money (about ?110,000) and what level of interest payments could we expect and can they be paid monthly?

Fourthly, we have a child who is nearly two years old, what are the schooling options and costs related to this, also does schooling require a residency visa?

Finally, If we left behind the odd credit card bill etc unpaid in the UK does this pose a problem for residency as someone said a letter from a lawyer is required showing that you have no outstanding debts?

I thank you in advance for your help with the above questions, we are planning to make the move in late october so I guess we will see you then! :)

Kind Regards

Nick
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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A good source of information on residency requirements is http://www.drlawyer.com/txt/articlesimm.html This is from the website of Fabio Guzman, the attorney who answers questions in this section.

Presently you can get by without residency if you don't work, however, the country is moving to get everyone living here on its computers, which means you will soon need an identification card (cedula) and as a foreigner you must have residency in order to get it. If you are planning on living here, I would strongly recommend getting your residency.

Private schooling is available, for which you pay. Costs vary, depending on the school. If you let us know what part of the country you plan to locate in, we can tell you about the options available there.

You can open a bank account and receive high interest, especially if you put you change all that money into pesos. But you should be very careful of that. Many expats, me included, keep whatever money they have in a bank in the US and develop a check cashing relationship with a local exchange bank.
 

ricktoronto

Grande Pollo en Boca Chica
Jan 9, 2002
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nickkieswetter said:
Hi Guys

Firstly, Do we actually need to get a residency visa at all? particularly if we dont intend on taking up any form of employment?

Thirdly, How eas is it to open a bank account and deposit money (about ?110,000) and what level of interest payments could we expect and can they be paid monthly?


Finally, If we left behind the odd credit card bill etc unpaid in the UK does this pose a problem for residency as someone said a letter from a lawyer is required showing that you have no outstanding debts?

If you have 110 thousand quid in the bank don't stiff your creditors. What a lousy plan.

If you think you can live other than a meagre existnece on the interest from that amount think again.
 

gjsuk

Member
Apr 7, 2003
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Pay your creditors unless your creditors are owed 111,000!!!!!!

That amount by my calculator (110,000 sterling into pesos at 51.50 =5,665,000 pesos at 20% =1,133,000 divided by 12 = 94416 pesos per month) which is a shit-load of presidentes!!!!!

Better still convert it to US dollars 1st
(110,000 sterling at 1.68 = 184,800 USD into pesos at 35 = 6,468,000 pesos at 20% = 1,293,600 divided by 12 =107,800 pesos per month)

that is 2,695 Presidentes per month or 89 per day......

some meagre living huh!!!!!
 
Dec 9, 2002
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If you have ?110k in liquid assets, why on earth would you even think about not paying your credit card bill in UK? Are you running away from something? Even if you aren't (and I'm not making any judgements one way or the other), how long do you think it's going to last without being able to supplement it in some way?

You say you want to live in DR permanently, which would mean that - sooner or later - one or the other of you will need to work. No way can you live the rest of your lives out on ?110k plus whatever interest it would generate, which would get less and less in real terms anyway as you eat into the capital. So therefore, at some point, you would need to apply for residency. I don't know whether the fact that you seem to be planning to leave debts in UK would jeopardise your application, by why take that risk?

Please, think long and hard before you make any big leaps across the Atlantic. I too am English, and dream of living in DR, but I think the whole economy of the country is crap at the moment, and no way would I give up what little I have here to have even less there.

You mention you've been to DR 6 times before. What sort of trips were they, where did you stay, what sort of things did you do there, have you made any friends there? Tell me to mind my own business if you like, that's fine. But I really think you need to put a lot of thought into this before you do anything.

Good luck whatever, keep us posted.
 

nickkieswetter

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Aug 6, 2003
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So far so good.
Ok so I dont stiff my creditors, your probably right! I have never done it before, it was just a thought!

You dont think I can live an OK life on the interest from the money I have? I was under the impression that you could get around 20% return a year on that kinda sum? is this not the case?

As for where we might live, we were thinking of somewhere within a 75 km radius of sosua...know any schools around there?

again many thanks for your help
 

gjsuk

Member
Apr 7, 2003
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absolutely 20% can be the case in a peso account and you will earn enough interest to live on (bear in mind the exchange devaluation) BUT any capital expenditures will erode this over time, and if you have kids you will have some serious capital expenditures sooner or later.
 

nickkieswetter

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Aug 6, 2003
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dominican babe

Hi,

OK OK OK enough already!! I will pay my credit card bill!! :=)

No I am not running away from anything at all, I have a really good job here in the UK I am a General Manager of a large Peugeot dealership and earn good money, I owe very little money and have nothing to hide from!!
What I am running away from I guess is the rat race, I cant hack it one moment longer, here in the UK all I do is work to enable me to consume..... so that I can have a bigger house, a better car and nicer clothes than the guy next door in the DR I dont think these things are going to be important to me.
You asked about the kind of trips I have been on, the first two were to hotels and very touristy the next four were to villas and apartments and we made plenty of local friends

All I want is a more peacefull existance and yes in time when my spanish is better and I have settled in a little perhaps I could find some form of work.....I dont know what would be available with my current experience but I am sure I will find something!

Regards

Nick
 
Dec 9, 2002
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Hey Nick, best of luck. Whatever you do, as long as it works for you it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks or says, does it?

And believe me, I know where you're coming from ref the rat race, I just wish I had the guts to just pack up and jump on a plane. Maybe I'm getting a bit softer in my old age . . .

Anyway, good luck whatever. I hope you'll keep us all posted.

Pat
 

donald

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May 18, 2003
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The Big Move.

I wish you the best of luck, do it now when you have the guts to do it. I have been to the DR several times, both to the south and north. I agree with the Sosua area for sure. I now can more than afford to live in the DR but feel I am getting to old to move, (possible health problems) and sort of loosing the desire that I once had. I know several people there that have made the move and most are very happy with it. I was under the same business pressure as you described and believe me, I am very sorry now that I didn't make the move when I had that unsatible urge to do so.
Congratulations
 

nickkieswetter

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Aug 6, 2003
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Donald

Thanks for the words of encouragement.
To add a little more clarity to the situation I would like to point out that I am only 28 Years old myself and My partner is a little younger.
Even t 28 though I have worked very hard (12 hours a day 7 Days a week) for all my adult life and still I am not happy with things!!
I dont mind hard work, infact I quite like it, I would seriously hope that in time I could find gainful employment in the dominican, I certainly feel qualified to take up a number of positions.
I was hoping that someone could tell me how long they think I could live on the interest from my capital before currency devaluation/inflation really required me to take up work???
My idea is to go, get settled in, take my time and once I have a job use my capital to buy a house outright.
Do anyone out there think this is a sensible idea or do you all think I am just plain crazy and likely to end up back in the UK in 5 years broke!!??? :)
 

ricktoronto

Grande Pollo en Boca Chica
Jan 9, 2002
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Check the Plan, Stan. A few decimal points shy of the mark.

nickkieswetter said:
I dont mind hard work, infact I quite like it, I would seriously hope that in time I could find gainful employment in the dominican, I certainly feel qualified to take up a number of positions.
I was hoping that someone could tell me how long they think I could live on the interest from my capital before currency devaluation/inflation really required me to take up work???
My idea is to go, get settled in, take my time and once I have a job use my capital to buy a house outright.
Do anyone out there think this is a sensible idea or do you all think I am just plain crazy and likely to end up back in the UK in 5 years broke!!??? :)

DO NOT invest the 110K quid in pesos at 20% unless you want to see the true value of the deposits decline daily until you have less than 1/2 your fortune (which even now is no fortune at all really).

If you would have bought pesos a year ago and invested at even 30% you would have 37% LESS than you started with since the peso has devalued 67% in one year and that is not covered by them paying you 30% or whatever.

So...you will have to deposit in US$, Stg., Euros, whatever at MUCH lower rates than 20%. So you haven't Stg. 22,000 a year to live on. (110,000 X 20%)

You may want to rethink putting foreign currency deposits like US$ or Euro in DR Banks given some of the liquidity risk present with that strategy. Offshore would be preferable. Rates will suffer, I think if you could get 5% you'd be lucky so can you do this jobless relocation for Stg. 5,500 a year (110,000 X 5%) ? I doubt it.

So if you figure out a budget you can calculate how long you are living on both interest and the original capital but you haven't enough to live on on interest alone. And if you make the initially unwise investment in a house then you have no capital to speak of since I would think maybe 1/2 would be needed for a house acqusition.

And 28 is a little young to retire out of frustration with life isn't it? I am glad you have not chosen to stick your creditors as part of the plan though.

For employment you may not be able to earn a lot and of course I hope your Spanish is fluent now. I am not sure what positions you are expecting to take up. A trip there to search them in advance would be a good idea. Assuming jobs to be easy to obtain and to pay well to be the case as part of your plan is not such a good idea. Mostly sinc eit is about 99% not true.

BTW, you are not in the "dominican" as a Dominican is a person and the country is either "the DR" as commonly abbreviated here or La Republica or the whole in English , e.g. the Dominican Republic.
 
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nickkieswetter

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Aug 6, 2003
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Rick

Firstly, thanks for the Dominican, DR grammar lesson :)

I thank you sincerely for your eloquently made points and shall be giving them serious considerations.

A few questions though if you dont mind?

a.) How much further is the currency likely to slide? is it not possible that it could even rise in the next few years?

b.) Assuming that I never want to leave the DR does the currency devaluation have the same impact on spending power internally?
i.e does the peso buy you 67% less at the super market

Answers to these points would be gratefully received (btw If anyone else has points that are less than positive to be made, I will e happy to read them. I am very serious about this move but If someone can convince me not to go...then I wont!)


Regards

Nick
 

nickkieswetter

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Aug 6, 2003
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Sorry, one more thing!!

Thanks in advance for everybodies time effort and understanding in helping me with all this. All the replies have been incredibly courteous and informative! I really wish all message boards were like this!!

So, yes the last question (i think) ; to counter the points made by Rick, didnt I here that you can get really good Tax Free Rates on the Dollar in a DR bank?

I thought I read as much as 10%???

Just thinking that 110,000 GBP is 179,300 USD and even at 10% thats 18,000 Dollars a year to spend on a small apartment and food with no capital outlay...... and safe with the dollar right?

all comments welcome!!

thanks

Nick
 

ricktoronto

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Jan 9, 2002
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Read it again

Especially the part about the liquidity risk of having all your money (and in your case literally ALL of it) in one DR bank or even several banks, vs. offshore where there is less risk of government intervention on foreign currency accounts.

L12M, the prices (inflation rate) are up 24% vs. the peso down 67%. However they have just repriced the peso for duty rates from 25 to 35 so the effect is a 38% increase in duty for imported goods, so prepare for the worst at the stores.

As to the peso going UP - ain't going to happen. It may not devalue at 67% every 12 months but if it doesn't the rates will go down for pesos deposits as well. Look at the MX peso for an example. They revalued by 1000X to the US$ and in 10 years it has dropped to under 1/3 of that revalued value against the US$. (from 1:1 to 3.3:1)

Bottom line you don't have enough to live on and I am not sure where the 10% US$ deposits are you plan to live on, especially with reliable monthly income payments of the interest. I would hate to have a family and try to live in the DR on $1500 US a month that's for damn sure.
 

Peter & Alex

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May 3, 2003
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Hell No!!

So your 110K sterling sounds really good? Dream on my dear - you'll soon eat into that little nest egg and then where will you be?
You could invest here - don't! Just listen to all the other posters! We all live here and know the score!
You could invest in UK offshore? Don't! You'll be lucky to get 2-3% return! UK is not well known for investments.
You could invest offshore? Do you know enough about that game and would your money be any safer?
Devaluation and inflation here is horrendous and we don't see it improving in the near future anyway! Your money will soon lose it's value!!
We're double your age and worked for 45 years overseas and yet we still never have enough money to secure our future here - your capital will soon diminish whichever way you try it. (And we started with a damn sight more than your piddlin' 110K)!
Sorry to be so negative but that's the way it is.
By the way - love the UK Brit humour in your name! But why are your knickies wetter? Wetter than who's?
We're supposed to be older and wiser but in reality we just get poorer!
 

nickkieswetter

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Aug 6, 2003
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no humour intended!!

Kieswetter is my surname!!
It's Dutch South African...... I was born there and moved to the UK when I was 3 Years Old!!
Thanks for the advice...... I am not sure though that I am making myself very clear, I really dont want nor need a life like the one that I have here in the UK I just want to rent a modest apartment wear shorts and a T-shirt and be able to eat enough so I dont starve!!
What I dont want is a great 4/5 Bed Villa a new car and 4 TV's designer clothes and fancy restaurants I have all that here and really it means nothing at all.
So i can last a couple of years then maybe? or even a little longer? surely I would have made enough friends and contacts in that time to find a job that can afford the basic standard of living that I am used to??

On my last visit I met a dominican family and spent a few days with them.... thier total monthly income was 13,000 peso's and they had a very modest apartment and enough food to eat..... I dont want much more than this, really

Any comments always welcome

Thanks

Nick
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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When it is hotter than hell,no electricity for 3 days,

and no water to take a bath either,you will be wishing you were in the Villa,and not in the concrete block house!We have just seen your post soooooooo many times before,just a different name at the bottom.When they loose all their money,and start asking local Ex-Pats to please cash their personal checks(Which are no good) they usually just disappear into hyperspace.Sometimes we see a "mea culpa" post saying that if they had only listened,usually they are to embarrassed.
ccccccccccc
 

nickkieswetter

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Aug 6, 2003
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The end of the line...........

I would firstly like to thank all the people who have contributed to this thread, I have found it very informative and it has given me a lot to think about.

To finish I just have TWO questions and I really would like as many short but different answers from as many people as possible, after this I wont take up any more of anybodies time.

1. ) How long do you think my money would actually last if I was carefull, got a cheap Appt and didnt waste money on luxuries (taking into account currency devaluation and inflation etc) I have heard things here from you will be ok to you will run out of money but no time span...please this would help!!!

2. ) Given that I am young, well educated from a good background, very accomplished here in the UK and with extensive experience at a senior management level, could I find employment that would support me after the money has gone??


Again, thanks for your input. This will be my last post here until I decide If I am going or not!
When I decide I will post to let you know that I am either not coming or when to expect me!

Nick