Introduction, Interested in Moving to DR

Thebes

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Jun 18, 2004
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Hello, my wife and I are interested in leaving the US and expatriating. Right now we are most interested in the DR since it seems relatively easy to get a cedula. We have some very unique situations and before coming down to the DR to check things out we want to see if any of them would be serious problems.

My wife is a telephone dominatrix and sex counselor. She would intend to continue working, with a US phone number, through a VoIP service like Vonage. She is paid through a 1099 (contract worker, self employed) in the US. None of her work is with people in the DR (no one could afford her I imagine) and probably her checks won't be sent to the DR since we would like to bank somewhere with a more secure economy; probably in the US for the time being at least. She is also a certified hypnotherapist.

I am beginning to do adult web design and marketing. I do not typically shoot my own content, occassionally do some promo content for my wife. Everything I work with is in accordance with US laws (18 USC 2257 etc), no minors etc... All of my work would be over the internet and I have my own dedicated server in the US that I am sure is FAR cheaper than I could get decent hosting in the DR for. I am paid by different companies worldwide but none are in the DR. My checks probably would never come to the DR either.

We are not wealthy but obtaining a cedula with attorney fees, renting a nice place and even buying a modest car if we want shouldn't be a problem financially.

Does anyone see a legal problem with us conducting this biz in the DR? Again I will not be shooting porn of DR girls so I won't have problems with family chasing me down etc as has been mentioned in other threads I searched.

Is the broadband quality good enough (generally) in the Sosua area for VoIP? Is it relatively quick to obtain a dsl hookup? Can anyone recommend temporary housing (hotel, villa, etc) with a quality dsl hookup for when we visit? Any rental would need 24/7 power. We want to come down for a few weeks, if things look good, over the summer.

We want to expat due to the current US political climate. I know people expat for many reasons, but are we likely to find other people who share our beliefs about the Bush regime?

What is the expat community like on the north shore / Sosua area?

I have a lot of other questions, but don't want to flood them in. Thanks in advance for any help.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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I wouldn't think you would have any trouble. There are a number of expats who earn their living on the internet.

I'd suggest you not include as much info about yourselves on your application for residency as you did in your post. And you aren't likely to be questioned closely unless you are unable to get a good conduct statement from police in your home area. What the authorities are most interested in when considering residency applications is whether you are of good character and whether you can support yourselves.

DSL availability depends on where you live. You must be within a certain range of the originating point. It is available inside Sosua and in the nearby outskirts, but if you go far enough outside town you will be limited to DSL.

Condos Dominicanos offers DSL hookups to its residents. Perhaps others do, too. The manager is a regular poster on this board. http://www.condosdominicano.com/ The expat community is composed of a wide variety of individuals, including people like myself who are supporters of George Bush.
 

ustelephone

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Mar 31, 2004
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Bienvenidos!

Moving to get away from politics all together is a good idea. You'll find most people are happy just be out of the US, like myself. If you really want to come down and have political arguments, you'll find both sides, but they'll both be sharing a cold Presidente! Just don't watch out if you're in Casa de Campo in La Romana, Bush Sr. is a frequent visitor.

Also, if you are looking to continue your telephone career here you can send me a PM, I have a friend looking for English speaking operators who have your experience. I will be happy to forward you his information if you request.

Also, don't mention Vonage or VoIP when ordering your DSL. The local telephone company is not excited about it; they're loosing lots of $$. I would even recommend hiding the box.

Hope your move goes well and you enjoy the DR. We are all here to help.
 

Thebes

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Jun 18, 2004
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DSL Politics etc...

ustelephone said:
Moving to get away from politics all together is a good idea. You'll find most people are happy just be out of the US, like myself. If you really want to come down and have political arguments, you'll find both sides, but they'll both be sharing a cold Presidente! Just don't watch out if you're in Casa de Campo in La Romana, Bush Sr. is a frequent visitor.

Also, if you are looking to continue your telephone career here you can send me a PM, I have a friend looking for English speaking operators who have your experience. I will be happy to forward you his information if you request.

Also, don't mention Vonage or VoIP when ordering your DSL. The local telephone company is not excited about it; they're loosing lots of $$. I would even recommend hiding the box.

Thanks for the tip about the VoIP, I wouldn't have guessed that. Has anyone had trouble with DSL being cut off due to high bandwidth usage? My wife will be using it up to 20 hours a week and thats a lot of data. It will also be late at night mostly, so it might not be very noticed. Its worth it to us to get a business plan or bribe someone if needed.

About politics, yeah I think I'd be glad just not to have to think about it anymore. I just couldn't cope if everyone I met was a big fan of his and constantly praising him. Its sad because I love the US, but now I'm called 'anti-American' for speaking out for what I was raised to believe my country stood for.

Thanks for your suggestions.
Thebes
 

ustelephone

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Mar 31, 2004
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Well, you'll be called all sorts of things, but Anti-American? Well, that's actually a compliment to most down here.

They won't bother you about bandwidth, I have Kaaza uploading and downloading all day along with, well, the thing I said not to mention. Just let them install it, say nothing, then hook your stuff up. If they have to come out someday to fix a problem, just hide the box. I had a phone guy here who saw it, and he started up with the "Do you know that your bla..blaa..blaaa.". I gave him a small tip and a cold Presidente, and he was calling me "mi hermano". Better to save the beer and cash for yourself!
 

sunnyvillas

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Apr 29, 2003
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Hola Thebes,

I am not sure about the legal problems of your business, as Ken said, I don't think you will have a problem, especially if it's an internet/phone business.

Regarding the Vonage phone, yes you can use it through the ADSL and it takes about 3 weeks to get it installed. I am actually working on that right now for one of my clients who is moving in one of the villas at Residential Casa Linda in Sosua for 6 motnth and needs fast interent connection for his business.

You can also buy a cell phone , which are faily cheap there and just buy phone cards for the first little while, if you do not have the ADSL and really need it. Otherwise, if you have any other questions or require any rental info, do not hesitate to contact me, Check your PM:))

Have a good one
Sunny regards
Rimma
 

Chris

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Oct 21, 2002
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Thebes said:
....Does anyone see a legal problem with us conducting this biz in the DR? Again I will not be shooting porn of DR girls so I won't have problems with family chasing me down etc as has been mentioned in other threads I searched..

I cannot see any problems with this - in fact, I think this is quite an ideal dollar generating business to run from the DR.

Thebes said:
....Is the broadband quality good enough (generally) in the Sosua area for VoIP? Is it relatively quick to obtain a dsl hookup? Can anyone recommend temporary housing (hotel, villa, etc) with a quality dsl hookup for when we visit? Any rental would need 24/7 power. We want to come down for a few weeks, if things look good, over the summer..

Yes, I think the dsl quality is good enough. Vonage over DSL usually works really well. I would also suggest some kind of backup connectivity if you have mission critical stuff to do. Take note of the other comments by Ken and other posters about voip... and keep it low key.

Thebes said:
....We want to expat due to the current US political climate. I know people expat for many reasons, but are we likely to find other people who share our beliefs about the Bush regime? ..

You'll find many people sharing your views (myself included) but you will find many people not sharing your views. We usually do not come to blows about it but energetic discussion and sometimes plain argument happens. The community is small, so, we do try not to antagonise one another and to have some respect for other people's views.. these things also become a little less important here with time. I'm not an American, but lived and worked in the US for 12 years and I'm married to an American. The mood change in the country affected me quite badly and my son, who is still living in the US in Maine, is also looking to leave for reasons similar to yours.

Thebes said:
....What is the expat community like on the north shore / Sosua area?..

Sometimes weird, sometimes funny, sometimes just too much, but always good - There are wonderful people here and also the not-so-wonderful. But it is possible to make your own circle of friends and be part of the expat community quite easily. Mix this with the Dominican community and you'll feel quite comfortable quite soon.

You'll find a German expat community, and American expat community, some French and a whole lot of others mixed in. Colorful and interesting.

I love this place. Come on down and explore, talk to some of the old-timers, study (and I mean study!) this board and make your decisions slowly and carefully. Just a quick question, what if Kerry wins? will you still want to expatriate? This is a retorical question and you don't have to answer, just make sure that your reasons for wanting to leave, are sound.
 

Wales

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May 21, 2004
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Moving

Chris said:
I cannot see any problems with this - in fact, I think this is quite an ideal dollar generating business to run from the DR.



Yes, I think the dsl quality is good enough. Vonage over DSL usually works really well. I would also suggest some kind of backup connectivity if you have mission critical stuff to do. Take note of the other comments by Ken and other posters about voip... and keep it low key.



You'll find many people sharing your views (myself included) but you will find many people not sharing your views. We usually do not come to blows about it but energetic discussion and sometimes plain argument happens. The community is small, so, we do try not to antagonise one another and to have some respect for other people's views.. these things also become a little less important here with time. I'm not an American, but lived and worked in the US for 12 years and I'm married to an American. The mood change in the country affected me quite badly and my son, who is still living in the US in Maine, is also looking to leave for reasons similar to yours.



Sometimes weird, sometimes funny, sometimes just too much, but always good - There are wonderful people here and also the not-so-wonderful. But it is possible to make your own circle of friends and be part of the expat community quite easily. Mix this with the Dominican community and you'll feel quite comfortable quite soon.

You'll find a German expat community, and American expat community, some French and a whole lot of others mixed in. Colorful and interesting.

I love this place. Come on down and explore, talk to some of the old-timers, study (and I mean study!) this board and make your decisions slowly and carefully. Just a quick question, what if Kerry wins? will you still want to expatriate? This is a retorical question and you don't have to answer, just make sure that your reasons for wanting to leave, are sound.

Rhetorical has an H in it.
Sorry. Hate abuse of English language. That's how we get our accent, same as green grass. We cut it and roll it for two hundred years.
p.s. I don't live in England right now but I still speak real English.
 

Thebes

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Jun 18, 2004
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sunnyvillas said:
Hola Thebes,

You can also buy a cell phone , which are faily cheap there and just buy phone cards for the first little while, if you do not have the ADSL and really need it. Otherwise, if you have any other questions or require any rental info, do not hesitate to contact me, Check your PM:))

Have a good one
Sunny regards
Rimma

I thought about a cell phone too and calling card too. The thing is my wife's clients call her (we'll probably just forward her current number to the Vonage for a while, she has a lot of regulars), and I can't think of a good way to forward those calls down to the DR without spending a fortune. Any idea what Verizon wireless charges for a call to the DR? Or any other way to make the process seemless to her clients would help. She likes to carry her cell around even when not availible as she can tell them when to call back, so if we could somehow do this it would be a wonderful addition to the Vonage thing.

Thanks for all the great advice,
Thebes
 

gringo in dr

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May 29, 2003
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Just keep in mind that VOIP is actually illegal here. The phone companies do read these boards. They are in the process of looking for ways to block voip in the DR.
 

Thebes

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Jun 18, 2004
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I love this place. Come on down and explore, talk to some of the old-timers, study (and I mean study!) this board and make your decisions slowly and carefully. Just a quick question, what if Kerry wins? will you still want to expatriate? This is a retorical question and you don't have to answer, just make sure that your reasons for wanting to leave, are sound.

Even if Kerry wins I don't see the US going in a good direction. He's a Skull and Bones member like W, which is awefully strange given the extremely small sive of the organization, I'm not espousing any conspiracies but it leaves me with a sick feeling. He seems to support a continued policy of imperialism and surveillance too. Spying on ones citizens is incompatable with maintaining a free society.

I think a lot of the problems are from massive business conglomerates and their influence. I see continued trouble in the US while most of the media is owned by a small handful of very large companies, many with ties to the military industrial complex.

I KNOW there are polical problems in the DR too, but I prefer little evils. I haven't seen the DR pushing to invade Jamiaca for their natural resources, and I can't imagine the DR would wire an entire city with cameras and have 'criminal justice' students moniter everything 24/7, a project now underway in a major East Coast city in the US.
 

Thebes

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gringo in dr said:
Just keep in mind that VOIP is actually illegal here. The phone companies do read these boards. They are in the process of looking for ways to block voip in the DR.


It sounds like I need a backup plan then. Any ideas on how to get a call from a US number down to a DR cellphone without spending a mint on it? She gets a call at her number, does the billing (via phone), and then calls 'em back. I gather calling the States on a calling card is only a few cents a minute, but calling down without a way of doing so by card must be expensive, right?

BTW, I could come up with a workaround for a possible block. It would take a couple of days. If the DSL provider wants to block it they should be able to without any new technologies.

And, do you have a referance to the actual law? Has anyone been arrested, etc, or is it just a hassle?
 

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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gringo in dr said:
Just keep in mind that VOIP is actually illegal here. The phone companies do read these boards. They are in the process of looking for ways to block voip in the DR.

I think you'll find re-selling VOIP is what makes Verizon/Codetel un-happy. They cannot do anything if your using VOIP and not re-selling the long distance aspect.

They like to go round and close call centers that are selling long distance via VOIP.

Don't worry, I'm 100% sure you will not have any problems using Vonage from your home.

Let me add, I also know of a few well known companies here that use the local DSL network with IP phones. This cuts their costs (no local call charges) when they have offices dotted around the country.

Verizon (DR) is changing in regards to their strong arm tactics with VOIP.
Long distance calls are no longer their bread and butter income, wireless is by far their most profitable sector and the future of their business in the DR.
 
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Thebes

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Jun 18, 2004
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Well this all sounds like its great in terms of my wife and I's situation!

Any opinion of when would be best to come down for a visit (2weeks or a month) this summer. It would need to be mid July or latter. Is any time as good as any other or are there any special events, etc on the North Coast? Any times I should avoid?

I think we'd like to move down prior to the beginning of November, pending selling our house in the States. As I understand it takes 3 months of processing to get our cedulas, but we don't really need them when we first move down? I think we'd apply when we visit and not worry if we move down before they are issued, does that sound right?

Thanks again everyone,
Thebes
 

Adrian Bye

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Jul 7, 2002
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Wales said:
Rhetorical has an H in it.
Sorry. Hate abuse of English language. That's how we get our accent, same as green grass. We cut it and roll it for two hundred years.
p.s. I don't live in England right now but I still speak real English.

Where did you get your manners from then? Normally its polite to THANK someone for typing out a big long message answering your question, rather than being picky and correcting a spelling mistake.

Tacky.
 

Thebes

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Jun 18, 2004
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twasn't me

adrianb said:
Where did you get your manners from then? Normally its polite to THANK someone for typing out a big long message answering your question, rather than being picky and correcting a spelling mistake.

Tacky.

I certainly do thank you for you long response to me. And my english / spelling is horrid enough I never criticize anothers. That was 'wales' I think, I am Thebes.

Thanks again.
Thebes
 

Joah

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Feb 15, 2004
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To Adrienb: FYI

adrianb said:
Ooops.. sorry!

Dear Adrienb,

You have no reason to be sorry! Your previous post contained the paragraph to which you were responding. It was posted by Wales. I believe he was replying to Chris.

If you look in the business forum, under "Solar cell business in the DR", you can read a post from Wales dated the 16th of June, which contains "three" spelling errors in the first line of the first paragraph.

...and that's that with that!

Regards,

Joah
 

Thebes

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Yes it did. I though there was some confusion because Adrienb said 'your question' and it was my question. Just didn't want to be seen as rude :^)