Residency visas?

Start with This:

Search the forums for the many, many threads on this subject and also read the section in DR1 legal section, entitled "residency". You start when you get to the DR, not before and there are many people living under the radar risking little other than the tiny exit fine payable, without the visas.

Driving becomes an issue, as does suing people and in theory they could bust you and boot you out for overstaying, the same adds as Hippo's reelection.

I think a lot of people prefer to be under the documentary scruitny and that is why they haven't bothered, and also the fact it is not cheap.

If you are leaving a high tax environment ( like here in Canada) and you want to become an official non-resident for tax purposed you might ahve to prove you are a legal resident of somewhere, to stop obligations to pay income tax where you leave.

If you are coming to live but not work, then it is unlikely anyone will bother you, at least not for now. If you are coming to both live and work, it is better to get residency to avoid future problems.

There has been talk in the past of requiring residency, but I'm not aware of anything being done as of yet in this regard.

If you want to drive legally, then you should get your residency because it is my understanding that your UK license only allows you to drive legally for 90 days and that to get a DR license you must have residency.

If you have time, I would suggest trying to contact the Dominican embassy in the UK first to see if you can get started from over there. If not, then when you arrive, you can pay a lawyer between US$200-500 (if I'm not mistaken) and this person will take care of the paperwork. With the provisional residency you can get your cedula (ID card) which will facilitate getting your driver's license. It's still not obligatory to have a residency visa but it helps if you have to get a job, buy land or a business and also you don't have to go around with your passport (very dangerous...had a personal experience with that one).

Good luck!

What Garbage........

Residency is not essential for anyone but will help to facilitate all the things discussed above!!
Residency is a process which will frustrate you if you get the wrong people to help you! It will cost you in the region of UUS$1200 to do it well! It means going to santo Domingo at least twice and possibly 3 times! AND that's just for the first year temporary thing and your cedula! Repeat process next year!!
You can buy property and anything else without residency!
Do not waste your time with the Dominican Embassy in UK! They don't even have tourist cards at the moment!! (Blame the outgoing/incoming new government)!
Just come on down and sort it all out when you get here - talk to locals that are aware of the situation and don't listen to posters who just make a qualified guess?
With the right advice locally, a sense of humour, some patience and an open mind, everything is possible here.

Peter & Alex said:

don't listen to posters who just make a qualified guess?

Click to expand...

Sorry to correct you but I'm renovating my residency right now, I've lived in Santo Domingo for 8 years, 5 of them alone, 6 of them working, so I wouldn't say that all I mentioned is guess work (the UK embassy was since I'm Canadian). I got my temporary residency through a recommended lawyer last year for US$200, had to go to migration only when it was ready, and am now doing the paperwork myself for the renovation. Not all experiences are the same, I'm not saying that people aren't paying a lot of money for their residency or some aren't buying land and doing business without residencies but I understand that these forums are to help people through one's personal experience, not put down one another's comments.

Our secretary who has been here in the DR for about a dozen years was just getting her residency done in Santo Domingo, when cops came into the immigration building and arrested most of the officials. This was yesterday.

It seems there were a number of Chinese citizens in the building who paid $10,000 each to get a residency, somebody got wind of it and called some cops.

Conchman said:

Our secretary who has been here in the DR for about a dozen years was just getting her residency done in Santo Domingo, when cops came into the immigration building and arrested most of the officials. This was yesterday.

It seems there were a number of Chinese citizens in the building who paid $10,000 each to get a residency, somebody got wind of it and called some cops.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I was just about to deposit my documents tomorrow... think I'll wait a bit...

I got mine no problem!

Hi Guys,

Just to let you know that I paid $1200 US and recieved my cedula and residency with no problems at all!

Used a Lawyer here in PoP took him the money, 16 photo's (still seems like alot!!) a copy of my passport and that was it.

Three weeks later got a call to go to Santo Domingo, took the Metro and met a guy at plaza central who took me to the cedula office, had my photo took and walked out with the cedula (less than 10 mins) then to the passport office had another photo taken and collected my residency (this time about 30 mins)

The whole process ran like a dream, no multiple trips, no medical even, it really couldnt have been easier.

Also to answer an earlier point on this board, this guy does permanent residencies without having a temporary first and I have seen them and know people who have them, cost a little more prohibitive though at $2500 US (however these are quicker to obtain at less than 10 days)

If anyone would like further information PM me

Nick

Hi Nick,
Glad you got your residency....just a quiet word. The ones without medicals are the "backdoor" ones, that doesn't make them invalid, but probably best not to advertise too much! Likewise, the permanent without the need for provisional residencias are also "backdoor". Again, they don't necessarily lack legitimacy, it just means someone's "cousin" in Migracion was the facilitator! Sometimes, these can be found not to be entered on the Migracion computer system, although I'm sure in your case everything is OK. Any users of this system should be aware that government officials can change (like after Aug.16th) & IF Leonel uses an anti corruption approach, best not to be in the middle of the process or one's "facilitator" might be one of the people that Conchman's secretary observed recently!!

Hola

Hi everyone.

i have just read all your threads and i really dont know what to do.
i cant wait to move to the dominican republic its all im really living for now i feel like i have done my time in the UK.

i rang the dominican embassy in the UK it took me almost 1 hour to get through and then he just gave me a website to go on that doesnt even work.

i am marring a dominican man so would that make things any easier on me getting my visa/residency card?

any help is well needed.

thank you guys
Natacha

Hi Natacha,
A website that doesn't work! Don't you just love it! That's a Dominicanism spread to uk. Don't worry about residency until you get here - your tourist visa covers you for 15 days. Unless you get work straight away (highly unlikely) you will not be targetted or anything. Some foreigners have been here 15 years without residency - that is NOT advisable, but you really don't need to start process until you're here. Just make sure you have correct documents, e.g. birth certificate.