New Immigration Statute

A new immigration statute was signed into law on August 15, 2004 by former President Hipolito Mejia. The new statute will substitute the current Law #95 dating from 1939. A summary of the most important novelties follows:

1. The children of nonresident foreigners born in the Dominican Republic will not be Dominican nationals.

2. There will be two types of residencies: Temporary Residency and Permanent Residency, depending on whether the intention of the applicant is to live permanently or just for a certain time in the Dominican Republic. Permanent residents will have the right to live indefinitely in the Dominican Republic. Temporary residents will be able to stay in the country for up to a year but may renew their residency annually while finalizing their intended mission in the DR.

3. Employers must make sure that their foreign employees have the documentation necessary to work legally in the Dominican Republic. Noncompliance will be sanctioned with a fine of 35 minimum salaries and the employer will also have to bear the cost of deportation.

4. The Immigration Department will renew current residencies as they expire based on the new categories.

5. The Executive will prepare an enabling regulation for the application of the statute within 180 days, meaning that the law will not come into effect until the Regulation is enacted.

expatsooner, laws in the DR are not retroactive. Your son is and will remain a Dominican.

Jersey Devil, we'll have to wait for the regulations to be able to answer your question.

POPLady, this will also be cleared up in the regulations. As for C?dula renewal for foreign residents, it can only be done at the office of the Junta Central Electoral in Santo Domingo

Although the statute says that the enabling regulation should be in place within 180 days, meaning by mid-February 2005, I doubt it will be ready by then. Delays in enacting mandated regulations are not unusual in the DR.

Either a residency visa for labor purposes or a provisional residency will allow a foreigner to work in the DR for a foreign company. Generally, the foreign company takes care of obtaining the visa or residency for its foreign employees.