Hello Everyone,
I?m new here in a way. I have never registered before though I have been reading these forums for about 1.5 years (on and off). I have been interested in the DR for quite sometime and have found a lot of information here.
With that said, I will later in this message be asking some very important and detailed questions about Citizenship and the issues surrounding it. Yes, I have pretty much read everything there is to read on this forum, but I find myself a bit confused at times. Knowing this, it has prompted what you will soon read. The way I see it, if it is unclear to me, it perhaps is unclear to a few others. I am not a member of MENSA, but I do consider myself reasonably intelligent.
I have compiled a list of questions of my own, plus have added many that I have found inside these forums that I have seen more than one answer to. My hopes are to ask some very detailed questions and get very definitive answers in return. This will not only benefit me and the others that are considering citizenship in paradise, but it will help the members of this forum by allowing them to refer to this one thread as hopefully an ?answer all?. Then if the people have a variation of anything found in this thread, then perhaps it will send them in the right direction and then they can avoid asking questions that have been beaten to death already.
If you are not sure of the answer to one of the questions, please skip it. I will number the questions and in that way make it easier for reference.
1) There have been many answers to this in the past threads and maybe that is because of changing laws, politicians, etc. Is it a reality that if you purchase property in the DR, and reside in the country for 6 months legally, that you can apply for citizenship? If the answer is yes, what are the requirements (i.e. minimum cost of property, getting temp residence visa, Interpol check, etc)? Please also include information about the new requirement concerning a local or someone with permanent residency vouching for you. Also, does ?property? mean a dwelling or can you buy just a piece of land and then rent a place to stay?
2) Concerning the question above, can a bank account with a certain amount of money be used instead of buying property?
3) If one cannot afford the above, is it less expensive (or better) if you take the long route? This way would require getting a temp residence visa, then after around 6 months, a permanent residence visa, then after that year, one more. It would be then possible to apply for citizenship. Is this correct? If it is correct, what are the requirements? Please also include information about the new requirement concerning two locals vouching for you.
4) What are the requirements to be present during the application process? In other words, what part can be handled without your presence? Obviously the medical check would have to be done in person.
However, what about other things, such as the police background check and actual submission of ALL the documents. Can one just do the medical and then give power of attorney for the actual attorney helping, to do the rest once you have filled the appropriate paperwork out and had it all notarized?
5) I have found definitive information about the medical check. It is very straight forward and doesn?t seem to take that long. What about the police background check? I think there are 3 agencies that are checked, but please for the record post the information here (i.e. which agencies, how long it takes, can your attorney pick up the paperwork, etc).
6) When applying for citizenship, it is possible to get a legal name change in the DR before application? If so, how long does it take? Are the records sent anywhere else or are they stored in the DR only?
7) Is any nationality allowed to apply for citizenship?
8) Is the original country of the applicant notified in any way that an application for residence or citizenship has been submitted? I understand that the US and Canada allow dual citizenship, however there are many countries that do not.
9) Can foreigners still open bank accounts if even not a permanent resident? If yes, are the accounts interest bearing? If yes to that, is the interest reported to any sources outside the DR (such as IRS, etc)?
10) If a woman marries a man who is a citizen of the DR, can she become a citizen and are the requirements much easier than the normal process?
11) If a man marries a woman who is a citizen of the DR, can he become a citizen, and if not, are the laws being changed any time soon?
12) If a child is born to parents where one is a resident (not a citizen) and the other is not a resident, does the child become a citizen automatically if born in the DR? If so, does it make the process easier for the parents?
13) Is it true that an application that is ?fast tracked? can end up with big problems? If so, what are they?
14) Is there a published list of attorneys that are reputable/reliable etc that provides contact information including email addresses? In yes please post link. If no, please list attorney information.
15) What is the average cost for the process of obtaining residency vs. citizenship?
Well, for now, that is the list, but if you see something that I didn?t address, just make it the next number in list and post it. I am sure that sometime later I will remember more questions that I had, but for now this is a good start.
Just as a note, I have read the information on the legal page and read the archives, but there are things that are not addressed in enough detail. I hope we all get some good use of this and I look forward to being part of this forum.
Thanks everyone!
I?m new here in a way. I have never registered before though I have been reading these forums for about 1.5 years (on and off). I have been interested in the DR for quite sometime and have found a lot of information here.
With that said, I will later in this message be asking some very important and detailed questions about Citizenship and the issues surrounding it. Yes, I have pretty much read everything there is to read on this forum, but I find myself a bit confused at times. Knowing this, it has prompted what you will soon read. The way I see it, if it is unclear to me, it perhaps is unclear to a few others. I am not a member of MENSA, but I do consider myself reasonably intelligent.
I have compiled a list of questions of my own, plus have added many that I have found inside these forums that I have seen more than one answer to. My hopes are to ask some very detailed questions and get very definitive answers in return. This will not only benefit me and the others that are considering citizenship in paradise, but it will help the members of this forum by allowing them to refer to this one thread as hopefully an ?answer all?. Then if the people have a variation of anything found in this thread, then perhaps it will send them in the right direction and then they can avoid asking questions that have been beaten to death already.
If you are not sure of the answer to one of the questions, please skip it. I will number the questions and in that way make it easier for reference.
1) There have been many answers to this in the past threads and maybe that is because of changing laws, politicians, etc. Is it a reality that if you purchase property in the DR, and reside in the country for 6 months legally, that you can apply for citizenship? If the answer is yes, what are the requirements (i.e. minimum cost of property, getting temp residence visa, Interpol check, etc)? Please also include information about the new requirement concerning a local or someone with permanent residency vouching for you. Also, does ?property? mean a dwelling or can you buy just a piece of land and then rent a place to stay?
2) Concerning the question above, can a bank account with a certain amount of money be used instead of buying property?
3) If one cannot afford the above, is it less expensive (or better) if you take the long route? This way would require getting a temp residence visa, then after around 6 months, a permanent residence visa, then after that year, one more. It would be then possible to apply for citizenship. Is this correct? If it is correct, what are the requirements? Please also include information about the new requirement concerning two locals vouching for you.
4) What are the requirements to be present during the application process? In other words, what part can be handled without your presence? Obviously the medical check would have to be done in person.
However, what about other things, such as the police background check and actual submission of ALL the documents. Can one just do the medical and then give power of attorney for the actual attorney helping, to do the rest once you have filled the appropriate paperwork out and had it all notarized?5) I have found definitive information about the medical check. It is very straight forward and doesn?t seem to take that long. What about the police background check? I think there are 3 agencies that are checked, but please for the record post the information here (i.e. which agencies, how long it takes, can your attorney pick up the paperwork, etc).
6) When applying for citizenship, it is possible to get a legal name change in the DR before application? If so, how long does it take? Are the records sent anywhere else or are they stored in the DR only?
7) Is any nationality allowed to apply for citizenship?
8) Is the original country of the applicant notified in any way that an application for residence or citizenship has been submitted? I understand that the US and Canada allow dual citizenship, however there are many countries that do not.
9) Can foreigners still open bank accounts if even not a permanent resident? If yes, are the accounts interest bearing? If yes to that, is the interest reported to any sources outside the DR (such as IRS, etc)?
10) If a woman marries a man who is a citizen of the DR, can she become a citizen and are the requirements much easier than the normal process?
11) If a man marries a woman who is a citizen of the DR, can he become a citizen, and if not, are the laws being changed any time soon?
12) If a child is born to parents where one is a resident (not a citizen) and the other is not a resident, does the child become a citizen automatically if born in the DR? If so, does it make the process easier for the parents?
13) Is it true that an application that is ?fast tracked? can end up with big problems? If so, what are they?
14) Is there a published list of attorneys that are reputable/reliable etc that provides contact information including email addresses? In yes please post link. If no, please list attorney information.
15) What is the average cost for the process of obtaining residency vs. citizenship?
Well, for now, that is the list, but if you see something that I didn?t address, just make it the next number in list and post it. I am sure that sometime later I will remember more questions that I had, but for now this is a good start.
Just as a note, I have read the information on the legal page and read the archives, but there are things that are not addressed in enough detail. I hope we all get some good use of this and I look forward to being part of this forum.
Thanks everyone!