Shipping to DR - Catch-22?

InsanelyOne

Bronze
Oct 21, 2008
895
28
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I will be relocating from Sint Maarten to the DR in May. As with anyone moving to a new location I would like to bring my belongings with me. From what I can tell, one has to pay duty on household items UNLESS one has their residency. But how do you get your residency without actually living in the DR? Do they expect you to move to the DR but leave all your stuff behind. And then wait until you get your residency to move your stuff? Seems like a Catch-22 to me.

Any thoughts on this? Do most people just end up paying duty on their stuff? I don't have a lot, mostly clothing, books, and some electronics. Nothing big and bulky like appliances or a car for that matter.

I've read a lot of posts regarding shipping to the DR here in the forums but didn't see anything that directly addressed the duty issue. Sorry if I'm rehashing something that was discussed before.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
i would not think you actually need to live here to get the residency. all you need is a pile of paperwork, money in dominican bank and two trips to SD - for medical exam and to pick up cedula+residency.
 

InsanelyOne

Bronze
Oct 21, 2008
895
28
28
i would not think you actually need to live here to get the residency. all you need is a pile of paperwork, money in dominican bank and two trips to SD - for medical exam and to pick up cedula+residency.

But is that the norm? From what I can tell, people treat residency in the DR very casually. Many seem to just "pay the fee" when they leave the country instead of bothering with residency (which is definitely NOT something I'm interested in doing). I'm leaving Sint Maarten because I'm tired of living somewhere that I don't have legal residency.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone that shipped to the DR before they had their residency.
 

PlantaFULL

New member
Oct 21, 2004
280
0
0
I shipped without residency in 2004. Used household items like furniture, clothes, kitchen stuff, wall decorations etc only got charged minimal fees. Couple of U$100 for a 20ft container. Car(s) and luxury electronics is what gets the bill up.
 

InsanelyOne

Bronze
Oct 21, 2008
895
28
28
PlantaFULL, thanks for the info.... that's helpful to know. I do have computers with large LCD monitors and a home theater system (albeit a 10 year old one). I have a feeling they'll gouge me on those :(