Do-it-Yourself Temporary Residency Renewal Procedure

Jan 17, 2009
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IF you speak Spanish and/or have a friend who does and can go to Immigration with you, you can save a lot of money by filing the documents yourself. It?s easy and the only difference with paying a lawyer to do it for you is that you?ll have to make copies of your documents. NO MEDICAL REQUIRED.

TEMPORARY RESIDENCY RENEWAL

Instructions provided by Immigration in Spanish can be downloaded from this link (pdf file).


For those who don?t speak Spanish, here?s a translation of requirements (You?ll need to bring with you original (or copy if original is not possible) plus four additional sets of copies (prepare the five sets; otherwise, the immigration person will have to sort the papers in sets while you wait):


1. Letter to the Director of Immigration requesting the renewal., written in Spanish. Here?s the letter I typed and used (word doc). You need to fill in the name part and maybe include what you do.

2. Residency Renewal form (you?ll get this from window 3 or 4 by paying RD$100 when you go to do your renewal--this is the only document you?ll need to fill out while there).


3. Passport or travel document, with no less than an 18-month expiration date (although DGM is flexible with this and will look into each case individually).


4. Original of your temporary residency card.


5. Original of your Cedula.


6. Criminal Records (this costs RD$300 (pay at BanReservas prior to going to and can be obtained on any of the places listed on this page (right column): http://www.gob.do/Servicios/Detalles/917e8d33-fbb6-e011-9658-001d092f0b84

In Puerto Plata, this process takes about three hours.


7. Two photos 2 x 2 without jewelry or accessories, and your ears uncovered. (Just attach them to the original of your documents with a paper clip.)


8. Guarantee letter signed by a notary public, from a Dominican national or a Foreign national with permanent residency, by which this person accepts responsibility for your moral and economic conditions, support and repatriation if needed, legalized by Procuraduroia General de la Republic, with copies of both sides of the guarantor cedula,



OR guarantee policy provided by a company;



OR proof of solvency.




ALL YOU NEED to just do it with proof of solvency is: 

(a) a letter from your Dominican bank addressed to the Director of Immigration saying you have an account and the balance of your account; OR

(b) copy of your car title, your house title, your corporation title, or anything of value you own in the DR.

(Note: I used the title of a corporation we own together with a copy of our 2013 Registro Mercantil. I also brought a letter from my bank, but one document is all you need. The immigration employee that received my papers chose the Registro Mercantil and corporation title. If you have more than one document that you can bring, do it just in case).





PROCEDURE on the day you go to Immigration with all your documents and copies ready (don?t get a visitor?s pass--you?ll need your cedula):

1. Go to Window 3 or 4 to purchase the temporary renewal form and fill it out.


2. Go to the last window on the right (window 11), give them all five sets of documents with the renewal form on top. The person at the window will check your documents and get your fingerprints.


3. Go to the place where they make copies (right behind you when in Window 10 or the first window on your left when coming into the immigration area of the building). Make four copies of the form, put one on top of each set and return to Window 11 to submit your paperwork. You?ll be told to wait 30-40 minutes and go to Window 3/4 to pay.


4. Go to window 3 or 4 to pay. Note that even though the cost on the instructions page says RD$4,000, the actual cost is RD$3,000 (plus the RD$1,000 for VIP). Payment in cash only.



5. After you pay, you?ll be told to wait X number of minutes that you?ll be called to get your picture taken. NOW, you need to go out and get a visitor?s pass. You?ll have to leave your cedula behind and you?ll need it to pay so don?t get a visitor?s pass before paying. Get your picture taken, wait outside for about 15 minutes and pick up your new residency card from Window 10.



TOTAL TIME in Immigration: 2 hours



TOTAL COST: Form 100 pesos, photos 180, criminal records 300, renewal and VIP 4,000 = RD$4,580 (about USD $208) plus the cost of copies (about 5 pesos each)


Once you have your new residency card, you can go to renew your cedula. You don?t need any copies (I brought some but they do make them there for you at no cost). You bring your passport and your new residency card, that?s all. Cost is RD$3,000 for a 12-month renewal. You can pay cash or credit card. To get your cedula, go to Cedula Extranjeria on Av. Luperon and 27 de Febrero.

Consider whether it is worth your while hiring a lawyer or doing it yourself. What your lawyer will be doing for your is: get criminal records, make copies of documents you provided, and submit the payment and documents to Immigration while you?re there with him/her. Whether this is worth an extra US$600 or so is up to you.

Obviously, there are cases that are complicated and do require legal services.


PS: I'll try posting procedure to renew permanent residency in English soon. It's a two-step process requiring two visits to immigration (with or without a lawyer). First for medical; second to submit and pick up your residency. In the meantime, if anyone is interested, a pdf document with Immigration instructions in Spanish can be downloaded from here.
 
Jan 17, 2009
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One thing I forgot to mention: the renewal form that you buy at Immigration is very simple to fill out. Just your name, date and place of birth, address, name of your parents, passport and residency numbers.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,087
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I had no idea temporary residency had to be renewed

How many times does a new resident need to renew temporary residency before they get permanent residency?

Permanent residency should have a different name since anything that needs to be renewed is not permanent.
 
Last edited:
Jan 17, 2009
1,622
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You get your first temporary residency for 12 months, then renew it four times. Five years with temp total. So each year, we have to cover the costs of a lawyer or do it ourselves. For me the answer was clear. It was a DIY or no residency.

How many times does a new resident need to renew temporary residency before they get permanent residency?

Permanent residency should have a different name since anything that needs to be renewed is not permanent.
 
Jan 17, 2009
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Sorry, That is not specified but I think they'll take any balance that is substantial enough to show that you can support yourself for a few months. Calculate it as the equivalent of the cost of a used car, considering that title of car is also an a cept able document.

What's the required balance on the account ?
 
L

legaleagle

Guest
Hats off to Bronze for the post! Very thorough and quite helpful. Honestly, most people retain lawyers because of the hassle caused by the instability of the Immigration Dept. I mean they can make you go round in circles and change the story everytime you go. Sometimes their written requirements don't match what their file examiners say and that can be frustrating. Still the post was great!
 
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arrugala

Bronze
Nov 7, 2010
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I believe you can also use your passport for id , instead of cedula when first entering the building ... Excellent sticky
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
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dr1.com
I just finished renewing my temporary residency , using Expats blueprint and it went very smoothly with a total cost for everything including gas to drive to Santo Domingo and back of 13,000 pesos. We arrived at immigration at just before 9 am and there was hardly a soul there. Paperwork was in order and we were told to come back in 45 minutes to pay and get pictures taken. Came back in 40 minutes and went in for photos after a five minute wait. Ten minutes later we were walking out with a new residency card. Of to get a new cedula- everything went very quick there- handed them my old Cedula and new residency card, waited five minutes and was directed to pay 3000 pesos. Went directly in and got my photo taken then waited another ten and everything was ready. Thanks Expate for your excellent advice and process briefing. Saved me a lot of money. I will say that I was very happy with the job that Guzman and company did on my original residency, but we felt it was too expensive for the simplicity of the renewal.
 

sophiadcruise

New member
Dec 31, 2013
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I think the various instructions regarding Temporary Residency Renewal Procedure are quite informative and one can access a good amount of knowledge out of the same. I think every individual in order to access a thorough knowledge about the same should go through the above post for sure.
 

sophiadcruise

New member
Dec 31, 2013
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Such an important and significant post it is about the various procedure which might be valuable for every individuals.
 

sophiadcruise

New member
Dec 31, 2013
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I think one of the most important aspect of the change of residence is the Residency Renewal Procedure. One need to undergo all the significant aspects of the same in order to attain a good informative knowledge about the same.
 

TravelHippo

Active member
Mar 24, 2008
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Wow! This is so useful. Thank you so much for sharing. My husband and I have to renew our temp residencies by April and think this is the way we'll go. Will save us a lot of money on a lawyer, especially with both of us needing it done. Anyone know if there have been any chances between this post and now? I hope not!

Thanks again. I'll let everyone know how it goes.
 

Professor_Cien

New member
Feb 1, 2014
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Thanks for the outstanding instructions. I have a question. In December 2013, I was told that Migration now requires someone who is renewing the residency to have US$3,000 in a Dominican bank account. Is this correct? I didn't need this for the initial residency; however, I am aware that the rules can change at any time. Please let me know, as my residency expires in March and I'm not willing to park US$3,000 in a foreign bank at this point.
 

shak4u

New member
Jun 28, 2010
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Just and update regarding renewing residencia and cedula. You must had a physical and then return in 2 weeks to pick up results and then continue with the above process. Medical costs 4,500 pesos per person plus 100 pesos to fill out form for the medical. I also would not count on being there for only 2 hours. It could take up to 6. By the time you are done you can figure 4 copies of all of the above.
 

shak4u

New member
Jun 28, 2010
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As I understand it, you will need verification that you have at least 500,000 pesos invested in assets (bank, car, home etc.)
 

SkyBlues

Member
Apr 8, 2011
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My medical results were lost last week so I have to return to Santo Domingo. The medical was only an xray, is that the only required test?