car ownership

[windeguy]

best you can do is to extend your stay online..... keeps you legal for 120 days

Does not extend your foreign drivers license past 30 days to pre-pay the exit fine. Two separate government agencies with different sets of laws.

Why do you think I keep wanting a Snowbird Visa like Colombia has?
And remember, I am the one that wants the laws enforced. Illegals should be fined for whatever they do illegally and also deported.

 

[william webster]

Hmmm....... I thought if you were legally here, your license was legal too

 

[JD Jones]

Hmmm....... I thought if you were legally here, your license was legal too

You still have to have a Dominican driver's license to be legal, WW.

 

[windeguy]

Hmmm....... I thought if you were legally here, your license was legal too

No. Different government agencies with different laws and regulations are in play.

And, prepaying the exit fine does not mean your stay was legal.

 

[2020]

Question: can one legally buy,own and drive a car without having a cédula and Dominican drivers license yet (BEFORE being a legal resident), just with a foreign passport and drivers license (European) ? Thanks

Yes, I bought a new - new car from a car dealership in Santo Domingo 2 years ago. It was a fairly simple process. Just gave them my passport # and copies of my driver's license.

I even have the car insured with only a passport ID

Luckily, I have not been pulled over by the police after 30 days of vacationing. I'm thinking a few thousand pesos will do the trick

 

[RDKNIGHT]

I never heard of them giving one without a Cedula

Palm grease is magical here especially around Christmas

 

[Manuel01]

Nobody ever had an insurance company not pay because they only had a foreign license that was no longer valid in the DR.
They just don't care about those details.

well well well......sorry but this is BS. Our Full Coverage Insurance refused to pay because my Girlfriend smashed our car with an expired Dominican Licence. This paragraph is in every single Insurance contract. You need a valid licence to have coverage. And this was just money. The fact that a lot bof people got away with this, is by far no gurantee that it want get somebody else in serious trouble. Imagine killing or seriously injuring somebody on the road without a valid licence. The only thing you (don't) need is that the victim (or his relatives) have a good lawyer and the life as you know it is over. I

 

[SKY]

well well well......sorry but this is BS. Our Full Coverage Insurance refused to pay because my Girlfriend smashed our car with an expired Dominican Licence. This paragraph is in every single Insurance contract. You need a valid licence to have coverage. And this was just money. The fact that a lot bof people got away with this, is by far no gurantee that it want get somebody else in serious trouble. Imagine killing or seriously injuring somebody on the road without a valid licence. The only thing you (don't) need is that the victim (or his relatives) have a good lawyer and the life as you know it is over. I

Your problem was you were fool enough to pay thousands of Dollars for Full Insurance in the first place. They will do a lot more to rob you of fixing your car........

 

[cavok]

Au Contraire - I had an aquintence (former friend, turned A-hole) who hit a moto en Montellano. Insurance wouldn't pay the moto, maybe because it was his 2nd car vs moto accident, but he said it was because he didn't have a DR driver's license and his Canadian license was also expired, even though that's what he showed the cops.
Wound up costing him about $1,200 US to pay the guy off and then he hired a driver because he was afraid to drive anymore.
To my knowledge he's now left DR.

Oh, no. Insurance companies never look for loopholes or reasons to get out of paying a claim. No. That absolutely never happens.

 

[cavok]

That's why you buy a good insurance po!icy with lawyers included and good liability including Casa del conductor which is king of like a get out of jail card.
If you are drunk that's another thing. Don't drive drunk.

Casa del Conductor really only works in Santiago and Santo Domingo.

 

[SKY]

Casa del Conductor really only works in Santiago and Santo Domingo.

You don't really need this. Like said above. FYI with Ley Insurance which costs about $120 US they will send a lawyer to court with you if there is an accident with injuries. The same as full insurance. Full insurance is a total rip off.............

 

[JD Jones]

For the first 10 yrs of the vehicle's life, Full is worth it. Once they hit 10 yrs, premiums skyrocket and it's not worth the cost.

It's imperative you have a good broker.

 

[cavok]

You don't really need this. Like said above. FYI with Ley Insurance which costs about $120 US they will send a lawyer to court with you if there is an accident with injuries. The same as full insurance. Full insurance is a total rip off.............

I only have liability. I don't have a new car and full insurance was extremely expensive here. Plus, repairs can only be done at an authorized repair shop. For me in Cabarete that means Pto. Plata.

A friend of mine had his car taken to Pto. Plata and it took almost two months to fix it during which he had to rent a car which wasn't paid for by insurance. In the end, he said it would have been better for him to have negotiated with the other driver and got it fixed here.

 

[keepcoming]

Nobody anywhere (anywhere being like all DR relate FB groups that have many times more people posting than DR1 does) has EVER posted that they had a problem driving forever and ever on a foreign license or that their insurance did not pay out if they had an accident.

Nor has anyone posted that anyone who entered on a tourist card has had a problem staying in the DR for years or even working in the DR while they just have that 30 day tourist card. They just don't care about people who enter on tourist cards. If such problems happen, they would certainly be posted. Many posts are about various other issues in the DR.

Can you find one example in the past, let's say. 5 years? Ah, sorry, I see you recieved a fine 5 years back. Well, you are the only person who seems to have had one.

I truly doubt he is the only person that has happened to. Not everyone makes their situations/problems public on social media. I would say there many more expats that do not post on social media than there are those who do.

 

[chico bill]

Palm grease is magical here especially around Christmas

Well it would then have a fake number since you driver's license is the same number as your Cedula and it should not be capable of being found in the system

 

[cavok]

Well it would then have a fake number since you driver's license is the same number as your Cedula and it should not be capable of being found in the system

Without a cedula and a matching digital fingerprint, they wouldn't be able to print out a drivers license. Times have changed.

 

[chico bill]

Nobody anywhere (anywhere being like all DR relate FB groups that have many times more people posting than DR1 does) has EVER posted that they had a problem driving forever and ever on a foreign license or that their insurance did not pay out if they had an accident.

Nor has anyone posted that anyone who entered on a tourist card has had a problem staying in the DR for years or even working in the DR while they just have that 30 day tourist card. They just don't care about people who enter on tourist cards. If such problems happen, they would certainly be posted. Many posts are about various other issues in the DR.

Can you find one example in the past, let's say. 5 years? Ah, sorry, I see you recieved a fine 5 years back. Well, are the only person who seems to have had one.

Winde you were here during the great gringo roundup in Sosua on prison buses where documents were required to prove you had not overstayed to get released.
Never happened?
Had a Canadian friend who overstayed 6 months while riding a motor without a helmet.
The police told him they would impound his bike because of his lack of valid license.e talked his way out.
He left shortly after and abandoned his rather nice motorcycle as well.

 

[RDKNIGHT]

Well it would then have a fake number since you driver's license is the same number as your Cedula and it should not be capable of being found in the system

Bill there are fake Cedula that are in the system trust me bill on this..

 

[NanSanPedro]

Bill there are fake Cedula that are in the system trust me bill on this..

When you say fake, you mean counterfeited or obtain years ago under false pretenses and some cash?

 

[RDKNIGHT]

When you say fake, you mean counterfeited or obtain years ago under false pretenses and some cash?

the false pretense