You said it yourself, you have been in the country for two decades, things have changed a lot! Years ago immigration in this country was super easy, in fact foreigners could live in the country without bothering to legalize their status. However, those wishing to become residents now must first obtain a residency visa via the Minsitry of Foreign Affairs. This is where the 90% of denials are taking place. If a foreign national cannot obtain a residency visa, they cannot apply for provisional residency. This measure was taken recently without prior notice to anyone including the legal community. According to various sources within Immigration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this is a foreshadow of things to come. I am not commenting on how things HAVE been but on the tendency of this country's government to make drastic changes at the drop of a hat, which is the reason why many foreigners with residency status or that otherwise qualify have opted for Dominican citizenship.
- Thread starter bienamor
- Start date
Confused on Renewal of Residency
You said it yourself, you have been in the country for two decades, things have changed a lot! Years ago immigration in this country was super easy, in fact foreigners could live in the country without bothering to legalize their status. However, those wishing to become residents now must first obtain a residency visa via the Minsitry of Foreign Affairs. This is where the 90% of denials are taking place. If a foreign national cannot obtain a residency visa, they cannot apply for provisional residency. This measure was taken recently without prior notice to anyone including the legal community. According to various sources within Immigration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this is a foreshadow of things to come. I am not commenting on how things HAVE been but on the tendency of this country's government to make drastic changes at the drop of a hat, which is the reason why many foreigners with residency status or that otherwise qualify have opted for Dominican citizenship.
again completely wrong.
those new measurements been announced prior to taking place and immigrations provided the already illegal/undocumented in the country foreigners several Pardon time frames, long time frames, during which everyone already on the island could have done his/her residency process. who passed all the given time frames during the last years, sorry, but those people have their own homemade troubles and can not blame anyone else.
yes, for new applications the paper from the embassy in the homecountry is necessary, nothing unusual in the immigrations processes of other countries neither, and everyone who asks for information about the requirements for applying for DR residency will have that notice right away and can obtain that paper.
when my DR Wife visits our german home she , too, has to apply for her visa at the german embassy here in the DR, and can not go to germany first and then say "hey, i want something, but i don't wanna go home again to get it".
so if the DR embassy in your country denies so many of the applications, what are the mainreasons for the denials? too much meds/drugs in the blood, not proper health conditions, not the required funds on the bank or what is the reason for the denials? such request do not get denied without a reason, as the DR is well open for investors and even offers special investor visas, pensioners visas etc etc.
MIke
those new measurements been announced prior to taking place and immigrations provided the already illegal/undocumented in the country foreigners several Pardon time frames, long time frames, during which everyone already on the island could have done his/her residency process. who passed all the given time frames during the last years, sorry, but those people have their own homemade troubles and can not blame anyone else.
yes, for new applications the paper from the embassy in the homecountry is necessary, nothing unusual in the immigrations processes of other countries neither, and everyone who asks for information about the requirements for applying for DR residency will have that notice right away and can obtain that paper.
when my DR Wife visits our german home she , too, has to apply for her visa at the german embassy here in the DR, and can not go to germany first and then say "hey, i want something, but i don't wanna go home again to get it".
so if the DR embassy in your country denies so many of the applications, what are the mainreasons for the denials? too much meds/drugs in the blood, not proper health conditions, not the required funds on the bank or what is the reason for the denials? such request do not get denied without a reason, as the DR is well open for investors and even offers special investor visas, pensioners visas etc etc.
MIke
It is not an embassy in the home country that denies or grants residency visas but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Consulates receive and process applications, these are sent in the form of electronic files to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and it is this office that issues or denies the various visas. Previously the MFA was granting residency visas, however, they have closed that door unless the applicants fit into one of the categories listed in the immigration regulation. Although the regulation stipulates that an applicant qualifies under the category of investor/employee, few meet the standards set forth by the MFA. If an applicant does not enter the country with a residency visa, they do not get to apply for residency at Immigration. In order to obtain a visa thru investment the MFA is now requiring proof that an investment has already been made, something most foreigners who are new to the country cannot possibly manage. As far as immigration goes, unless you can provide proof of pension payments or rental income, you will need to obtain residency as an investor which is very involved and most don't qualify. Besides most foreigners coming to live in the DR don't have the kind of means to own a Ranch, a residencial property, 2 sports Fishing Yachts, Tenant of a Rented Appartment on the Beach, owner of their own DR based Business, or married to a Dominican. Most foreign nationals are average people who are looking to settle in the country with average means, this is the group that is most affected by the changes in immigration.
they are the easiest group as they are the average guys.
so why do 90% of them get their applications denied??
i still wait for the mainreason of all those denials you claim there to be.
Mike
so why do 90% of them get their applications denied??
i still wait for the mainreason of all those denials you claim there to be.
Mike
to settle in a foreign country with average means,
what does that Mean?
as a country may well have requirements to be met to allow foreigners to settle in their country i guess.
btw,
to be the tenant of a rented appartment means nothing more than that I live in a rented appartment on da beach, just in case such thingy slipped your overwhelming amount of rules and exclusions etc.
so you are not talking anymore about foreign investors etc as you did formerly, now we are talking the average private person who wanna live on a caribbean island without doing investments in large properties/operating a business etc?
Mike
what does that Mean?
as a country may well have requirements to be met to allow foreigners to settle in their country i guess.
btw,
to be the tenant of a rented appartment means nothing more than that I live in a rented appartment on da beach, just in case such thingy slipped your overwhelming amount of rules and exclusions etc.
so you are not talking anymore about foreign investors etc as you did formerly, now we are talking the average private person who wanna live on a caribbean island without doing investments in large properties/operating a business etc?
Mike
No, if you recall this conversation got started because I agreed with the reasons some have cited for obtaining Dominican naturalization and you said it was BS (nice). Since we do not see eye to eye I think we should agree to disagree. After all this country is big enough for each person to follow the course that best suits them. At the end of the day, our opinions won't make a difference to anyone but ourselves. I myself am a permanent resident and have never contemplated naturalization but have friends who have and they are doing just fine. The only real way to prove whether your theory is correct, is for some incident involving a naturalized foreigner to take place and see what their home embassy will do. Until then, it is all heresay. By the way it has been fun chatting with you.
Where does it say that people with residency from 96 or before do not need the medical exam ? And since when does Santiago Migracion hand over new residencies ?
here: Direccion General de Migracion
De acuerto al Art?culo 46 de la Ley No. 285-04, la residencia definitiva ha sido concebida para los extranjeros que han ostentado un estatus migratorio legal de "Residente Permanente" durante un per?odo de diez (10) a?os o m?s. Todos aquellos extranjeros que calificaren con esta caracter?stica, podr?n ser dotados de un carn? de "Residente Definitivo", el cual s?lo estar? sujeto a la condici?n de la liquidaci?n de los impuestos de ley y al abono de los costos de renovaci?n pura y simple del mismo, cada cinco (5) a?os, para fines de control y actualizaci?n de datos.
i had my residency done in santiago, last year, before the change of laws. they sent it to SD for processing. was picked up in santiago.
De acuerto al Art?culo 46 de la Ley No. 285-04, la residencia definitiva ha sido concebida para los extranjeros que han ostentado un estatus migratorio legal de "Residente Permanente" durante un per?odo de diez (10) a?os o m?s. Todos aquellos extranjeros que calificaren con esta caracter?stica, podr?n ser dotados de un carn? de "Residente Definitivo", el cual s?lo estar? sujeto a la condici?n de la liquidaci?n de los impuestos de ley y al abono de los costos de renovaci?n pura y simple del mismo, cada cinco (5) a?os, para fines de control y actualizaci?n de datos.
i had my residency done in santiago, last year, before the change of laws. they sent it to SD for processing. was picked up in santiago.
i renewed my permanent residency and my cedula in 2011 for 10 years each, so i have to wait to get the Residencia Definitiva til 2021, from then on it is by actual standing a every 5 years process to keep data actualized.
from the moment on i had my first permanent residency in hand for all following renewals i never again had to do any medical exams or x-rays or such, it was during the first many years a renewal every 2 years for the residency/4 years for the cedula just by paying the tax and getting the card printed. then in 2011 they told me that i am entitled to renew for up to 10 years at once as i have already since more than 10 years a permanent residency, so i did that 10 year thingy for the residency and a few months later also for the cedula, again mo medical exams or such, just paying the taxes. i did all that in St Domingo, as we still did not have a office of Immigrations in Punta Cana at that time.
as for newer processes, as seen on my business partner's case, he received his 1 year temporary residency card, a year later he had to renew that for an other temporary residency(and cedula of course) and right now he is renewing again and will again get a temporary residencia and cedula. if i understood correctly he needs the temporary residency for 5 years before they give out the permanet residency. that's what makes it much more costy than it was before.
Mike
from the moment on i had my first permanent residency in hand for all following renewals i never again had to do any medical exams or x-rays or such, it was during the first many years a renewal every 2 years for the residency/4 years for the cedula just by paying the tax and getting the card printed. then in 2011 they told me that i am entitled to renew for up to 10 years at once as i have already since more than 10 years a permanent residency, so i did that 10 year thingy for the residency and a few months later also for the cedula, again mo medical exams or such, just paying the taxes. i did all that in St Domingo, as we still did not have a office of Immigrations in Punta Cana at that time.
as for newer processes, as seen on my business partner's case, he received his 1 year temporary residency card, a year later he had to renew that for an other temporary residency(and cedula of course) and right now he is renewing again and will again get a temporary residencia and cedula. if i understood correctly he needs the temporary residency for 5 years before they give out the permanet residency. that's what makes it much more costy than it was before.
Mike
1st question: I did renewing of residency and c?dula in April/May this year. From the people at the information desk
in the migracion I got an information sheet. "REQUISITOS PARA LA RENOVACI?N RESIDENCIA PERMANENTE".
There is a note:
"todos los extranjeros que tenga Residencia Permanente en R.D. del ano 1996 o antes,
y puedan comprobarlo, se le renovara su residencia con el procedimiento anterior,
el cual no requiere examen m?dico ni los documentos anteriomente descritos".
gracias !
but what do they mean with ''y pueden comprobarlo'' ? As fas as I know I had to hand over my residency from 1995 renewing in 1997
"pueden comprobarlo" means simply you need to proof that you have your permanent residency since before that given date/1996.
if you HAD one but did not renew it since a decde or so, then it may be simply "expired" since a lifteme and you start all over again. if you always renewed your permanent residency(with some delays or not does not matter) then you have a expired permanent residency card at hands, right? go with that one and renew it, if expired since a while you will get a small fine per month expired, but thats no big deal, and if the system shows that this residency been issued prior to 1996 then you do not even need any medical check/procedures.
i don't know where the limits are in case you really had a PERMANENT residency in 1995 and renewed in 1997 and then never renewed again, i don't know if thats still accepted. i guess for such rare case a visit to the next immigrations office will bring some light into the shady room.
Mike
if you HAD one but did not renew it since a decde or so, then it may be simply "expired" since a lifteme and you start all over again. if you always renewed your permanent residency(with some delays or not does not matter) then you have a expired permanent residency card at hands, right? go with that one and renew it, if expired since a while you will get a small fine per month expired, but thats no big deal, and if the system shows that this residency been issued prior to 1996 then you do not even need any medical check/procedures.
i don't know where the limits are in case you really had a PERMANENT residency in 1995 and renewed in 1997 and then never renewed again, i don't know if thats still accepted. i guess for such rare case a visit to the next immigrations office will bring some light into the shady room.
Mike
I was asking via E-Mail in the migracion because of a friend of us, my question:
"muchas gracias para respuesta > dicen Senor xxx y yo.
El esta feliz para la possibilidad a renovar con el sistema anterior.
Solo una pregunta en cuanto a los atrasos:
que tu has escribido hay que pagar 400 RD$ para todo mes desde el
fecha de vencimiento de la tarjeta de residencia. Este fecha es 23.09.2001,
resulto: son 12 anos o 141 meses hasta ahora.
Senor xxxx ha saliendo la Republica Dominicana
en el 28. Diciembre 2000 por razones privados. Y estaba para 13 anos permanente en Alemania
hasta el d?a de su llegado en el 23. Mayo 2013 en Puerto Plata.
Existen en el ley algunos excepciones para pagar menos atrosos en
una causa de este?"
the answer:
"An Ich
17. Jun
Buenos dias se?ora Ute ,
Lamentablemente le corresponde pagar todos los atrasos a partir de ultima renovacion.
Saludos,"
that's correct, it means he pays 141 months x 400 pesos per month if he wanna stay on the old non medical exam system for permanent residency renewal.
i don't see a problem there, i mean he sure will have his reasons to stay 13 years out of the country without renewing his documents, but he sure will not await that the country say's "hey man, no problem, give me 100 bucks and all is done", while others renewed every 2 years and paid their fees for that.
what does he await they do offer him?, a free new residency?
Mike
No Mike, he is not awaiting all for free, normally this is not his behaviour. His idea was maybe to get a kind of "discount", he isretired now.
I just was thinking about my different renews, up from 2004 incl. this year, for all I paid around 39500 RD$ (excl. travel-costs)
I had to renew this year complete, with examen m?dico. 40000 RD$ divided tru 120 months = around 330 RD$.
So 400 RD$ atrasos are more or less correct.
Gracias,
Since 1995 I have been renewing every 2 years without problems and last time in 2009 I even renewed for 4 years
I have a photocopy of my ''residencia permanente'' given to me in oct 1995
So what do I need to renew ? Pasport ? Cedula ? Money ? Certificacion de no antecedentes penales ? or what else ?
nothing special needed, sounds like you have your stuff always up to date, so you are in their system. for a renewal you just need your old/expiring card in hands.
after your first post i was under the impression that you had in 1995 a permanent residency but did not renew since then, but that's obviously not the case, so you are all fine to just go and renew as you did in prior years. you pay the taxes/fees and get your new card printed.
MIke
thanks 4 your answers always
but what I don't like is that the Migracion website says something different Direccion General de Migracion, this makes it all confusing