Do I need a cedula?

[J D Sauser]

And so did I. I have even heard from the Transito terrestre Dept. that if you have a prorroga of your tourist card you are allowed to drive

At the end of all days, I think it is better to aim at getting the Dominican driver's license ASAP. Driving under questionable legal circumstances may end up putting one at mercy of all sorts of legal games in case of an accident.

I remember seeing some of the excitement quickly fade away off that officer's face as I tendered him my Dominican driver's license at my crash site in Bani. Having one's papers in order (all of them), gets one an edge over most locals and many foreigners too. It detracts the attention from one and rather directs it the other party... who's missing his license, insurance papers or registration and has all sorts of explanations and is quickly loosing credibility.


Two limousines crash into another somewhere on Miami Beach. Out of one crawls the local Archbishop and out of the other one comes the Rabbi of Miami. Both surprised to meet face on.
The Rabbi greats the Bishop and says that it must have been a sign of God to have brought the two together in such a manner. The Bishop agrees and they become friendly, chatting while waiting for the police to show up. The Bishop decides that this should be celebrated and pulls out a nice bottle of wine and says a toast to commemorate the happy encounter. After taking a good slug out of the bottle he hands it over to the Rabbi who however replies, that he'd love too accept, but prefers to wait until the police has come and made it's report and checked for each driver's alcohol levels.

That was a joke a Rabbi in Palm Beach told me... always try to keep an edge!

... J-D.

 

[Lambada]

For the record, if you are going to be here for any length of time in the DR and planning on driving your best bet is to get residency.

Your best bet is to get residency AND a Dominican driving licence. Two separate, different things. Likewise there is a difference in being able to drive here legally and being covered by insurance.

And on how long the tourist visa lasts for.............I see the new Migracion website shows a 30 day period, since excess taxes become due after 30 days. It used to be 15 I seem to recall.
:: Tarifas

 

[MikeFisher]

great joke, ha ha.

and right on the different behaviors of insurance companies.
if they give you the written signed and sealed paper that they accept your foreign drivers license(should me mentioned on that paper with number and details aso) for their coverage of that specific vehicle(that does in nooo way mean that the same or any other insurance company would cover anything i.e. if you decide to drive for a ride your friend's car or any other car) for a specific length of time, than you are in case of the insurance forn YOUR specific car on the safe side.
that has nothing to do with the matter of fact that our law been not changed, your drivers license is in this country valid for 30 days, not one day more, so a AMET can stop you and give you a ticket for driving without a valid license and they do not need to care about any insurances allowance/paper or such.
to have your residency in process or even your permanent residency and cedula in hands does not allow anybody to drive in the dominican republic. to do so you have to go with your cedula(residency is only needed to pass immigrations when leaving or entering the country, keep that always at a safe place at home, out on the street is only the cedula needed and the valid document, renewed of course) to the office in charge of licenses near your town and allpy for the dominican drivers license.
i never heard that those rules/law aso been changed.
and a insurance's paper could never overwrite any law.
happy driving
Mike

 

[La Mariposa]

Your best bet is to get residency AND a Dominican driving licence. Two separate, different things. Likewise there is a difference in being able to drive here legally and being covered by insurance.

And on how long the tourist visa lasts for.............I see the new Migracion website shows a 30 day period, since excess taxes become due after 30 days. It used to be 15 I seem to recall.
:: Tarifas

It makes about 3 years if not 4 that the tourist card is good for 30 days. The law (name???) about the driving license and the time you are allowed to drive with a foreign license hasn't been changed so it is still 90 days.

 

[MikeFisher]

right Mariposa,
error of mine writing above.
the tourist card is 30 days,
the foreign drivers license 90.
heck,
get's confusing.
do them all and you are save, ha ha
Mike

 

[La Mariposa]

right Mariposa,
error of mine writing above.
the tourist card is 30 days,
the foreign drivers license 90.
heck,
get's confusing.
do them all and you are save, ha ha
Mike

The problem with D.R. laws is that they changed a law and don't make the concordance(is that well said in English ??)with others laws. Years ago let say in 1991 the tourist card was good for 90 days so was the law regarding the foreign driving license. A few years later they changed the tourist card to 30 days after that to 15 days and back to 30 days. They never changed the law regarding the foreign driving license and they finally changed the tariff for the overstay a few weeks ago ??

 

[Chip]

Your best bet is to get residency AND a Dominican driving licence. Two separate, different things. Likewise there is a difference in being able to drive here legally and being covered by insurance.

I understood that I needed the residency card first to be able to apply for my driving license.

 

[dv8]

if you live here - get the license. less trouble if amet catches you on breaking the law (inevitable).

 

[La Mariposa]

I understood that I needed the residency card first to be able to apply for my driving license.

Not 100% sure but I think that the deposit of your residency application is enough

 

[Lambada]

I understood that I needed the residency card first to be able to apply for my driving license.

You need a cedula first to be able to apply for your driving licence.

 

[dv8]

i was under the impression one needs permanent resisdency/cedula?

 

[La Mariposa]

i was under the impression one needs permanent resisdency/cedula?

Told you, I'm not sure but if you are right it means that one way or the other you will have to drive illegal since it takes more than 90 days to obtain the permanent residency even the temporary.

And do you know that you can have a firearm legal after the deposit of your application for the residency (if the law hasn't changed)

 

[SKY]

Told you, I'm not sure but if you are right it means that one way or the other you will have to drive illegal since it takes more than 90 days to obtain the permanent residency even the temporary.

And do you know that you can have a firearm legal after the deposit of your application for the residency (if the law hasn't changed)

To obtain a DR drivers license you need a Cedula, unless the law has changed recently, a temporary Cedula will do.

To obtain a firearm you need your permanent Residency completed, not after you apply.

 

[mountainannie]

Many Thanks to all!

For all the clear (and amazingly consistent!) information. And for the PM?s with the names of the lawyers. I will get right on this. Figure that even the prices of the used jeepetas might come down in the few months while I am waiting for the papers.......