It seems like such a long, convoluted and expensive process, as long as I can pay the 'overstay' fee, I'll keep doing that
- Thread starter william webster
- Start date
Expired Residency ? RENEW IT !!
It is only worth it if you live all year round in the DR and dont have strong ties to anywhere else. As WW posts. You can’t be a resident of nowhere. If you come less than 6 months it makes no sense.
A lot of Dominican Green card holders abuse this same law in the US. They'e actually living here in the DR but will fly back to the US every 5 months for a short visit so that they are not out of the US for more than 6 months and lose residency status.
I got my residency right before they changed the rules and made you start the process in your home country. If I had to have done that, I doubt I would have bothered. If you haven't moved down here yet, I think it's still worth considering depending on your plans here.
The perpetual tourists that are living here now might just as well wait until they change the law or raise the overstay penalty to an unbearable level.
The perpetual tourists that are living here now might just as well wait until they change the law or raise the overstay penalty to an unbearable level.
From an old email I have from immigration I just found this;
“Buenos días,
Debe contactarnos al Tel. 809 508 2555 opción cero. Se comunicará con el área de Call Center y le ayudarán con su proceso y sus inquietudes.”
You can call or have someone call on behalf of you and ask them.
“Buenos días,
Debe contactarnos al Tel. 809 508 2555 opción cero. Se comunicará con el área de Call Center y le ayudarán con su proceso y sus inquietudes.”
You can call or have someone call on behalf of you and ask them.
Same with me. Part of the reason I did it back in 2006 was because of this. I think having to start in your own country of origin and more buerocracy puts people of now.
Also, think of the additional expense. If you're living here, you're going to pay for a flight back to your home. Then, if a consulate isn't withing driving distance, you have to pay for another flight and hotels. Expensive!!! And real time consuming.
We started our renewal process apprx 3 weeks ago and checking it on line we are "in process". We did the DR police letter on line for $600 RD and had it in 5 minutes. My understanding is the next step they will advise us that we need to do our medical which for some incredibly stupid reason has to be done in Santo Domingo. We are in Bávaro.
Once that is done we where told by the guy at immigration in Bávaro we come in to the Bávaro office, submit all the originals and wait a week or so and both the permanent residency card and cedula will be available for pick up in Bávaro.
We let our permanent residency lapse and have decided to renew it. I'm starting to think that may not have been our best decision. I will keep you updated as to what happens as the rules still change daily.
Once that is done we where told by the guy at immigration in Bávaro we come in to the Bávaro office, submit all the originals and wait a week or so and both the permanent residency card and cedula will be available for pick up in Bávaro.
We let our permanent residency lapse and have decided to renew it. I'm starting to think that may not have been our best decision. I will keep you updated as to what happens as the rules still change daily.
They are specific to what doctor they want you to see, so probably they have a contract with them.
Melphis,
"Once that is done we where told by the guy at immigration in Bávaro we come in to the Bávaro office, submit all the originals and wait a week or so and both the permanent residency card and cedula will be available for pick up in Bávaro."
Please let us know if this is really true, I doubt it!
"Once that is done we where told by the guy at immigration in Bávaro we come in to the Bávaro office, submit all the originals and wait a week or so and both the permanent residency card and cedula will be available for pick up in Bávaro."
Please let us know if this is really true, I doubt it!
The medical exam is a total joke. Nine million tourists entered the country this year and they couldn't care less about checking for any of the things done in the medical. I've had temporary residency here for 7 years and no medical needed to renew, but the moment I apply for permanent residency, suddenly they're now worried about what diseases I might have or if I'm using drugs. SMH.
First of all, if the alternative route is a major issue for you, I wonder what you are doing in DR as although I agree it's a major annoyance, it's small in comparison to other things.
And unless there have been major updates lately, the Migration office in Puerto Plata doesn't do anything with the residency process. From what I understand the closest place would be Santiago.
Are we in the same country? NOTHING is easy in this country.
Just to compare, I was recently visiting Sweden and in a store, they charged me full price for an item that was 50% off.
I was contemplating just leaving it, but I decided to go to the store's customer service desk. The woman behind the desk was apologetic and just asked if she could refund it in cash.
Over and done in less than 1 minute.
Compare that to one time I went to Bravo and for some reason, the cashier had charged me for like 100 lbs of apples, although I had only bought 3 apples.
I didn't realize it until after I had paid.
So I went to their customer service.
First of all, it took them like 45 minutes to resolve the issue, and the resolution was a store credit that was only valid for 14 days.
And public institutions are even worse.
So, what exactly is easy by following the rules?
I was not even able to get my car insured without a valid license
I asked my insurance agent and he said that no it was not possible, I had to submit a photocopy of my driver's license.
But then I guess it depends on the insurance company.
But being that insurance companies are famous for trying to find any loophole to not have to pay out the insurance money, especially when the amount is possibly in the thousands of US$ range, I would still be VERY surprised if NOT having a valid DR license would void the insurance.
Yes, there is one, however, that's ONLY for Dominicans, they don't do anything with foreigners' cedulas.
I hope that's the case. Maybe it's an indication that renewals will be possible at DGM's in other big cities soon like Santiago. It would be great to never have to go to Dingo again.
Why do you think it wasn’t smart to not renew? I think if one spends over 6 months of the year in the DR it’s recommendable.
Bit of story. Once we sold our place on the beach, we wanted to move on as at that point we spent 15 years (5 to 8 months per year) and were Dominicaned out. We let our residency lapse as we wanted to explore other places. We sent long term rental requests to at least 100 different properties in 7 US states and 6 different Caribbean countries. We had 4 responses all at over $4000.00 USD per month.
There was no way we are going to endure a Canadian prairie winter so here we are. So based on all that and we can get a great place here for $1000.00 USD per month and we have great friends here and are very happy renters. It was a no brainer.
If the penalty for late renewal is in fact $700 RD per month we are looking at about $15,000 RD each plus the cost of renewal. So in hindsight we should have renewed but due to wanting to leave and having to leave due to covid we are looking at a lot of money for residency. With any luck we can get a 10 year as this will be our 3rd or 4th permanent.
I will keep you updated as things progress.