The reality of the situation is that tourists, students, those in the DR on a business visa or anyone who is illegally in the country may not apply for residency. A specific visa for the purposes of applying for residency is needed. This visa is issued by the DR embassy in your home country. The paperwork for a residency visa is pretty much the same as for the 2nd step of the process in Santo Domingo. You need to apply for, pay for and receive this residency visa before coming to the DR to submit your application to Migracion in SD. Once you have this residency visa, you have 90 days to make your way to SD and submit your formal residency application.