Residencia - 2020 - How to get it done.

Good timing.

I do think this will become a very important issue now for many people that have resided in DR for a long time without residency and those thinking of coming and doing the same.

Covid19 has dramatically changed the landscape for international travellers and expats.

Without residency you are just another tourist and as such you are going to be controlled going forward whereby arrivals will closely tracked. You may not even be able to come as an independent traveller or unless a citizen or resident or resident applicant for some long time.

Time to apply if you are back home.

I absolutely  agree with you. There will be much more tracking done now.

And I expect to see some process changes in the future, especially if we get a change of government as expected. But that is another thread....

How long can it survive without tourism?

This is probably causing delays in the system so is it even worth applying now?

historically, there has been tremendous resistance by some re residency -
The 'just pay the fine' crowd.

They may be changing their tune

¡Hola amigos!

Thank you Darlene! Absolutely, this is very useful info.

1) All foreigners who can demonstrate an economic or family bond in the Dominican Republic. As well as those foreigners who have resources for pension, retirement or who wish to invest in the Dom.

Also those foreigners who wish to work in the Dominican Republic.

2) The first step is to apply for the visa corresponding to the type of activity you are going to do in the Dominican Republic. However, in my professional experience, I recommend that the interested party first contact a lawyer specialized in immigration, as him or she can offer an individualized and personalized advice according to the complete set of credentials of the foreign.

3)  You need to: a) verify your eligibility to ensure that there is no rejection of the visa b) verify the commitments to which you can commit for the future, for example, the renovations of that residence and c) you need several documents that require compliance with certain formalities to its acceptance both in the Dominican consulate and in the Immigration Department.

4) As soon as your visa is approved, it is necessary that you plan to enter the Dominican Republic within the next 30 days to start the residence permit process.


Hopefully this has been concise and can keep the community well informed,

Best regards,

Lishali Baez

Can you explain 2 and 3.

Step 2 means:

Verify the visa category that you qualify for.
1. Student
2. Work
3. Retiree
4. Family reunification
5. and others

Step 3 means:

Once you determine which visa category you qualify for the applicant will need to submit a number of documents along with a visa application to the closest Dominican consulate or embassy of your country of origin. The requested documents need to be translated to Spanish and apostilled or legalized (depending on your country of origin.)

Let s have Lishali explain what is required.

1. For each type of residencia what are the qualifications needed? 

2.  What documents share needed in general for all applications?

3.  What specific documents are needed based in type applied for?

Hello everyone,

1) To apply for visa and residency of a) retirado: the applicant must be able to demonstrate an income of pension from a private or public institution of at least US$1,500.00 + US$250.00 per dependent.

b) Visa and residency of rentista the applicant must be able to demonstrate an income for the last 5 years of at least US$2,000.00 from rental of properties or as dividends of a company. Another US$250.00 is requested per dependent.

c) visa and residency of investor the applicant must be able to demonstrate an investment of US$200,000.00 and have a certification of investor from the CEI-RD.

d) visa and residency for an employee, the company hiring the applicant needs to comply with several requirements of different laws in order to obtain the authorization to hire a not citizen. Certification of SIRLA, contract registration, certification of less than 20% of foreign workers.

e) visa and residency for family reunification (family bond) the applicant must demonstrate his marriage to a Dominican and the Dominican citizen must be able to show enough solvency to sponsor the applicant while he or she gets a job in the Dominican Republic.

2) The documents shared are:

a) Birth certificate
b) Background check
c) Passport
d) Marriage certificate if married
e) Name change certificate if any
f) Bank letter (the amount of cash in the accounts required depends in the kind of visa and residency)

3) For every application you need the listed above, for retirado the certification of income is an inexcusable document to apply, for rentista you need the same, the document that will demonstrate that you have been -and will continue to receive- at least US$2,000.00.

I hope this information comes handy.

Lishali Baez

lishali: can you clarify the “retirado” category? I've heard the 1500 + 250 per month before...but then you say $2000 at the end?  And I've heard from friends and acquaintances it's more like $2500??  We meet the threshold of $2250 per month right now with rental income as a couple. Is that sufficient?

Those are two categories one is reirement income or pension.  The other is "rental" income so different figures.  And with rental income you must show 5 year historical data.

Lishali: you didn't mention medical certificate.  I believe it's still required, correct?

I think your applying for b) Rentista Visa which is different from
a) Retirado Visa. I am applying for a) Retirado Visa because we are coming with my Husband's Social Security and Pension income which covers the $1,500 per month plus $250 for me as a dependant (since I have a couple more years before I can apply for SS).

The rental income visa is a different visa than the Pensioners Visa (or Retirado Visa which I believe is the samething) but we can of course wait to hear her reply.🌻

Hello Brodies2013,

I am sorry if my message confused you.

For retirement or retirado (spanish term) the minimum income monthly is US$1,500.00 or its equivalent in another currency.  Plus an extra US$250.00 is required per dependent.

It sounds like you are much more a rentista under the Dominican law than a retiree, the minimum income for a rentista is US$2,000.00 a month plus an extra US$250.00 for your partner.

According to your message you do meet the requirement of income, however, please take into consideration that under the rentista program this income must be verifiable for the last 5 years uninterruptedly.

I hope this message helps you clarify the information.

Lishali

Great observation Darlene, thank you for adding value to my comment.

You are right, the medical certificate is still a requirement to apply for visa. The medical certificate does not need to be legalized with the Apostille.

To the entire community[b][/b]:

Do not confuse the medical certificate with the medical exam that the Dominican authorities will request upon evaluation of your application for residency here.

It is important to keep in touch with someone in the Dominican Republic or an attorney when handling these two phases or steps, to avoid unwanted delays.

Lishali

Thank you for answering Kat11, you are right.

Rental or rentista are the same category, the source of income is what determines the type of visa you are eligible for. 

As you also said well, pensionado and retirado are the same visa type.

Lishali

Not sure if this should be asked here or on the "Legal" thread, but it is sort of tied to Residency, at least the first part. First, once Residency is finally complete, I hear there is a one time option to bring goods - vehicles, furniture etc into the country.  Would it be recommended to have a lawyer involved in this and for clarification, how long does one have to do such a thing - 6 months, a year?? Are there limits? Also, as I have never seen it written, should a lawyer be utilized if bringing in large sums of money that is earmarked specifically for house construction, renovations, purchase of household items, vehicle purchase etc.

Great questions!

Our income from two rental properties and a property rental business is $2,265 per month and has been for 7 years.  If we moved down we would actually rent our current home too, so more income.  But, is there a requirement for a certain amount of $$ to be deposited monthly in a Dominican bank account???

Hello,

Thank you for your message.

It is important that we make clear that the only residents who benefit from exemptions are: Investors, rentistas and pensioners.

Regarding your question if one should have a lawyer in this transaction, you definitely need an expert you can trust when dealing with the system in the Dominican Republic. Therefore, aside from the import agency you choose, I believe it is a good idea to have someone else in the country to represent you, just in case any situation comes in the way.  After six months the benefits are no longer available.

The Dominican Republic has a very strong Money Laundering Law, even attorneys are obligated subjects with the obligation to have our clients complete a form called: ‘'know your client''.  Also, when opening a bank account here to receive large or not so large sums you will need to explain the source of such income and have an interview with a compliance officer. A very common practice is to announce the bank that you will be receiving such amount beforehand, that way you can help them do their investigation job in less time.

Any amount of money larger than 10ks coming with you in your pocket needs to be declared in the customs form in the Dominican Republic, if not the authorities can confiscate the money, the person becomes subject of prison and on top of that this person most likely have to pay a fine.

Hopefully this information is useful to everyone in our community.

Lishali

Gracias Lishali - you will the first person I contact IF and when this becomes a possibility once I am good to do so....

Thanks Lishali!

¡Muchas gracias! It would be a pleasure.

The Immigration Department started to work yesterday on the 20th. These are the new guidelines to consider:

1) The institution restarts its work with only 50% of its active staff

2) There will be a strict sanitary protocol, it will consist in the use of masks for everyone and they will take the temperature of everyone before entering.

2) The number of daily appointments will not be more than 100 (the amounts previously reached up to 250 appointments a day)

3) It is important to adjust to the assigned appointment, as no more than 30 people will be allowed in the waiting room. I

4) In all cases, late payments will be discounted from March 19 to May 20.

5) For now, it will be impossible to visit the institution with questions or some other management that has not been previously granted by appointment. If you have a file with delays or problems, it is best to contact an attorney or person who can consult the status of your file in immigration department.

Hopefully this is useful information.

Lishali

Hello,

It is a great thing you ask this question. It is very important that whatever amount you show to the Immigration Authorities with your first application, is an amount that you can keep coming into your account monthly.

When the renewals come, if your Dominican bank account does not reflect such incomes shown at the initial application, your renewal will be denied.

Lishali

Great info and updates, thanks.

2.  First step in your home country.


The consulate in your country will provide everything needed to be submitted and handle on your behalf?

Lawyer in DR can only start process after everything is done within home country and approved?

***

I am removing that post. This is residencia not work or business visa.  It just complicates this thread.

DRVisitor wrote:

2.  First step in your home country.


The consulate in your country will provide everything needed to be submitted and handle on your behalf?

Lawyer in DR can only start process after everything is done within home country and approved?

Yes the first step is in your home country.  It is recommended you speak with a lawyer early in the process to make sure you get all that is needed.  There are often tips they can give you.  I have heard various stories about various consulates.  Some are helpf and some have no idea! 

Once you get your residency visa and come to the DR you can do this yourself.  I don't recommend it personally.   A good experienced lawyer can help throughout the process and does not need to be seriously expensive but can save you time heartache and money! 

I expect things will continue to shift especially after this upcoming election!

Do they look at assets and wealth as opposed to monthly income ? If you have assets in the DR already that are significant as well as assets in your country or originin but do not receive or need a monthly income because you are retired young, does this count against you ?

Investments here count.  Guaranteed.or stable streams of income count.

One way or the other you must qualify.  From your situation it sounds like you really should ask a lawyer based on your specific details.

Hello,

I am curious about a residency visa for someone self employed (online business only).
Thank you

This does not qualify for residencia.

Do legal issues in your home country count against you?  Such as an outstanding arrest warrant or financial
Judgments?

It depends upon the issue.  One thing to keep in mind about qualifications.  Ask yourself what you will do for the country, not what the country will do for you.  If are not planning on investing here, don't apply for residency unless you are married to a Dominican.  No money, no candy.

Good luck.

Your criminal record will show up on the background check and yes it can and will be used against you.

The ability to show up here and live - without residency - is soon going to disappear as an option!

I believe at least in the case of North America the police report is federal.  Probably anything that shows up there will be a problem.