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Becoming
a Dominican Resident
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| Dominican
residency is a very useful status to acquire for a variety of reasons:
1) It facilitates a number of business transactions in the D.R., including
obtaining bank loans, buying real estate and applying for credit; 2) It
makes one eligible for lower tuition at Dominican universities; 3)
It permits one to work legally in the Dominican Republic; 4) One can take
advantage of Law 14-93, Art. 13, and import most household goods duty free.
In order to
obtain Dominican residency, it is first necessary to obtain a residence
visa. Even if one is already in the Dominican Republic under another kind
of visa, such as a tourist card or tourist visa or business visa, a residence
visa must be applied for and obtained before obtaining a provisional residence
card, which is the final document certifying that one has valid Dominican
residency. While in practice it is not necessary to be a legal resident
to live in the
Dominican
Republic, the principal advantage is that you will be able to import your
household goods, most tax exempt, under Law 14-93.
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Dominican
Republic Second Passport
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A Residency
Program for the D.R.
One-tenth the
price of other programs - Easy qualification requirements - plenty of opportunity.
C
L I C K H E R E
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| Becoming
a Dominican Resident was contributed by dr.1 - http://www.dr1.com
- Dominican Republic News & Travel Information Service - It is considered
the The best and most up to date source for news and travel information
on the Dominican Republic and it has a wide range of services for those
thinking of living and investing in the the Dominican Republic including
an online classified board. They also publish Living In Santo Domingo from
which this article was excerpted. |
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Residence Visa
In order to
obtain a residency visa, a number of documents must be submitted to the
Dominican consulate nearest the actual place of residency of the applicant,
or if the applicant is already in the Dominican Republic, they may be submitted
to the Secretariat of State for Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic.
The documents are the following:
1. Three 2"
x 2" frontal photos of the applicant’s face.
2. A completed
Visa application Form 509.
3. A certification
of good behavior issued by the Police Department of the applicant’s original
place of residence.
4. An employment
agreement or, if a real estate investment has been made, a copy of the
purchase agreement, or any other documentation proving the applicant’s
financial solvency in the Dominican Republic. The employment agreement
must be registered with the Dominican Secretariat of Labor which will send
a labor inspector to the place of work to determine work conditions and
ensure that the foreign applicant is filling a position that a Dominican
national cannot at the moment fill. The process of certifying the employment
agreement is separate from that of applying for residency, and may take
some
time, in most cases, up to one month after filing the agreement with the
Labor Department before one can proceed to file any documentation with
the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
5. A letter
of guarantee from a Dominican citizen, or legal resident of the Dominican
Republic.
6. If a real
estate investment has been made, a copy of the Presidential authorization
if one had been obtained.
7. The results
of a medical examination certified by a Notary Public and authenticated
by the Dominican consul.
8. An original
birth certificate of the applicant, translated into Spanish.
Once the above
documents are assembled, the file is complete and may be submitted to the
Consular Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Avenida Independencia,
some 300 meters east of the Santo Domingo Hotel. The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs is housed in a former residence of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, the
former dictator.
The file eventually
will be sent to the Intelligence Service of the Dominican Republic known
by its acronym in Spanish, DNI. This department will schedule an interview
with the applicant and his guarantor to determine the validity of the application.
This is normally a routine matter which is to confirm the information already
provided by the client to the government. Once this is done the file is
then returned to the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs for further processing.
The entire
process for obtaining the residence visa may take between two to three
months, although some cases have been known to take as much as one year.
Provisional
Residence Card
After the
residence visa has been issued, the applicant has 60 days within which
to enter the Dominican Republic, or if already here, 60 days within which
to submit an application for a provisional residence card. This application
is submitted to the Dominican Immigration Department which normally takes
some two to three months to process. It is valid for one year at the end
of which time the applicant may submit a petition for a permanent residence
card. Permanent residence cards must be renewed every year. If five years
elapse after a permanent residence card has expired, the applicant loses
his residency.
The requirements
for applying for a provisional residence card are the following:
1. Application
Form C-1 Ref.
2. Two copies
of the Residence Visa.
3. A copy
of the applicant’s birth certificate, translated into Spanish.
4. Four 2"
x 2" frontal photos of the applicant’s face.
5. Three 2"
x 2" profile photos of the applicant’s face.
6. A copy
of the land purchase agreement, Certificate of Title issued by the Title
Registry office or a copy of the employment agreement or other documentation
proving the financial solvency of the applicant in the Dominican Republic.
7. A notarized
letter from a Dominican citizen or a legal resident in the country, guaranteeing
the Dominican government the financial support of the applicant during
his or her stay in the country, including, if need be, the cost of repatriating
the applicant.
8. The results
of a physical examination, including a blood test
(V.D.R.L.),
an HIV test and a chest x-ray, conducted by a medical doctor who is a citizen
of the Dominican Republic.
9. Immigration
Department excise taxes.
Permanent
Residence Card
Once the provisional
residence card has expired, the applicant may then apply for a permanent
residence card. The following documents are required in order to apply
for the permanent residency card:
1. Sworn statement
by two persons who bear witness to knowing the applicant in the country
and that his conduct is in compliance with the laws of the country (plus
three copies).
2. Letter
of guarantee notarized by a local attorney to the effect that a Dominican
citizen or resident will assume responsibility for the applicant while
in the country (plus three copies).
3. Four copies
of the residence visa issued by the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs for
the provisional residency.
4. The original
provisional residency card plus three copies.
5. A certificate
of good conduct issued by the Dominican police plus three copies.
6. Six 2"
x 2" photos, four of them frontal photos and two profile photos of the
applicant.
7. The results
of a physical examination, including a blood test (V.D.R.L.), an HIV test
and a chest x-ray, conducted by a medical doctor who is a citizen of the
Dominican Republic.
8. Bank letter
certifying to an applicant’s accounts in a Dominican bank.
9. Copy of
an employment agreement, if an applicant is working in the Dominican Republic.
10. Application
Form C-1 duly completed.
This chapter
is reproduced with permission from the “Living in Santo Domingo 1998” book.
The book is available from the following web site: http://dr1.com/living98.shtml
All rights
reserved. All contents copyright (C) 1999, dr1.com
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