How to move to Dominican Republic?

Where in Mo. I used to live in KC a long time ago. We recently moved to the DR from Colorado.

Currently there are no requirements to move to the DR. You have to show "solvency" in order to get your residency papers, but you don't need that to live here only if you are going to work and then you need your Cedula (green card) but again no residency.
Have you ever visited here, it is a big country. I would reccomend coming for a few weeks to check it out before taking the plunge. It can be challanging some times but we love it. It still is the most affordable island in the Caribbean but more expensive then 4 years ago. We live on the north coast for a couple of reasons. First even though it is a tourist area there is a large population of locals and expats here with mnay towns and some terrific beaches.  Santiago is only an hour and a half away for major shopping. This is unlike the Punta Cana area (southeast) wiht lots of beautiful beaches and almost all tourists. The north coast is also pretty hurricane proof and we have not had a major storm here in over 30 years.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Bob K

Sorry as far as costs are concerned it depends on what you are bringing.  The cost can be anything from an airplane ticket to thousands of dollars to ship a house hold of goods.

Bob K

Bob K,

We live in the KC metro area.  I have never visited the DR before.  What would you say is challenging about living there? 

Do I only have to show solvency to get the residency papers or is there also a charge for them?  How much do green cards cost? 

Are there many English-speaking people on the north coast where you are? 

I doubt we'd bring our household of goods. I'd rather just replace it when/if we get there.

Do you know what the average price to rent a house is?  We need nothing fancy, just an average place to fit a family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children).

Lily,

It might be easier to email me. You can get my email from the member profile.

To try to answer some of the questions.

The most chanlenging part is getting used to not having 24 hour electricity (we do have a generator), poor road conditions, terrible drivers, spotty health care (but easy to deal with for the expats). Overall not all that difficult to deal with.

You have to show solvency for the residency card but not your cedula (green card) to work. There is a fee and i am not sure what it is however most hire a good lawyer to handle it all for you.  Ours cost $800 per person and that was for residency and cedula.


Here on the north coast there is a large population of US, Brits, Canadians, Germans, Swiss, and such.  Many speak english and some of the locals do as well as they deal with the tourists. However I would reccomend that you learn some basic spanish if you plan to move here. Not hard to do.

Renting a home or condo in a secure neighborhood is not difficult and should cost you $1000 or less per month. But depending on what you want can be less or more. So as we say here mas o menos (more or less).

What is your motivation to move here? Again you should take a trip and visit. If you do however do not stay in Playa dorada as you will only get a taste of the AI tourist resorts and not the true DR.

Again please feel free to contact me via email as i have lots of information that is not really for sharing on the board.

I  used to live just off of independence ave. near the paseo. Went to medical school there.

Bob K

Some of the above is totally incorrect You DO need residency to live here, otherwise you come on a visit visa which you get at the airport when you arrive and this expires after 3 months.  No idea where Bob K is getting his information.

Avacado,
You are So WRONG.  Do you live here?  You NO NOT need residency to live here. Yes you are on a visitor visa, yes it does expire and in 14 days not three months. Yes if you stay longer there are over stay fees. Every time you enter the country this starts over again from zero.  The fees are:

OVERSTAY PENALTIES

15 Days - 3 Months: $300 Pesos
3 Months - 9 Months: $500 Pesos
9 Months - 1 Year: $2000 Pesos
1 Year - 1.5 Years: $3500 Pesos
1.5 Years - 2 Years: $4500 Pesos
2 Years - 2.5 Years: $6000 Pesos
2.5 Years - 3 Years: $8000 Pesos
3-5 Years: $12000 Pesos
5 Years+: $15000 Pesos

So if you stay one year - one day your fee is about $60 dollars US. If you leave in 8 months and 29 days your fee is about $15. Again anytime you leave and return (like for a vacation or to visit family) you start over with a new visa.

So living here is no problem with not getting  your residency and a good portion of expats here do not have it.

Bob K

Without Residency, the 'visitor' is living illegally and is subject to deportation.  The fact that they may only fine the illegal immigrant at the airport, if and when they leave, does not alleviate the fact that living illegally is a criminal offense.  In any case if the 'visitor' intends to leave, they are not living here.

AVacado,

I guess we will agree to disagree.

Bob K

Well I don't remember the whole process completely but you do need a residency (cedula).  In order to do banking, rent, whatever they all ask for a cedula or passport.  We started our process in September, moved at the end of November and got our cedula through attorneys around end of January, might have even been February.  It is not cheap but of course we were reimbursed and paid by the company. Our furniture could not leave Mexico until we had our cedula residency so your idea to buy everything here is probably a good idea.  Join or contact IWC (INTERNATIONAL WOMENS CLUB) to find out about people leaving country to purchase household items from them.

jltflrs wrote:

Well I don't remember the whole process completely but you do need a residency (cedula).  In order to do banking, rent, whatever they all ask for a cedula or passport.  We started our process in September, moved at the end of November and got our cedula through attorneys around end of January, might have even been February.  It is not cheap but of course we were reimbursed and paid by the company. Our furniture could not leave Mexico until we had our cedula residency so your idea to buy everything here is probably a good idea.  Join or contact IWC (INTERNATIONAL WOMENS CLUB) to find out about people leaving country to purchase household items from them.

You are correct you need your Cedula (ID card) to do most transactions like banking, buying and registering a car (though both can be done with a passport only but easier with a cedula) You need your residency for your one time tax free shipment of household goods, In oreder to work here you also need your cedula.
Avacado is correct in that if you don't get them and are here longer then now 30 days according to the government web site you are here illegaly, but many who do not intend to work here do not bother getting them.
Most of us however do.

Bob K