Retirement Visas

@planner

We just received our approval for pensioners retirement visa. Once we had all our paperwork we travelled in for final submission mid March. We received word yesterday 8/5 so 4.5 months in total. Used Lishali and had help from Maria in her group. Had medical following week we had all papers in order submitted. That was a two week trip in coordination with Lishali’s help.

Congratulations

@karynllanders

This helps a lot of people understand the timeline. Thanks for posting and congrats.

@karynllanders

Congratulations I just submitted my residency documents to the Orlando FL consulate 3 days ago. Was told should be about 3 weeks for processing. Already anticipating the headaches and snags when I get to the Capital.

@DRforme

Did you apply for pensioners visas or investment? Do they translate documents at the consulate and how did you pay for it, by money order or check?

@karynllanders

Congratulations!

I too used Lishali and it took about 4.5 months for my approval to come though as well.

@ryzik68

I had initially planned on applying for a marriage residency. But after the person at the consulate that was reviewing my documents seen that I was also a Social Security recipient he advised to go with the pensioner route. As that would give me permanent residency right from the start versus marriage residency which only gives you temporary residency which then entails renewing every year. All that was needed by me was to have my Social Security benefit letter apostilled which I accomplished online at considerable cost. As for translations the consulate now says that they need to be done by them. 😏 As for payments they have also changed to a cash only option for all transactions no more credit cards. A lot of unhappy people in the consulate who were unaware of that. But all in all it was a pleasant experience very nice people taking about 3 hours to get everything done. I highly recommend the Orlando FL office to anyone who needs consulate assistance.

As far as I know pensioners don't go directly to permanent residency.  I would double check if I were you!

@DRforme

I think the info you got is wrong as my visa is by family reunification and since my wife is Dominican and we have been married for more than 2 yrs I actually qualify for D.R. citizenship after 6 month temp. Residency and living in Dominican Republic.  Double check your info to be sure.

@Alfonso Ayala

This was told to me and discussed with the person who reviewed all my documents at the consulate. So not sure who I’m supposed to verify it with. I know that it sounds wrong as I have done my homework. Maybe it’s something new not sure but just relaying what I was told. Could possibly be because I have a Dominican wife and pension. 🤔

@DRforme

One thing to keep in mind is that the consulates only handle visas, not residency! The consulate is like our state department and Migración, which handles residency, is like our USCIS. Two different government agencies and I would not assume that the consulate has knowledge beyond their scope.

We have been here as pensioners for over 5 years. We got our initial one-year residency and have had to renew it every two years since!

@ddmcghee

Yes I completely understand that but one should assume that the people at the consulate are familiar with applying for residency along with what path to choose in applying. Not sure why it would have even been suggested if it was not a viable alternative. Especially when I could have just as easily gone with the residency by marriage option. 🤷‍♂️

Your safest bet would be to check with an immigration lawyer... and/or just be prepared to handle it if things do turn out different. It's 2025. There are fewer and fewer things I feel safe assuming even in my home country. And assumptions about how someone else does their job can be especially misleading. As ddmcghee said, it's not strictly their area of expertise. Don't pin too many hopes on logic. Still, hope it works out for you!

@wondering9

I know all to well about assuming or relying on anything in regards to DR. But regardless of which path of residency I choose the only difference or change is whether I obtain permanent or temporary residence from the start. If it turns out that I was given misinformation and have to accept temporary residency then fine by me. I’m certainly not going to lose any sleep over it.

I would definitely suggest speaking with an attorney. I believe that family reunification is the cheapest and easiest path to residency and eventual citizenship if you qualify.

@DRforme

Never assume they are giving you correct information! Never!  In this case you have gotten bad information.

@ddmcghee

That is my understanding as well. Confirmed by probably the best immigration lawyer here

@ddmcghee

Ok many Thanks to you and the others who have replied. I will be going back to the consulate next week sometime to drop off something and will get a little more clarification on this. If it turns out to be false then I just proceed knowing that I will only be receiving temporary residency. That is what I had planned on anyway before I was told otherwise so no big deal.

@DRforme

You can also read all the rules and regulations for Residencia on the Migracion website.

@ddmcghee

Have already done that countless times. I can pretty much recite the list of requirements without looking. 👀 and yes I have not found one thing that supports what I was told by the consulate. I did not go into this process without doing my homework as I have already started my online application and just awaiting my visa to continue. The only snag was being told that the pensioner application would give me permanent residency. Once I speak with the consulate again this week I will make my decision on what path to take  pensioner or marriage as I qualify for both.