New members of the Dominican Republic forum, introduce yourselves here - 2019

Hi Everyone

I am a single parent looking to begin my new life in DR. I have worked on my career for 10 years and burnt out, so I've decided to sell everything a complete my PhD thesis in the Caribbean with my 4 year old son.

I was a Tesol teacher in my 20s and ironically looking for a part time teaching job, a small culturally diverse primary school for my boy and a simple home near the sea. I'm downsizing my life so I can finish my thesis. Then after, in a year I hope to lay some roots here.
I am looking for an area in DR that is safe, culturally mixed, English school to work in affordable rent and a beautiful beach!

Too much to ask ? ... Please help us reach our dreams. I plan on leave to DR before July 2019

ThQ for reading xxxx

Welcome to the forums!!!  I see you started a thread and I will go there to resond!!!

Hello every body,

Im not expat, Im Dominican but Im here for invitation of a friend,   hope my advises can help you.

Have a great day.

Welcome  Riva31,  you offer a different perspective and we will welcome your input.

Sorry did I miss a thread or advice. Still new to the site x

Natasha welcome to the site.  My best advice is to start reading the various threads and ask questions honey!!!

Hi There!

I am from Ontario Canada.  Hubby and I own a small cottage rental property which we have put up for sale.  We are looking to retire somewhere Caribbean.  We have traveled extensively for both work and pleasure, and consider ourselves "grass roots" travelers. Our first vacation together when we met was to the DR - loved it, hubby refused to leave, LOL!  We stayed at an all-inclusive - didn't love it!  Since then we have always done our own planning, staying at B&B's, Inn's and apartments.  We prefer to stay away from the tourist area's, choosing small villages and towns.  In 2010 we operated a B&B in Mexico for 6 months while the owners took some time away.  Loved the experience!

We have looked at a few different options for retirement but keep finding our way back to the DR option.  The 30 day limitation has honestly been what took us away from considering in the past.  We believe we should spend considerable time in various localities before making a decision and applying for a Resident Visa. Being Canadian, we are able to stay in many other countries for 6 months before having to leave.

Having said that, we still must wait for our business to sell before making a decision.  So I will continue to collect information on DR and we will definitely come for a 30 day visit and do some exploring.

I also want to say Thank You to everyone who contributes to this Forum.  There is a wealth of information and I have found myself lost in reading the threads instead of going to bed at night!  LOL!

Welcome to the forums!   Glad we can be of help!

Hello to all,

I joined the forum 3 weeks ago. I am from Victoria, B.C. and I sell real estate down here in Casa de Campo. The forum has been very helpful to me. Glad I found it.

As for the 30 day issue.

You can get residency w/o giving up your Cdn status... like another passport

That would be a solution for you... I did it

Hi WillieWeb,

Thanks for your suggestion.  Yes, that is an option we have considered.  It just seems like an incredible expense and time consuming.   I understand the cost is around $2,000 US (couple) which is $2,700 Cdn.  I wish DR made it easier for visitors to tour the country.

Hey, Chris here... the wife and I are considering expatriating (with a focus on the DR) and I am interested and learning details about the expat community(s) in and around Sosua. I say Sosua as more of a jumping off point for now, but definitely the northern coastal area. I have attempted using basic internet research; however, there is definitely a human element to the questions I have and good ol' google doesn't cut it. I look forward to learning more and hope all is well down south.

Welcome maybe......LOL  Sheeeesh I am funny today.

Honey there is a ton of info on the various threads. Start reading and asking questions in the various threads.  That keeps everything together and mostly on topic.....

And all is good down south, way better then up north!  You all are dealing with the white stuff falling out of the sky.......

Hello everyone.
I must admit, I’m suddenly terrified after coming here.

In 2 wks I’ll be in Cabarete to start the purchase process on my forever home. Early retirement, I guess it’s called.

But now, having read up about visa issues, bars on windows and doors, single female/safety, dissatisfaction with government.... the difficulty with Residency—  I must admit that my heads not in the happy place that I was working on.

Now, I admit to not doing the full due diligence prior, and am seriously jumping in without much thought, but before checking here everything I’d read was positive. Great atmosphere, pleasant people, layed back, low cost of living, lots of sun - what could possibly go wrong?? - am I making a mistake?

I get that I need to contact a consulate here, then apply there, for a residency visa. But it seems like a nightmare.

I will be spending 99.9% of my life on the beach, nose in a book and enjoying watching people and kites. No drama.

I hope?!?!?!?!

Please- any and ALL input is totally appreciated!!!
Thanks

Hello Sunshine,

I would step back form the house purchase and just chill on the beach for a few months. Give yourself time. There is no rush to do anything.....

Hi everyone I'm looking to retire to the dom rep in 18months can you reconmend a emergration lawyer

Sunshine - welcome. Sadly too many times the focus is on the negative. I've been here over 15 years!  Take precautions and you will be fine. Honey open a thread and ask all your questions! 

Les - welcome as well.  Check out the thread on residency.  Ask questions and you will get answers.  Unless you plan to visit soon you are a bit early to start residency.

Steverino7777, I appreciate ur thoughts, but believe me, the purchase is a must because of... well, once I know ya a bit longer I’ll definitely explain!! But it’s a must immediately.

***

Thank you, that’s really kind of you. I’ll definitely drop a note once I’m Extremely Confused vs Mildly Shocked! 

I did post, starting a thread as recommended, Purchasing in Cabarete. I’m just full of questions.

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to share this bounty of knowledge!! You’re giving us newbies a heads up about things we never really thought of!!

Thanks for posting the thread and we're answering!

By the way, Steve we don't permit you to post your website honey.

OK Planner. Entiendo. Gracias....

Siempre honey.  Thanks.

!hola  Just found this board while at work tonight. After vacationing in DR for several years, we have decided to take the plunge and are buying an apartment near Bayahibe, on the south coast. I am 5-10 years away from retirement and would like to winter in DR and summer back home in the US. Extreme snow birding if you will.

The complex where we are buying has a pool of units that they list on airbnb.  I haven't decided if I want to rent or not.  I don't need the unit to earn money, and I want it available to family during the peak vacation time. So probably not. But if I do rent, then at least I know someone is putting eyes on it once in a while.

Anyhow, it's a pretty easy flight from where we are on the east coast.  I fly into SD, rent a car, and drive about an hour and a half to Bayahibe.  We'll probably look at scooters or a golf cart when we start spending winters there.  We stop and get a few staples to cook, but mostly we enjoy the local food in the neighborhood.  We also scuba dive, which was what brought us to the area in the first place.

So no real questions right now.  Just saying hello and trying to learn what I need to know about being in the DR.

Welcome to the forums! Sounds like you are well on your way to the retirement  lifestyle you want!!!

Hello,
I am a 38 year old woman, currently living in Montreal, Quebec.
I am looking to move to DR to meetup with my dominican boyfriend... I can already see the eyes rolling but sometimes its ok to take chances in life as long as you know what you are getting yourself into.

So am here to get some help on figuring out what i need to relocate and get advise on certain matters. Not relationship advise pretty please

God willing, I would be moving to Cotuí, Ramirez Sanchez by 2020. I was there just a few weeks ago for a visit. We already have a house built in the country side. So at least i don't have to worry about rent there.

I am a graphic designer. And am working on building contracts to be able to bring my work with me and have a stable income.

If this doesn't workout, I would look for work there and we would most probably rent in Santo Domingo.

I speak English, French, Arabic and i've learnd Spanish recently and can hold up a conversation on my own very well. I'm still taking classes to fortify it.

These forums are very helpful. I'm glad Goggle lead me here.

Welcome to the forums!!! Lots of info on here honey, feel free to ask whatever questions you have in the appropriate threads.

And open a new thread when you need.

I will ask everyone to keep your relationship advice to yourself unless the poster asks for it.  Thanks!

Hello ,  i am new here . I have been retired for a few years and my wife retires in August , we r Canadian and would like to spend our winters in the Dominican Republic. Does it make sense to spend the first winter there , pay the overstay fine and if we like it , apply for our residents visa ?

Welcome  to the forums. Absolutely honey, it makes perfect sense.  Start reading the  threads, google search for photos,  choose a place and come on down!

Good morning,

My husband, Damon and I have spent the last 9 years vacationing on many of the islands in the Caribbean.  Coming from Washington State, we knew that we wanted to retire somewhere warm and sunny.  Our first trip to the DR was 4 years ago to Juan Dolio.  We decided that wasn't the spot for us but knew that we wanted to give the DR another look.

We returned last June to Las Terrenas near Samana, and were blessed with a great real estate agent who showed us every type of property.  We settled on new construction in Coson which will be completed this April.

We have shipped only the absolute essentials and are in the process of getting rid of everything else.  We hope to be in the air in the next few weeks.  Our plan is to rent short term while our home is being completed; get to know our little town and start shopping for household items to fill our home.

We have done lots of research on visa's and residency, and while we feel confident that we know what is needed.  We have collected almost all the documents needed for our visa but not sure if it is needed since I think out new home fulfills the $$$$ requirements for residency.  Input on this would be awesome.

I have already seen some really great information shared on this forum and am looking forward to picking everyone's brains while we get settled.

Tracy

Welcome Tracy to you and your husband.  There is a long thread on residency so check that out. Any doubts or questions ask in the appropriate thread honey. Or always feel free to start a new one!

Buenos Dias! My wife and I are looking at buying a house in downtown Las Terrenas after visiting a few times. She is a software developer/agile manager at a large SAS company. I'm a Mechanical/automation engineer with a small consulting base I serve. We are motorhome campers in the US and have traveled the US and the Canadian Maritimes extensively.
We have fallen in love with the cultural, racial, and language mix in the DR and the relaxed and open communication between income and educational classes with everyone mixed into diverse neighborhoods. The culinary traditions of so many places melded into one! We also are dog lovers, so there is that taking care of the coconut hounds thing, too. Probably will try to rent the property when we cannot be there, and will retire there ASAP (kids in school here).

Welcome to the forums. Thank you for introducing yourselves!   As you may know, there is lots of info on the various threads. I am sure several hours of reading......

Ask questions as needed and feel free to open your own threads!

As a ME you'll have a blast.  Keep an eye out for suitable locations for a new high output/low head hydro system installation. 15Kw...

Not especially recommending buying the unit off the shelf, looks too easy to fab with a rewind/modded motor.  Checking out 3D printing of impeller since I'm looking to relocate to the north coast myself.

One think I noticed in Las Terrenas was the large numbers of gen sets running even while the lights were on.  Turned out that the wattage was lower the further you got from the generating plants so not so good for computers, etc.

Google 'turbulent hydropower'   99% of the system can be built by the excellent concrete masons and requires just 1.5 meter drop.

Enjoy yourselves and welcome to the board!

Kind regards,

Jay Reynolds

Hello everyone!
I and my groom have wedding in July, and we want to celebrate it in Dominican Republic, that's why I registered on this forum.I'd like to know more information about this country. Now we find wedding agency and want to choose this one happypeoplewed.com . May be you know is this agency good or not, or may be your friends applied to it  or you can advice another one? I'll be glad to any your answers, it's very important for me.

Welcome to the forums.  Start reading and start a thread on this topic for better answers.

I am from Houston, Texas and have lived in England, Hawaii and several states in the U.S. and have traveled extensively.  I was in the AirForce for 12 years, and recently retired (March 31, 2018) from Civil Service after 38 years.  My children are grown and I love to travel and love adventure.  I am not ready to settle down in one place yet, so I am looking to find a new and exciting adventure while I consider the future and where I wish to reside for a while.

Welcome to the forums. Lots of adventure possibilities here,  time for a visit!

DomiAbr

I responded to you.  Start reading the forum and threads for information OR  start your own thread. This is for welcoming people and is not for answering the hundreds of questions we receive.