8
Jan

The question ¿How do I obtain or what is the process of residency in the Dominican Republic? is very frequent among the people who wish to emigrate to the Dominican Republic.

In this article we will explain the steps that must be followed to obtain the Dominican residency and later the Dominican citizenship if you are interested.

Quick and simple answer

The three (3) steps necessary to obtain the Dominican Residency and Dominican Cedula for foreigners are:  

1- Requesting and Obtaining a Residency Visa (Dominican Consulate).

2- Application and Obtaining of Residency (G.M.).

3- Application for an Identity Card (C.E.).

So now let’s talk in detail about the process and steps to obtain residency in the Dominican Republic.

The first thing you should know is that the Dominican government grants three (3) types of residency:

“The Temporary, Permanent and other Definitive”.

These are defined as:

Dominican Temporary Residency

Temporary residence permit for a foreigner who enters the Dominican Republic with the purpose of residing temporarily in the country.  The validity of this permit is for one (1) year.

Dominican Permanent Residency

Change of migratory status to Permanent Resident (RP-1). It is an extension of the residence permit, for one (1) year, granted to that foreigner who has complied with the condition of Annual Renewal of his/her Ordinary Temporary Residence Permit (RT-9), for five (5) years of residence.

IMPORTANT:

Below we explain, that there is a Permanent Residency Category, from the Beginning, as long as, you, applied to:  Investment, Retired or Rentier.

Dominican Permanent Residency

Definitive Resident (RD-1). It is an extension of the residence permit for ten (10) additional years.

If you have your Permanent Residence that has resided continuously in the Dominican Republic, for a period of ten (10) years or more, renewed, you can request the change of category to Definitive.

Then, entering in matter, if you wish to settle down in our country, you must proceed:

1. a) Apply for a Residency Visa (at the Dominican Consulate), and b) Dominican Residency (in the country).

Once the Visa is obtained, in most of the cases you will have to apply for:

A Temporary Residence Permit (most common), since to acquire Permanent Residence it is required to have been a Temporary Resident for five years, and a change of category to Permanent Resident is requested.

Or a Residence Permit for: Investment, Rentier or Retired, in this way a permanent residence is acquired immediately.

In both (2) cases, it is MANDATORY and/or necessary to apply for a RESIDENCE VISA first at the Dominican consulate nearest to your legal domicile abroad.

Law 285-04 on Migration and its Regulation 631-11, modified the way to make residency applications.

“It is no longer possible to apply for a residency visa in the Dominican Republic”, but must be outside of”.

Detailed steps to obtain residency in the Dominican Republic:

1. Identify the type of Visa that applies to you.

Residency Visas, and qualify for this type of visa for the following reasons:

• Family Reunification / Kinship ties (family reunification by marriage / direct dependency).
• Investor: As long as he/she can invest USD$200,000.00 in a Dominican company.
• Rentier: If you receive income not less than USD$2,000.00 per month, during the last 5 years.
• Retired/Pensioned: If you receive an amount of USD$1,500.00 per month.

Other visa options to reside and/or enter the country regularly are the following:

• Business Visas for employment purposes.
• Student Visas.
• Dependency Visa.
• Business Visas.

2. Apply for residency at the Dominican consulate.

Documents required to submit your application for Dominican residency:

1- Passport with a minimum validity of 18 months.

2- Photocopy of your identity documents. In case you are not a citizen of the country where you are applying for residency, you must present the residency permit of that country.

3- Birth certificate.

4- Marriage certificate if married.

5- Certificate of no criminal record issued by the authorities of your country of residence.

6- Documents that justify your interest in residing in the Dominican Republic (for example, a contract or job offer, investment documents, etc.).

7- Medical certificate issued by the health authorities of the country where you reside.

8- Letter signed before a notary by a Dominican or foreigner permanently residing in the Dominican Republic guaranteeing that you will not be a burden to the Dominican State.

9- Documents that justify your economic solvency.

10- Photographs.

Important note:

• All documents must be in Spanish language, otherwise they must be translated to that language.
• The documents that do not come from the Dominican Republic, must be “apostilled” in the country where they are issued, except in those where the apostille does not apply, in these cases the documents must be legalized in the nearest Dominican consulate in that country.

Do you want to know what an apostille is? see HERE

• The Dominican consulate where you made your application may require additional documents to those mentioned above.
• The applicants will be able to include in their residency petition that of their spouse and minor children, in some cases it is called visa and residency by dependency, attaching the marriage certificate and the birth certificates of their children, as well as their passports and additional documents.

Other Provisions

The temporary residence permit must be renewed every year. You must personally apply for renewal thirty days before the expiration of your permit, attaching the following documents: passport valid for at least 18 months, certificate of no criminal record of the Dominican Republic, residence card, identity card, photographs and letter signed before a notary public by your guarantor in the Dominican Republic.

Forty five days before completing the term of five years as a temporary resident, you may apply for a permanent residence permit by depositing the following documentation: temporary residence card, recent medical exams, personal identity card, passport valid for at least 18 months, proof of economic solvency, certificate of no criminal record in the Dominican Republic, photographs and letter signed before a notary public by your guarantor in the Dominican Republic. Remember that the General Direction of Migration may require additional documents in case it deems it pertinent.

The first permanent residence permit will only be valid for one year, the subsequent one for four years, except for the residence permits of retirees and annuitants whose validity is for two years. For the renewal of the permanent residence the following documents will be required: residence card, passport valid for at least 18 months, identity card, certificate of no criminal record of the Dominican Republic, letter signed before a notary public by their guarantor in the Dominican Republic, proof of economic solvency, photographs. Retirees and annuitants must demonstrate that they received monthly in the Dominican Republic the corresponding pension or income. After ten years as a permanent resident in the country, there will be no need to renew your permit again and you will receive a definitive residency card.

Other categories

There are other modalities of legal residence in Dominican Republic for a determined time according to the reason that applies to you, these are:

Students: This can be renewed as long as you can prove that you are studying in the country.

MN1 Work: It can be renewed annually, demonstrating by means of contract and authorization of the Ministry of Work of the Dominican Republic.

Religious: It can be renewed annually, demonstrating that it continues being part of the congregation.

Dominican Citizenship

The permanent resident may apply for Dominican citizenship, if so desired, after two (2) years of being granted permanent residence in the country.

And, last but not least, it is:

Can I be denied the application for a visa or Dominican Residency? 

Yes, unfortunately, they can deny / reject, in many cases, the Consulate will grant the Visa, however, Immigration can deny the Residency. \

The reasons for denial are:

1- The Discretion of the Immigration Officer or Authority, as you know, each country is free to let in or not a citizen of the world, as well as, the residence, this has ways to be refuted, which is the courts, if it seems unfair or does not proceed you can access the Justice.

2- Engaging in prostitution, illegal trafficking of persons or their organs, illegal drug trafficking or being addicted to or encouraging the use of drugs.

3- To be serving or to be prosecuted for common crimes typified with criminal character in our legal system.

4- To have a criminal record, except that the same do not denote in its author such a dangerousness that makes inadequate its incorporation to the Dominican society. To such effects the nature of the committed crimes will be valued, the applied sentence, its recidivism and if the penalty or penal action is extinguished.

5- Having been subject to deportation or expulsion and not having reentry authorization and those who are expressly prohibited from entering the Republic, according to orders issued by the authorities.

We are going to make a complete article about this, because it is a very delicate subject and consulted by several people interested in residing in the Dominican Republic, who, by things of destiny or life, have presented some of the situations mentioned above, as well as illness, which is not included in this list, because it is something that we can request the exception, if it meets certain parameters.

Recommendation:

• If you have any of the referred cases, it is suggested to have a lawyer specialized in Immigration Law – Foreigners, this will avoid loss of time and money.
• Document honestly and clearly the situation.
• Do not stay with the NOT ADMITTED, the law allows some ways and/or resources for admission.

And finally, this is generalized information, not specific to YOUR CASE, always to define: a) what; and b) how to proceed, it is necessary to evaluate your profile and case, therefore, do you wish to reside in the Dominican Republic?

Your first step that we suggest is a legal consultation, with a lawyer specialized in the matter.

If you want more detail, do not hesitate to contact us, in our law firm Morillo Suriel Abogados – Attorneys At Law we have a division specialized in Immigration Law – Foreigners, for which, we invite you to contact us and consult us about any type and requirement of Dominican residency.