Introduce yourself HERE!

This is an English "speaking" forum. Please repost in English.

Thanks

Bob K

My name is Pete and I presently live in Miami where I teach and coach football and wrestling at a large high school. I am married to a Dominican gal that I met on one of my vacations in the D.R.  We have a 2 year old daughter and have been married about 5 years.  It was a pain in the neck getting her here on the fiance visa but thru all the red tape and BS she arrived safe and sound!  This is my 33rd year teaching and want to retire soon to the DR.  I am seriously looking at Cabrera and went for a long weekend trip there this summer and can see my family living there.  I met the famous Barry from DRescapes for a drink and talked about Cabrera. 
I have spent most of my vacations the last 10 years or so in the D.R. and will be returning Xmas to my wife's hometown barrio of Los Alcarrizos which is a congested barrio north west of the capital 30 mins or so depending on traffic!  I have spent much of my visits to the north coast area but have explored much of the country driving to places like Jabaracoa. 
Any do's or don'ts about people or things in Cabrera please private email me!  I see this forum as a great way to prevent expats from getting swindled and ripped off and also a place to direct people like myself to good honest lawyers, home builders, real estate agents, etc!
My uncle is also on the forums under the name gypsy and he is planning on making the trip also!

welcome pete, you finally made it here. planner is great, isn't she. she helped me too. a suggestion,  a good picture of you to put on here.  you or you & the family. it puts a face to you & is more personal. By the way it is gypsy401. see you friday. you will find this site to be the best for ex-pats, I love it!   be well nephew.

Welcome to the forums! We are  here to help. Read everything you can then ask your questions. 

And thanks gypsy, but remember we all try to help.... 

Pete welcome to the forum. Lots of good folks here with lots of good info for you.  We will be just down the road from "all you all" (Tennessee talk) on the north coast.

Just ask away and we will try to help.  You won't miss the "rat race" at all.

Bob K

Bonjour vous venez de vous installer vous travailler dans quel domaine? cela fait 4 ans que nous souhaitons nous installer mais en voyant tous les avis négatif ??

Please use English on this forum

Thanks

Bob K

you re right. a vociferous  shout out to all of you. but planner, you are the figure head for this site. I'm sure the rest of us will agree. again, thanks to everyone !!

Bienvenue sur notre Blog ! ca fait plaisir de lire du francais ! Mon mari et moi allons aussi demenager en RD  mais il nous faut attendre encore quelques annees.  Bonne chance dans votre nouvelle aventure.

If writing in English is a challenge for some.. we can always PM ( Private messages)

This is an English forum. Only English please, otherwise private message.....

And gypsy .... I work mostly with the DR forums.  There are many many more and so many contributors!!!!

@ institutelouisville > Writing in english is not a challenge, it is only the fact of respecting the language chosen by the initiator .

If you wish to communicate in french, you can still create your own thread here : https://www.expat.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=4097

Thank you and have a nice day

Priscilla 

Thanks Priscilla!!!

Thanks

Bob K

Hola! My name is Bonchi. Husband and I are retiring from the military in 5 years. We will be permanently moving to the DR in 5 1/2 years.  Two questions: are there any military members that are retired in DR on this forum? Also, I read that retired income has to be a monthly $1,500 (to get residency/ tax breaks). Is that amount per household, or does my husband has to have his own $1,500 income as well?   * ps- I have been reading this forum for hours! Thank you for the great information posted here!

Clemons retirement welcome to the board. I am not sure if there are retired military on the board but I believe there are.  There are a lot of retired military living here on the north coast in our Expat Community.

Have you been to the DR before?  Where in the DR are you considering for your move?

There are  a lot of good folks here on this board with lots of information and experiences.  Please feel free to ask any questions you may have on visiting, moving and living here. We will  help you find the answers.

Have a great day

Bob K

Welcome to the forums, glad you are reading. 

The retirement income is  1,500 for first family member, then for a couple it is 2,000 in TOTAL income. 

Bob is right, lots of good people here,  a couple of strange ones (LOL)  and of course lots here to learn. Ask away in the forums, start threads when you cannot find what you are looking for.  We are here to help!

as a family member does the $2,000 a month extend to the children & aunts, uncles etc.? I will be living in the same household but, my income is less than $1500 per month. will I be able to live the rest of my life with out problems? I have my cedula from when I lived there before. at this stage of my life, I want to ejoy myself & not be worried. will I be able to get residency being a family member? thanks in advance for any info. and a thanks to Bob K for your many informative thoughts on the daily travails in the dominican life

No it does not. It is only for couples. Direct dependents would be children and I believe it is US 250 more per month per child. 

If your cedula is expired i do believe you are starting over.  Message me your cedula details and i can look into it for you!  Do not post it here.

I fear Planner is correct. Unless your cedula is just recently expired  you will have to start all over, with the new rules and regs.

Bob K

Very interesting topic..  so.. we have to prove an income of $2000 per couple to obtain the cedula and the permanent resident status, correct? Also, Do we have to provide the authorities our financial status, such as how much we have in our retirement fund etc..

To qualify for this type of residencia which is based on income - you have to show up to the income threshold and nothing else you choose to show.

Thanks for the opportunity, My Brother and I both professionals, visited DR 8 times stayed in 5 star hotels which was excellent also we had very good times outside the resort with local people and at times with tourists however  tourists at time where more reserved outside and also we had very good time inside the resort with local and tourists
    So we decided to retire or semi retire at age 43 and he 50. to Dominica we like to spend 5 months winter in DR and have fun in the sun. We like to rent and this way we can move ,if we desire and be independent and maybe move to the next town if we like. Purchasing a good house also can be an option later if we decide to stay in one place after a while however because we like to just stay in DR winter time this may not be an option. We will decide. Also we traveled extensively so we where exposed to many cultures and we understand well human nature and that things work differently in different countries but for us  this is fun.  S
 

Again welcome to the forums!!!! Lots of good info on here, read read and read some more.............  come back with specific questions in the other threads, or, start your own!!! We help whenever we can.

Welcome to the forum. I like your plans.  I am not sure where you have stayed before but do explore the country. There are lots of terrific areas to spend time in.

There are lots of good folks with great information here so do ask and participate.

Again welcome

Bob K

Well what you recommend beside exploration? Su

Not sure of the question.  What information are you looing for?

Bob K

Thank u for your reply! We decided on renting a small apartment in Sosua, for at least 3 months, to ensure that we buy a small villa in an area we want. We want to use those 3 month to get a feel of the DR and hopefully find an area that has military retired member near us (husband is not fluent in Spanish) I have only visited DR as a tourist twice. I fell in love with it, and it is close to home for me (Puerto Rico) without being too close 

Thank you for clearing up the income issue.  $2,000 a month is perfect. We do not have children, so we do not have to worry about the $250 for family members. I will continue reading and please let me know if I can PM any retired military member. I have some questions concerning our military medical plan (tricare) once we retire in DR. And questions about timing my terminal leave with my residency application. Thanks again.

Welcome again and I am in the area so let me know if I can do anything for you.

As far as you medical insurance Tricare will not be accepted here nor any other government plan (medicare, or Medicaid) and other private insurance sometimes will work with major clinics but not usually.  So you will need to pick up local insurance.

BTW you are going about it the right way by renting first and see if the DR fits for you.  Living here is vastly different than being a tourist here.

Bob K

I agree with Bob,  you are doing it the right way.  As for insurance, you can get good quality health care here for very low cost. Anything else you can pay and maybe get reimbursed at home from your plan.

the plan I use offers two coverages one at US 37 a month the second at US 47 a month with todays exchange rate. Both include medication and dental coverage.

Bob also knows another company  but not sure what they offer.  Bob will tell you....

Yes we use a company here on the north coast that costs us about $50 a month for the two of us.
Let me know if you want the information.

Bob K

Hi, 

My name is Louis and i work as a speech therapist in nyc. I have been living in ny since the day i was born, 49 years of hard knocks. Searching to move to DR, but apprehensive due to local economy and no pension. I need an additional 16 years of perpetual suffering prior to pension and social security eligibility. I read this forum frequently and process some interesting stories. I have to say that most of expatriate narratives are similar, with yours truly no different. It just appears that some people were able to make it here and others do not. I would love to leave ny, but appears more like a fantasy or a potential financial catastrophe than a viable plan. I would love to work here and live, but have no local resources. However, if there is someone out here that would like to offer interesting or informative advice.....I am all ears!

Welcome speaker.  I am not sure what you are asking. Your  info has you in Santo Domingo yet you say you are in New York.  So are you in the US or already here in the DR. Maybe I just have not had enough coffee this morning to understand your situation.

As to magic tips to make living here work, there really are none.  Just doing one's homework and coming for a few months before you make the leap.  The DR is not for everyone. We do find that those that move here with baggage find that the baggage gets heavier when living here.

Bob K

Speaker40 wrote:

I need an additional 16 years of perpetual suffering prior to pension and social security eligibility.

Love it!  I had 15 when I first began contemplating relocation to the DR.  I'm looking at less than 8 now having cut off 3 to retire at 59 and hoping to be able to knock off even more off.  The plus side of the long lead time is having the opportunity to make smarter financial decisions.  Start now and hope for the best.  I've found my "perpetual suffering" is diminished by knowing every year contributes to the goal.

Hey first responders,

Thanks for your input and understanding to what appears to be a common situation to most. I guess that i will continue my journey in the city that never sleeps until retirement or lotto winnings. As for the expatriates that have made a successful transition here...congrats!

Hi Darlene, my name is Peter and my wife and I live in Canada in the province of Quebec. We are seriously thinking of retiring in the Sousa area, but have a million questions on what steps are needed to make this a reality.
We are looking at both options, a 3 month stay per year or full time.
We have been to Sousa before many years ago, so were curious to hear how it has changed, for the better we hope, lol, etc.. I have talked to Bob the weather man and he was kind enough to provide me the info to get on this forum .
So we are looking forward to reading all the do's and dont' s about moving to Sousa.

Thanks...   :-)

Peter glad you made it over to this forum.
Let me try to answer a few of your questions and I am sure Planner will be along shortly.
1. Sosua is changing and I am hoping for the better.  More folks have moved here and there seems to be a good effort on lowering the number of working girls out in the main part of town.  The city now closes the main street to vehicles at night and on Friday and Saturday night there is a very good atmosphere with the restaurants putting tables on the street and usually live music as well.  New parks have been build, new road side sidewalk is going in and lots more.  It is, for us at least, some positive changes.

2.  As to coming for 3 months every year you can currently do that and just pay the overstay fee  (currently $1000  pesos per person for 3 to 9 months).  But to stay legally you should extend  your visa when you are here but that is a pain in the ass and requires a trip to Santo Domingo. The other alternative is to apply for residency which is a long and can be expensive process.  In you case I would probably just pay the fee till things change or rules become more strict.

3.  Where will you be staying?  We live between Sosua and Cabarete and have been here for over 8 years.

Bob K

Bob, thanks again for replying. Where we will live is a good question as it has been many years since our last stay in Sousa. For sure we will be looking for a gated area with everything walking distance including the beach of course, lol. You mentioned to stay the 3 months we must pay the 1000 pesos, that' s not a problem, but where is this done, before or after we arrive?
Do you have preference on areas that we should be looking at, and are there long term rentals available? We are also thinking of buying property, is that possible to do without having a permanent visa if we are only staying 3 months of the year.
As you see we are new at this and don' t have much knowledge about any of this. I' m retiring Jan, 2016, so as you can see, I' m hungry for good information and that' s where you Bob come in. I appreciate your time and efforts to answer my questions.

Thanks again,
Peter