Dominican Republic Retirement Program

You are referring to the retirement residencia application. You need to start there and then continue the process here. Contact Wilson (Billy) Rood [email protected]   He is an English speaking lawyer here who is reasonable, fair and will tell you the truth!

It is fairly simple process that gets complicated because it is here.....

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Thank you for a clear concise post!  Can you tell us the cost of processing a retiree's residencia please?

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You should expect to spend another US$ 1000 in Government fees, you do not give this money to us, you pay directly at the government offices. Plus whatever it costs you to get the visa, consulate's rates depend on the region, it's normally between US$ 70 to US$ 200.

To get the visa requires original birth certificates, doctor certificate, police record check and other docs. These need to be officially translated then approved by the closest DR embassy. Friends just spent over US 500 for this.

What fees are paid here directly to the government?

And thanks for your answers!

Fees for depositing the documents in the Immigration Directorate Office (Direccion General de Migracion), including the forms, for some reason they sell you the forms. Next, the fees once Immigration accepts your Residency request, Immigration should issue you a letter of acceptance. You take that letter of acceptance and go to the Electoral Board (Junta Central Electoral), over there you must pay more fees, last time it was US$100. The Electoral Board should give you a Dominican Resident Foreigner ID, with that ID, you must go back to the General Directorate and get your Residency,. It all sums up to around one thousand dollars, and it takes up 4 to 5 months.

Sincerely.
Ramon Alburquerque

Ramon thanks for the information.  We go in a couple of weeks to renew ours. Thankfully we got ours under the old rules and regulations.  It was much easier.

Bob K

Hey Bob if you are going to be in the capital, you staying overnight?  And please update us on your process moving forward.

I just spoke with a lady here in Washington DC at the Dominican Republic Embassy and she said if I am not actually retired, I cannot apply for the retirement application for residency in Dominican Republic. She said I can apply to invest or start a business. She said their is no Dominican republic retirement program. She said you can just retire in Dominican Republic. Since I am not retired now, I have to find another way to live in Dominican Republic.

You can come and get your residency with out being retired. You just have to prove solvency without depending on a job here.

Bob K

Planner,
We are not sure if staying over night yet or not. We will be coming down with our lawyer from Santiago and usually just head back home the same day.  Especially since it now requires two trips down to complete the process. Thankfully this time we will be able to do  4 years or more.

Right now we will probably be there the week of April 13th.  I will keep you posted.

Bob K

AVE MARIA SANTISIMA LLENA ERES DE GRACIA
There is a judicial term for what she told you,  it's --bovis stercus,--  bullshit.
There is a special residency route for retirees, and for rentiers(renter is also correct). It is special because unlike other people, retirees and rentiers do not have to renew their residencies every year for four years in order to obtain their permanent residencies, Retirees and Rentiers get their permanent residencies immediately, in two years they qualify for citizenship. That woman, had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, there is no diplomatic career in DR, so people just get appointed for their lovely faces, or diligent campaign work. If you apply as a retiree, you must be retired, but the other way is to apply as a rentier.  A rentier is a is a person  that receives income derived from stable economic rents from abroad, which can include income from bank investments, real estate rents, rents from investments in foreign private companies, rents from any foreign economic titles (Law 631-11). In order to prove that these rents are stable, you must prove you have been receiving it for the past five years. Any people above eighteen can apply, there is no age limit.
Tell her the reitrement and rentier program is established by law 171-07, of the 13th of july  of 2007, the law is called, Regime for Retirees and Renters. She can also find it in the new Dominican Immigration Regulation No. 631-11, Section 9, which titles: “About Retirees and Renters”, She will find the definition of a renter in the same law in page 8 of the glossary  and the same law No. 631-11, Section 9 in article 64.
tell her to get the law No. 631-11, to read the first word in page 8 of the glossary which is at the beginning of the law, then tell her to read the title of section 9 of the law, she will see a big IX next to the title, and tell her to read article 64 of the law. If she does not have the law anywhere near her, she can check out this link, which is directly  from the Immigration General Directorate of DR,  hopefully expatblog does not censor it, if they do, just write, ley 631-11 Republica Dominicana in google, you will only find it in Spanish..

http://www.migracion.gob.do/web/trans/archivos/169.pdf

Isaac that lovely lady is a nice preview of what you are getting yourself into.

Good luck,
Ramon Alburquerque Mora

Hello Ramon. Thank you for clearing that up for me. I think I am going to go with you on the steps I need to take. Since I am not retired, then I will live in Dominican Republic as a renter. I plan to go back to Santiago in june. The first thing I want to do is open a online bank account with Popular Bank, so I can monitor my account from here. I gather the information when I was in Santiago in February. Let me know the next steps I would need to take as a renter in Dominican Republic and the cost. I may be ready to rent next year.

OMG Ramon I love your attitude!!!!  Awesome. bovis stercus..... hahahaha I always say caka de vaca......

Seriously that is one of the clearest answers I have ever seen!!!!!

You can apply for citizenship instead of waiting to qualify for the retirement program. It will take 4 years (or 1 year expedited). Contact [email protected] for details. They specialize in naturalizations.

As I understand it the process of citizenship expedited is very expensive and regular way takes residencia!!!!

For some reason hotmail was sending the replies to my junk mail. I'm getting them now. You do not need to open bank account in DR now if you are not planning to begin the process at the same time. After you apply for Renter Residency, you will have to open a bank account, in any bank in Dominican Territory, this bank account is where your monthly rents should go (at least 1,500 dollars last time i checked). The money doesn't have to stay there, but it most be deposited monthly, because you will need the bank statements as evidence in order to renew your residency on the second year.
Beware of instant citizenship, and if you do get instant citizenship beware of what you do with it. They are fraudulent. The only way to get instant citizenship is if the president gives it to you for your outstanding services to DR.. A lot of people have bought from god knows who, what they were told to be "Dominican Citizenship", which so happens it was just a piece of plastic. Now not only they do not have citizenship, but they are being prosecuted by Dominican Government for fraud.
What makes your citizenship real, regardless of whether you got it for outstanding service or for having met the residency requirements, is a presidential decree with the president's signature and your name on it. This decree is published by the government in the newspapers, anything else is nothing.

Great info!

Expedited citizenship is not "instant citizenship." The program is pretty cumbersome and requires at least 4 trips to immigration over the course of a year. This retirement program for citizenship is well established and concludes in approximately 1 year with a presidential decree, a passport and cedula. It renews in 2 years, then every 6 years.

Sorry makes no sense that you get retirement citizenship that requires renewal. I thing the retirement residencia requires renewals as normal but doesn't end in citizenship.

That being said I am NOT an expert but will find out!!!

Most confusing. Why would you need to renew a citizenship???????????????

Bob K

Exactly  Bob,  I think things got confused and I will find out what actually needs to happen.

Thanks. Let us know what you find out.

Bob K

I copied the words :--- For some reason hotmail was sending the replies to my junk mail. I'm getting them now. You do not need to open bank account in DR now if you are not planning to begin the process at the same time. After you apply for Renter Residency, you will have to open a bank account, in any bank in Dominican Territory, this bank account is where your monthly rents should go (at least 1,500 dollars last time i checked). The money doesn't have to stay there, but it most be deposited monthly, because you will need the bank statements as evidence in order to renew your residency on the second year. ---

What part of that paragraph  talks about Citizenship???   You get citizenship after two years with your  PERMANENT RESIDENCY. If you go through the renter process, you obtain permanent residency right away, but it must be renewed after a year because they want to make sure your rents are actually coming to DR. In your second year you are eligible for CITIZENSHIP. Citizenship does not need renewal.

You are confusing RESIDENCY with CITIZENSHIP , they are not the same.

Oh i see the confusion  may not have been about my post, Hmmm.. One thing is certain, citizenship does not need renewal, so maybe it's a special case. So it all comes down to how special do you think you are, good luck.

HAHAHA love the last comment....

It is important to NOTE that,  CITIZENSHIP requirements will change in the very near future. President Medina sent the new naturalization law to congress two weeks ago. They have not discussed publicly what the new law will bring. Best case scenario is an amnesty for people that have been living undocumented in DR for a very long time.  I'll write a detailed summary of the law once it comes out. Residency process will not be affected by the new law, only the citizenship process, and the requirements.

Interesting, thank you very much for your update!!!

Hi Everyone  (Especially my new pals Planner & Bob K who have been AMAZING in their advice).

I am a U.S. Citizen relocating to DR with my 6yr old US Citizen daughter.  I am married to a Dominican Citizen who just moved back to Santiago.  I have been told by the Dominican Consulate in California to get a residency Visa and one lawyer says get the visa then wait and get citizenship another says do not get visa and just go for citizenship. 

Ok so here is the question... Which is the best for us to do in our circumstances?  We will be living there and only traveling back to the U.S. to visit family.

(I have birth certificates, marriage license, doctors letter, police letter all Apostilled) and I can easily obtain any bank statements that I need to show proof of income)

Any advice you can give as well as cost expected is GREATLY appreciated.  We plan to move in late June or early July 2014

get all the paperwork you need to apply for residencia and bring it with you. Once here you can easily apply for the expedited citizenship via marriage.  It needs the same set of paperwork regardless so it is not different for you. 

The bonus to getting your citizenship is you do not need to renew it!!!!  With residencia you need to renew and requalify each time. With Citizenship it is done - unless of course  you mess up big time, break a bunch of laws and get it revoked.... but I am pretty sure that will not be the case.....

I knew I could count on you!  Thanks!

No need for residence VISA, it's strange but, you only need residence visa if you are applying for residency.

Forget residency, it makes no sense if you are married to a Dominican citizen.
You do not need bank statements to apply for Dominican citizenship because you are applying as a wife of a citizen, your husband does not need bank statements either.

You do not need doctors letter or any other rubbish. YOU ONLY NEED THIS:

You will need your marriage certificate with the apostille seal of the Unisted States of America (If you got married in USA), or the apostille seal of the country where you got married.

Your Birth certificate, with the apostille seal, and your husband's birth certificate, with the apostille seal. If he was not born in DR, he will also need his Dominican Citizenship Certificate. 

Your passport.

That is all you will need to bring with you, the rest is paperwork. A lot of lawyers are confused in this matter,  but you don't have to be.

Residency and Citizenship are two different things, specially if you apply for citizenship through marriage.

You see, you are already Dominican because you are married to Dominican Citizen, you just have to formalize it by notifying the state.

The Dominican Constitution establishes in Chapter V-Population, Section I-Nationality, Article 18th, Fith Parragraph, that  the husbands and wives of Dominican Citizens ARE Dominican Citizens if they chose to be.  The constitution does not say that they could be, it says they ARE. It is important to note that the constitution does not say IF you have x in a bank, or if you are healthy, or if bla bla.

The pre cited article has something special, it establishes a right, a very powerful type of right, a constitutional right. The constitution is above any other law.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Awesome update and information, thank you!     By the way - I am now accepting applications - looking for  my Dominican husband!!!!

Great info. Thanks for the update.

Bob K

immigrationexpertsdr wrote:

No need for residence VISA, it's strange but, you only need residence visa if you are applying for residency.

Forget residency, it makes no sense if you are married to a Dominican citizen.
You do not need bank statements to apply for Dominican citizenship because you are applying as a wife of a citizen, your husband does not need bank statements either.

You do not need doctors letter or any other rubbish. YOU ONLY NEED THIS:

You will need your marriage certificate with the apostille seal of the Unisted States of America (If you got married in USA), or the apostille seal of the country where you got married.

Your Birth certificate, with the apostille seal, and your husband's birth certificate, with the apostille seal. If he was not born in DR, he will also need his Dominican Citizenship Certificate. 

Your passport.

That is all you will need to bring with you, the rest is paperwork. A lot of lawyers are confused in this matter,  but you don't have to be.

Residency and Citizenship are two different things, specially if you apply for citizenship through marriage.

You see, you are already Dominican because you are married to Dominican Citizen, you just have to formalize it by notifying the state.

The Dominican Constitution establishes in Chapter V-Population, Section I-Nationality, Article 18th, Fith Parragraph, that  the husbands and wives of Dominican Citizens ARE Dominican Citizens if they chose to be.  The constitution does not say that they could be, it says they ARE. It is important to note that the constitution does not say IF you have x in a bank, or if you are healthy, or if bla bla.

The pre cited article has something special, it establishes a right, a very powerful type of right, a constitutional right. The constitution is above any other law.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

WOW, I cannot thank you enough.  When I contacted the Dominican Consulate here in the U.S. (California) they told me that I had to apply for a Resident Visa and then after a year I could apply for citizenship.  My husband called a lawyer there in DR and said if I pay her $1500 USD she could help me with this and that I still needed all of this.  She also told my husband he needed to give me a warranty certificate in case I get deported.  I already have the apostilled birth certificates, marriage certificates, doctors letter, police letter, FBI check and child abuse clearance as well as our US Passports. 

Do you think this is something I can do on my own?  Also, I have minimal Spanish speaking and I can understand some Spanish writing but no much.  Will that be an issue?  Do you have a practice that you help people like me?

Thank you again for imparting such knowledge.  I GREATLY appreciate it.

I believe he is in the USA but has a partner here in the DR.