禁漫天堂

@expat975320

I am also retire here but in the east part ( juan Dolio)

I do have exprience with social security and also I am a veterans service officer

I handle close to 700 veterans around latin Am茅rica

is my email

Please do not post your private contact info!

Hi I plan to live in Bayahibe hopefully I will be there next week.

So I am maintaining a usa address, phone number and drivers license in Oregon where I came from.

I have my social security checks direct deposit into Chase bank in the US I use my debit card here with no problems.

My main concern is how long can I stay in the DR before the social security administration finds out?

I talked to a person at the ss office in Eugene Oregon I told him I was moving to the DR but keeping my US status and he said we don't care where you live.

But I read somewhere that if you stay outside the US for more than 6 months they will stop payment?

There seems to be a lot of conflicted information when it comes to the ss administration?

There are many living here and collect their SS.

@expat975320 welcome to the DR I would recommend reviewing thru all the topic and threads one night many topics a feedback provided

No, you don't lose your benefits if you live outside the country. SSA does require a "proof of life" form (SSA-7162) every year or so for those living outside the US. It's also a good idea to register with the US Embassy here in DR through the

You can also visit to register to vote as an overseas US citizen.

Thanks I am aware of the proof of life form and yes I will register with the embassy.

Hi I plan to live in Bayahibe hopefully I will be there next week.
So I am maintaining a usa address, phone number and drivers license in Oregon where I came from.
I have my social security checks direct deposit into Chase bank in the US I use my debit card here with no problems.
My main concern is how long can I stay in the DR before the social security administration finds out?
I talked to a person at the ss office in Eugene Oregon I told him I was moving to the DR but keeping my US status and he said we don't care where you live.
But I read somewhere that if you stay outside the US for more than 6 months they will stop payment?
There seems to be a lot of conflicted information when it comes to the ss administration?
-@expat975320

Some details about this post:

You can drive legally in the DR for 30 days on a foreign license.聽 I asked about this at a local INTRANT office and it is 30 not 60 or 90 days.聽 That said, nobody seems to care, not the police (DIGISETT in this case) nor insurance companies, no matter how long you drive on a license that is not legally valid in the DR.

If you maintain a US address and have your checks deposited in the US, you may never need to fill out that form to verify you are still alive.聽 The US does not care where you live regarding your SS payments and won't stop your payments unless they happen to send you that letter and you don't return it. Your results may vary. My guess is that you won't be getting that letter. Time will tell. There is no 6 month rule on Social Security payments.

Do you have a plan to become a DR legal resident?

Windeguy

Thank you so much for the information!

I am looking into becoming a legal resident

Windeguy
Thank you so much for the information!
I am looking into becoming a legal resident
-@expat975320

Keep in mind that the legal residency process starts with a residency visa in your passport which you get at the Dominican Embassy in your home country.聽

@expat975320聽 Do not have SS direct deposited here or else you will have to prove you are alive to the government every year or two. .聽 Keep your cash in the US except for a few months of expenses in a local bank.聽

Did you get legal residency in the DR?

@expat975320 I am not getting SS myself but from what I have heard from other clients, the easiest thing to do seems to be a US bank account for direct deposit with a debit card (or have the funds deposited to a US bank checking account maybe also with a debit card) and either take out funds in the DR via ATM OR simply write a USD check each month and deposit that to your USD Dominican Bank Account. The only issue of course is going to be the 10 business days clearance time with a USD check deposit.

Regards,

John Schroder

*** edited to remove聽 contact information***

I went to the office the other day to find out above overstaying and the man at the desk said the government doesn鈥檛 care how long you stay ( they鈥檒l charge you on the way out ) and he said your drivers license is recognized for 90 day because that is international law鈥�in every country鈥�now I will go back again because I find here if you ask 3 people the same question you get 3 different answers聽 鈥� my insurance company doesn鈥檛 know when I鈥檓 here or not here 鈥�. And neither does the social security office in the states 鈥�the most favorite words to a retirees vocabulary is 鈥� direct deposit 鈥� instead of a bank card I bring cash & checks and deposit them聽 ( checks 2 a month )聽 there鈥檚 a new limit I was told n, no more than $ 7,500聽 per deposit

@windeguy I have been a dual citizen for over 20 years and our firm helps clients with the residency process, naturalized, citizenship, banking, etc. **** But the other comments is in fact correct, the first step in the residency process is a residency visa from the Dominican Consulate in NY, Boston, Miami. This residency visa is only valid for 90 days and is NOT RESIDENCY, but rather a requirement in order to start the residency filing process in Santo Domingo

@Tippj They care alright.聽 They were inundated with unemployed Spaniards a few years back which is when they started to once again utilizing the "residency visa" from the consulate in the home country (they told them all to go back home, apply for the residency visa in Spain and then denied them all).聽 This was ALWAYS the law or requirement but they never enforced it before. In any event, go to the foreign relations department in Santo Domingo (near Ave. Lincoln & George Washington).聽 Don't listen to some dopey government clerk that doesn't care if you have a problem or not.聽 Technically, YES if you over stay your 30 day tourist visa they will fine you at the airport when you leave.聽 That's not the problem. Rather the problem is IF this happens 2 x they will put your passport & name in a database and could refuse entry when you come back the third time (this has already happened to other Americans who were told by some govt. clerk "don't worry about it". You can extend your 30 day tourist visa by going to the foreign relations dept. and asking for an extension which they can give you up to 90 days.

Regards,

John Schroder

John please stop posting your contact info on a public forum. We invite you to post an ad in the classifieds with your business information.

Anyone who wants to can also message you privately to get more information!

You seem to be up to date on what is going on, your feedback is very welcome here!

I spoke directly to the office manager at INTRANT in Puerto Plata and he told me DR law is that a foreign license is valid for 30 days.聽 But, you can all go with 90 days if you like that better.

Agree with the suggestions of getting a bank account, depositing using checks and taking out the money when needed.

@expat975320 Hello,

Finally someone who mentions the south east side of the island. most people here are in the north... anywho, My fiance and I are acquiring property in Dominicus which is around the corner from Bayahive., ( A walk away from Viva Windham Hotel.) we love it here. best beaches in the whole Island.

we are far from retiring but we intent to start acclimating to the areas abit a at time... we will be in Dominicus-Bayahive in October...

Welcome to the forum.

@walter1107b Yeah, for some reason Sosua and Puerto Plata seems to be "in vogue" at the moment especially among "passport bros" if you follow what's trending on You tube.聽 Personally, I am not a fan of living in a tourist area though. Real Estate is going to be much more expensive (often double the cost per square foot compared to a non tourist area), the population is highly transient (every month you have someone new coming into the condo next door which is listed on "AirBnB") and you certainly won't really become integrated if you spend most of your time with other expats, speaking English. With that said, there are foreigners on the South Coast and many in Santo Domingo as well.聽 But, I have found it interesting, for the most part, there seems to be a large portion of Italians on the South Coast compared to the North Coast. In addition, Santo Domingo has attracted a large number of Venezuelans as well.聽

It's funny, but most expats have this idolized dream of living on a beach in the Caribbean, the "perpetual vacation" 聽 BUT, the truth of the matter is your cost of living is much, much less expensive if you live away from tourist areas.聽 You can always go to a beach resort once a month or whatever if your want

Regards,

John

@windeguy Yes, you can drive on your foreign license as a "tourist" for 30 days and probably up to 90 days if you get your visa extension, again as a "tourist".聽 I know a few foreigners living in the country for a while that pretend they don't speak Spanish and show the foreign license if they get stopped Here's the thing though. You can get away with pretending you are a tourist if you live in a highly populated area and you don't encounter the same transit police all the time.聽 But, if you live in a place like Sosua, Cabarete, Bavaro, Bayahibe, etc. the transit police guys are going to get to know you.聽 If the same AMET stops you 6 months later after stopping you the first time, and IF they possibly remember you for some reason, you can't pull the "I'm just here on vacation for 2 weeks thing" with them. If you are in the country, living long term (staying more than 90 days) you are supposed to get your Dominican Driving License.聽 And you need to have residency first because you need to present your cedula when applying for the DL (your DL number is the same as your cedula number).

Here's the thing.聽 They will give you reciprocity by having your foreign license in terms of the road test BUT they still will make you take the test on the computer to prove you understand Spanish.聽 Why?聽 They used to just issue a Dominican DL by presenting your foreign license (which you need to get a copy certified by the consulate BTW) license.聽 BUT, the judges were getting perturbed because a number of foreigners kept showing up in court (Germans most of the time ) claiming they didn't understand the road signs 聽 So, now you have to take the road test knowledge exam on the computer (Thank the Germans ).聽 But, one VERY important point for Americans.聽 The US Consulate is the ONLY consulate that will NOT certify or validate a US driving license for it's citizens.聽 The claim or argument is because it is state issued, not issued by the Federal Govt.聽 So, what that means is Americans MUST take the computer test AND the road test as well.聽 Canadians, Europeans can be exempted from the road if they show up with 2 color copies of thier existing foreign DL certified or verified by the consulate from their home country.

Regards,

John

@planner Yes Mom.聽 Sorry.聽 Won't happen again. Do you still love me?

@Tippj Yeah, Welcome to the land of the a thousand different answers 聽 You can talk to 10 different people here and you will get 10 different answers.聽 One of them might be correct, but you just don't know which one.

But in terms of banking and getting your pension or SS, honestly the best option is to set up a checking account in the US that comes with a debit card AND use your sister's house, your brother, a good friend to use thier address on the US account as the "official" local address and you get your bank statements by mail.聽 The other option is to set up an account with one of the mail services here (which everyone will use for Amazon) and they will give you an address in Miami. Just change the address to read "Suite #" instead of PO Box or mail service account number as part of the instructions (in terms of what you tell the US bank).

The question is: What is the problem with direct deposit to a foreign USD bank account for SS direct deposit?聽 Can it be done technically? YES.聽 BUT, the problem is the bureaucracy is not set up for it. In other words, ANY USD send to a Dominican Bank is going to a bank in the US first.聽 Actually it's going to the Dominican Bank's correspondent US bank in the US.聽 So, for example, Banco BHD will give you wiring instructions for Bank of America in Miami, to go to Banco BHD's account with Bank of America in Miami. The instructions will then read "FOR FURTHER CREDIT TO" your name and your USD bank account with Banco BHD in the DR.

The SS administration really is not set up to handle these kind of transfers with extended information as part of the instructions.聽 They are going to want a US bank account, titled in YOUR name, with the US bank account number referenced and that's it.聽 So, that is the problem or issue.

With that all said SWIFT is really the easiest and best choice to wire money but SWIFT is a European system and the SS administration is only going to want to use the Federal Reserve as the intermediary. But SWIFT is the most practical.聽

Regards,

John

@planner Yes Mom. Sorry. Won't happen again. Do you still love me?
-@john-schroder

I still love you honey!

@windeguy Yes, you can drive on your foreign license as a "tourist" for 30 days and probably up to 90 days if you get your visa extension, again as a "tourist". I know a few foreigners living in the country for a while that pretend they don't speak Spanish and show the foreign license if they get stopped Here's the thing though. You can get away with pretending you are a tourist if you live in a highly populated area and you don't encounter the same transit police all the time. But, if you live in a place like Sosua, Cabarete, Bavaro, Bayahibe, etc. the transit police guys are going to get to know you. If the same AMET stops you 6 months later after stopping you the first time, and IF they possibly remember you for some reason, you can't pull the "I'm just here on vacation for 2 weeks thing" with them. If you are in the country, living long term (staying more than 90 days) you are supposed to get your Dominican Driving License. And you need to have residency first because you need to present your cedula when applying for the DL (your DL number is the same as your cedula number).
Here's the thing. They will give you reciprocity by having your foreign license in terms of the road test BUT they still will make you take the test on the computer to prove you understand Spanish. Why? They used to just issue a Dominican DL by presenting your foreign license (which you need to get a copy certified by the consulate BTW) license. BUT, the judges were getting perturbed because a number of foreigners kept showing up in court (Germans most of the time ) claiming they didn't understand the road signs So, now you have to take the road test knowledge exam on the computer (Thank the Germans ). But, one VERY important point for Americans. The US Consulate is the ONLY consulate that will NOT certify or validate a US driving license for it's citizens. The claim or argument is because it is state issued, not issued by the Federal Govt. So, what that means is Americans MUST take the computer test AND the road test as well. Canadians, Europeans can be exempted from the road if they show up with 2 color copies of thier existing foreign DL certified or verified by the consulate from their home country.

Regards,

John
-@john-schroder

Paying for what you call the visa extension is just pre-paying the exit fine and has zero to do with if a foreign license is valid.

The payments for overstays are not part of the laws, they are just administrative work arounds to immigration laws. That tidbit of info is directly from Guzman Ariza's Fabio Guzman.

Agreed on your other points regarding how to get DR license by becoming a legal resident, etc.

I had no idea it was the Germans fault regarding the extra scrutiny on driver's licenses.

The bottom line is that nobody cares if you are from a tourist card country if you drive forever on a foreign license and stay in the DR forever and ever without legal residency.

I went to the office the other day to find out above overstaying and the man at the desk said the government doesn鈥檛 care how long you stay ( they鈥檒l charge you on the way out ) and he said your drivers license is recognized for 90 day because that is international law鈥�in every country鈥�now I will go back again because I find here if you ask 3 people the same question you get 3 different answers 鈥� my insurance company doesn鈥檛 know when I鈥檓 here or not here 鈥�. And neither does the social security office in the states 鈥�the most favorite words to a retirees vocabulary is 鈥� direct deposit 鈥� instead of a bank card I bring cash & checks and deposit them ( checks 2 a month ) there鈥檚 a new limit I was told n, no more than $ 7,500 per deposit
-@Tippj

Interesting on the new limits.聽 Good to know.

Things are changing.

Yeah instead of the聽 $ 9,999 dollars聽 on deposits the bank said ( BanReservas ) no more than $7,500 on check deposits , not sure if that also includes cash deposits鈥�now I do know that you can still bring in $9,999 through the airport, at least the customs person told me聽 but that amount is total, so if you have any RD money mixed in add it all together鈥�

I just renewed my Dominican driver's license and was surprised that they gave me a 30 question test in spanish.聽 I was able to get the jest of the questions and realize the "right" answer for most of them is "no".聽 Then there was a question that asked do you drink alcohol?聽 It didn't say do you drive after drinking alcohol.聽 So I answered yes!聽 聽Who doesn't drink alcohol in the DR.聽 I figured it was a trick question...

I was also able to sit next to a spanish speaker that understood english and she helped me out a little...

Good luck.

The check deposit limit is banreservas limit.

The 10,000 limit is international money laundering issues.聽 You can deposit or wire what amount you want but you will be asked to prove source of funds!

@DominicanadaMike

聽 聽 聽Hi Mike ,聽 I would have just copied what the girl next to you put down , apparently she understood what the question were and there wouldn鈥檛 be any guessing鈥︷煒� 鈥� by the way I don鈥檛 drink alcohol only聽 soda water and聽 agua 鈥�. 馃コ

@Tippj:聽 not easy to copy.聽 The questionnaire is on an app.聽 Sorry TippJ, I'm allergic to soda water and aqua...lol

Ahhh I thought it was a long form鈥�.( Telling my age聽 )Yeah most of my friends an allergic to soda 鈥︹�︷煠�

@windeguy That depends upon where you are living.聽 I can assure you if you get into an accident with a local and have to go to court you will not have any points in your favor if they find out you have been living in the country for say 12 months already and driving around without a Dominican License.聽 Keep in mind that living in a tourist area is not the same thing as living in Santiago or Santo Domingo in terms of a number of things.聽

In terms of the tourist card issue I can assure you, in the past at least, if you over stayed your tourist card 2 X they will have you flagged and they might not let you back into the country.聽 I has already happened with 2 different Americans I know of.聽 Now, with that said, every government has thier own "agendas".聽 The current administration, after seeing the tourist sector hit hard from the covid restrictions might be more lenient with some things than the previous one.聽 And this brings up an important point.聽 There are laws & regulations written down, on the books.聽 Sometimes they don't always enforce them, but they exist, and might decide to enforce them at any time if the mood strikes them.聽 An example is the requirement of a "residency visa" from a Dominican Consulate in order to apply for residency.聽 This requirement has existed for well over 20 years already.聽 In the past they never enforced it, but when they started having a problem with Spaniards coming to the country looking for work instead of tourism they decided to dust it off and use it.聽 So, just because they might seem "Laissez-Faire" about certain things doesn't mean they won't stop being that way if the situation warrants it.

I have lived in the country for 24 years and while there are many things I do like about the country, the culture I also very clearly understand I am still a foreigner in someone else's country (and that's even after gaining citizenship).聽 Meaning, if you break the law in any way, regardless how minor it may seem and how "lazy" they may be about enforcing certain things it will be used against you if push comes to shove.聽 My advice is DON'T break the law, follow the rules and they won't have anything to hold against you.聽 Everyone has thier own opinion and you should do what you think is best for yourself but I try to advise my clients as best I can what the laws or regulations are so they don't have any problems later on.聽 And this applies to a number of areas, including labor laws when it comes to hiring domestic help of any kind (know the law, it's to your benefit).

Regards,

John聽 聽