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Welcome to the forums. Let me see if I can get one.

Thanks so much.

Tracy

I would love that too

We just wrote a very short paragraph, to the effect: " we love the DR, have visited several times, have bought a home of $XXX value, and would love to make the DR our new home.  We have $XXX monthly income from a pension to support our life in our new home."  It worked for us, our residency was just approved today!  Yay!

Thank you Uncle Buck for the information. 

How long did it take for your Visa to be approved?

Tracy

A little over a month and a half.  The website says 15 working days, but that was nowhere near accurate.  The Consul General was not in the country for approvals, and it wasn't until we really pushed them that they sent it to the Embassy for approval.  Your results are hopefully different.  We were on a narrow timeline because we were bringing our dogs, and couldn't fly if it was too cold in Toronto.  It was also our final move, we had sold everything and literally moving to the DR.  Glad we did, although it was the unconventional route.  We couldn't be happier.

Uncle Buck:

Did you apply for the retirement residency?  Or another?

A combination?  I guess?  But mainly retirement.  We do own property here, but under the $200 000 threshold, but I believe it did help us.  The government did ask to see 2 separate bank accounts with a boat load of Pesos in each, as insurance that we could survive on our own.  The wait for approval on this side is/was longer for us due to Christmas, and the fact that we had to transfer a bunch of money from Canada to the DR upon Immigration's demand.   For those of you that need to, Xoom works.  Slowly, but it works.  It's a PayPal product, and is available for Canadians now.  You can move over the $10K limit, if you fit their profile, answer their questions and fill out a form they send you.  It went from our Canadian bank into our Dominican bank in about a week, and cost less than withdrawing Pesos from an ATM, or wiring the money with our Dominican bank.  Not saying it was cheap,  but you don't get boned as hard.

Uncle buck -  thanks for the posts.  Great info. Congrats on getting that part handled!

UncleBuck wrote:

A combination?  I guess?  But mainly retirement.  We do own property here, but under the $200 000 threshold, but I believe it did help us.  The government did ask to see 2 separate bank accounts with a boat load of Pesos in each, as insurance that we could survive on our own.  The wait for approval on this side is/was longer for us due to Christmas, and the fact that we had to transfer a bunch of money from Canada to the DR upon Immigration's demand.   For those of you that need to, Xoom works.  Slowly, but it works.  It's a PayPal product, and is available for Canadians now.  You can move over the $10K limit, if you fit their profile, answer their questions and fill out a form they send you.  It went from our Canadian bank into our Dominican bank in about a week, and cost less than withdrawing Pesos from an ATM, or wiring the money with our Dominican bank.  Not saying it was cheap,  but you don't get boned as hard.

That's great info, Uncle Buck.  We're in process on our own retirement residency -- applications completed and sent to the Consulate.   Perhaps we'll meet you in the DR some day.

For the benefit of others:  We've had reason to move some money from the US to the United Kingdom, and used both XE Transfer and MoneyCorp.  Of the two, MoneyCorp  offered slightly better exchange rates and provided faster exchanges, but required more phone calls to massage their process.   XE seemed better organized, albeit a bit slower; in particular, we were able to accomplish everything on the internet with XE. 

In the end, both XE and MoneyCorp worked out just fine.  Money was exchanged and delivered as per instructions.

Oh, an important detail I forgot about our Visa letter.  The Consulate told us to send it translated through Google translate.  It didn't have to be done officially, unless we sent it in English, and then we would have to pay for it to be translated.  This is specific to Canada, as none of our documents need to be apostilled.  Or, can't be apostilled, more accurately.  Sounds wrong, but it worked.  And the letter from our lawyer in the DR could have been emailed to them\us and submitted that way.  It didn't have to be the original.  But for the record, FedEx can get a letter from a lawyer in the DR to Northern Ontario inside of a day and a half.  I'm sure it cost us extra, but it can be done.

So you have to get a Dominican bank account before you can get the residency visa?

You still have to translate and legalize all other documents though right. We are in the process and it’s very confusing.

Hi Debbiwymenga,

A Dominican bank account is not a requirement to be able to apply for a VISA. Some category of RESIDENCY may require a Dominican bank account.

The Dominican embassy or consulate offers the service of translating and legalizing the documents.

Some use a lawyer to help them with the visa and residency process.

We paid the Toronto Consulate to translate.  Their website tells you exactly how much everything costs.  We submitted a money order for the amount with our applications, and we were fine.  We also opened a Dominican bank account as a precaution, in case it was needed for Residency.  Glad we did, as we were asked to have an account for each of us, the one joint account wasn't enough.  But our situation is rare, according to our lawyer.  Or maybe whoever was in charge of the Migration Office that day decided to have a chuckle at our expense.  Either way, done, and we are currently in the capital to go through the whole medical stuff tomorrow.  Had a stroll through the Colonial Zone this afternoon too.  Beautiful!

Thank you for your response. Was it a specific form that was required to be filled out for the medical completed in Canada?

Thanks again for your response.
Debbie

Canadians: No special medical form required.  A simple letter from your Doctor, indicating no transferable diseases, generally healthy etc.  Nothing really official as long as it is on your Doctor's letter head and signed by your Doctor.  As a precaution, I had all of my medical tests done in the DR including my xrays and took those both to my Canadian Doctor (to help prepare the letter) and to the Dominican Consulate in Toronto to be sure there were no questions asked.

There were none.  The medical in Santo Domingo is also quite basic.

DominicanadaMike wrote:

Canadians: No special medical form required.  A simple letter from your Doctor, indicating no transferable diseases, generally healthy etc.  Nothing really official as long as it is on your Doctor's letter head and signed by your Doctor.  As a precaution, I had all of my medical tests done in the DR including my xrays and took those both to my Canadian Doctor (to help prepare the letter) and to the Dominican Consulate in Toronto to be sure there were no questions asked.

There were none.  The medical in Santo Domingo is also quite basic.

Exactly.  No communicable diseases, general good health, been a patient since XXXX.  Very basic, nothing fancy.  My doctor included my bloodwork results, as we just had them done, and I needed the Hep A or B booster again.  Not that I needed that for Residency, but why not cover all the bases, right?  His letter was submitted in English, paid the translation fee, but not for the bloodwork results.  Those were a bonus,  and I wasn't paying for those pages to be translated. It was a digital print out, not handwritten, or even signed in ink. It was all printed out from their computer, and it was accepted, no issues.

Same Buck, although I submitted the letter in English, no questions asked, no translation required.

What documents are needed to apply for the Residence Visa. I am pending purchase of a home on the northern coast. I am a semi retired Rehab/habilitation specialist at the moment in NYC. Interest in a Guest House for eco tourists. Should I wait until after the sale purchase to apply for the Visa. As my local residence will change from apartment to home.

There is a whole thread on residencia.  Start there honey, read read read.......   

/forum/viewtopic.php?id=385083

Docsm
Your physical address has nothing to do with your application...
don't let that worry you

As Planner says-- study up !!

When all was said and done.... attorney...consulate....filling papers...etc, what was the total cost for visa.  Per person or as a married couple.  Curious how much it all adds up to.

Also did you have an attorney on the US side and one on the DR side.
Thanks

Ndwaterfan wrote:

When all was said and done.... attorney...consulate....filling papers...etc, what was the total cost for visa.  Per person or as a married couple.  Curious how much it all adds up to.

Also did you have an attorney on the US side and one on the DR side.
Thanks

Are you talking the Temporary Visa to enter the DR, and then start the residency process?  Or the Residency process after you arrive with your Temporary Visa?

It is still a ridiculously cheap and easy process to immigrate to the DR.  Frustrating, yes.  But compared to North America or Europe?  So much easier and cheaper.  And sunnier!  Can't forget that!

I have nearly all my documents, but the pension letter is my issue.  The pension department will not sign any documents and wonder if anyone has any sample pension documents (personal details omitted of course) that can help myself and possibly others. Most lawyers are taking advantage of this fact and want $3,000-$6000 to do my application, which is a little crazy for something that should cost around $1500 for everything.

Any sample documents would be greatly appreciated.  If you should know, the pension I am attempting to use is Texas TRS Payment Letter, which if even apostilled will not be accepted.  TRS has already said that they will not provide any other documentation that what is available through their portal, including notarizing documentation.  I have already had this document apostilled at the State Level, but it too was not accepted by DR Consulate for application.

Help Help!

While you seem to object to paying a well experienced lawyer, this is exactly where they earn their fees. By knowing how to work the system, get around the system and provide what will be acceptable.

@planner No, not objecting, I am happy to do it, but believe due to the time issues I may be put into a corner and pay this fee twice due to expiring documents. I have two lawyers lined up already, will make a decision in next 24 hours. I thought I would ask as this is likely a common issue with the initial application to get into DR.  This issue with the document is highly likely a bureaucratic one.

Ok got it. We highly recommend Lishali Baez. She is here in Santo Domingo and is very good at what age does.

Whatever happens please keep us updated! 

@UncleBuck

Hi,

My husband and I are planning to retire in Punta Cana this year. You mentioned having to transfer a boatload of money to your Dominican bank account before getting Visa approval. How much did they want to see in the bank accounts? When we were in Punta Cana last November we tried to open an account and we weren't able to as they had a whole list of documents that we had to supply that we weren't prepared for. We are planning to rent a place before buying a villa pre-construction. Based on your experience do you see any hurdles for our approval, any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Pamela

@pamela9689 Initially, they wanted an account with $300,000 pesos, and then asked for an account in my wife's name only in the amount of $250,000 pesos. At that time we were still keeping our money in Canada, as we had just arrived, and hadn't figured out the best way to move money. Took some doing, but we got there eventually.

Everybody's application process is different, based on their unique situation.  I have no idea if you would qualify for Residency, or what hurdles you may face.  But your choice of lawyer DOES matter, so take the advice Gi en on this site.

@pamela9689 we came in as pensioners/retirees from the US in 2020. We had to have a Dominican bank account, but we didn't have to have a specific balance. At the time of application, I think we only had about 10k pesos in there (less than $200 US)

@tracy.england Hey I also came here to retire and I'm applying for  retirement visa but I'm confused about the Certification letter they are referring to from my employer. Can you also forward me a generic copy of a visa request letter?

@planner Do you know how much ou contact person charges for the visa application process. I have everything in a packet except the visa request letter and the Certified pension letter

As each case is different honey I don't know.  She is not the cheapest but she is worth every dollar!

@shaddaione Lishali prices her assistance with the Visa application with residency. She can help you with the documents you need to submit for the Visa so that it’s a clean process when she helps you here in DR with residency. As planner said, every situation is different, so what one person paid might be different than what you will pay.

Lishali Baez assisted me last year with getting my cedula and residency card. I would absolutely recommend her and she will get the job done. She was worth every penny too.

@planner

I would also like to see an example letter for a retirement visa.  Thanks!

@Pat Kitchen  See post #5.  It was exactly what we submitted for our Residency application, and we were successful.  The more I live here and deal with the Government, the more I believe that they don't actually care what you say in any letter, it just needs to be included so they can check that box on their list of paperwork.  I doubt it ever gets read.  For our renewals, we've submitted the exact same letter with a different date 4 times, and it's never been questioned.  Don't over-think it, just put some words on a page that you think they want to hear.