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Normally your lawyer handling your Residencia application acts as your sponsor.  If you don't have a lawyer yet, you might want to contact one soon.  Our lawyer had no issues sending a letter on our behalf.

Thanks Uncle Buck. 

I believe you provided the name of your lawyer before.  If memory serves he is located in Puerto Plata(?) is that correct? 

Were you able to retain him via the internet for the first step, or did you go to his office to complete the documents and get the sponsor letter?


We submitted the first batch of documents and understand that once they have been processed, we go to the consulate in California to get our visa stamp. 

I was understood that the visa/temp residency could be done without the assistance of an attorney, but am now anxious enough and  prepared to retain legal counsel to complete the process.


How did you find your attorney?

Tracy

Uncle Buck nailed it. 

But it sounds like you've not engaged a lawyer, or you would have already known about apostilles.  Sounds like you've figured that out now. 

I think you got your move actions WAY too far ahead of your documentation.

Don't count on making that mid-April delivery; the government is unlikely to be fast enough to satisfy your needs.  Here's some suggestions to help (I hope):

1. I don't think you'll be able to finish your Residency application if you enter the country on a normal travel Visa.   The Residency process is specifically designed to ensure you get pre-screened at the Embassy, and then you get approved for a specific Residency Visa to visit the country to complete your Residency application.  THE EMBASSY OR CONSULATE APPROVAL of a Residency Travel Visa DOES NOT NOT NOT afford you ANY ANY ANY residency privileges.  If your shipping container arrives prior to approval of your actual RESIDENCY, you'll owe higher duties on the contents.  How much?  check the other threads on this website.

2.  I don't think many lawyers will just write a letter of referral for you if they don't have a chance to review your file and get to know you a bit.   Additionally, YOU shouldn't want to be associated with the type of lawyers that would write such a blind letter -- getting associated with the wrong crowd is not a good thing for new expats to do, in any country.

3.  Contact your shipper NOW and ask for estimates for delaying the delivery and storing your shipping container in a port -- stateside or in DR.  Hopefully, you can catch it before it departs the US.  It shouldn't cost too much for just a couple of months, which is all you'll probably need--but it could be 5-6 months...as others will attest on this forum, Seems kind of random. 
>>> Or, perhaps if you're buying a house or condo, the developer may have a place it could be stored...but you'll probably still have to pay some rental fees for the containers. 
>>> Make sure to ask about SECURITY of any potential storage areas, BEFORE YOU COMMIT, especially if your container contains high-value items.  I think the reasons are apparent; there are cases where folks' shipping containers get looted en route or in port.  PAY THE NECESSARY PRICE TO GET APPROPRIATE SECURITY, AND PROBABLY SOME BONDING AND INSURANCE. 

4.  Planner knows some lawyers that charge reasonable rates for their services.  You may want to engage one of them, perhaps for a reduced rate if your residency Visa is already near approval.   I would recommend contacting Planner, get a couple of referrals for lawyers, and start making calls.   Depending on your language skills, be careful whom you engage.  If you don't speak Spanish well, you really should pick a lawyer with excellent English skills. 
>>> Planner probably has some suggestions for whom NOT to engage.  I strongly recommend listening to her suggestions. 

I'm so sorry to be so negative on the above recommendations; but you have gotten the cart before the horse, and it is unlikely to be easy or free to get it corrected.   Move quickly to get things realigned, or your stuff will arrive in port early and you'll have a dickens of time dealing with it. 

Best of luck, my new friend.  Please keep us updated on how your story evolves; my wife and I are still awaiting our Embassy/Consulate approval.  Would appreciate your "lessons learned" on this process.

Jim

Yup you need help.  Contact Lily by Whatsapp or call her at 1-809-860-1231

You are way too early to send your container.  If you don't wait you are paying tax and duty on the contents!

I did PM you Guido Perdomo's info, and he's in Sosua.  He handled our Villa purchase, so we inquired about Residency then.  When we visited last summer, we confirmed his services, but did not pay anything until we were approved for Residency, and arrived on the Island and began the Residencia process here.

He doesn't walk you through the Visa side of things, as that is relatively straightforward if you follow this site, and the Consulate/Embassy site.  They all lay out how to get things translated and Apostilled (not for Canadians, though, we don't need to do that), and what should be submitted.  We verified with our lawyer that he would act as our guarantor before moving forward with him.

Best of luck.

Thank you all for the guidance, support and suggestions.  I had a pretty good idea of the necessary steps but my husband (bless him) was eager to get things moving along and may have jumped the gun on some steps.

He has been retired for 3 years and is anxious to be in our new home, which has taken longer than expected to complete.  He had been doing his own research and we obviously didn't communicate well enough.  LOL. 

I now have several names (again, thank you!) for counsel that we will reach out to and see what our next steps should be.

And I will go back and re-visit all the previous posts to also make sure we are following the proper steps in getting visas, temp residency and eventually permanent residency.

Thanks again for all your help.
Tracy

Always happy to help honey!  Update us along the way!

Hello Uncle Buck, I'm Canadian and not sure what you meant about "Apostilled (not for Canadians, though, we don't need to do that)".

Annieloraine, Canada is not part of the Hague Treaty, so we can't get our documents Apostilled.  Google it for a full explanation, but Canadians applying for a residency Visa don't do that part.  The application form you fill out doesn't mention it either.

Just an update - Again thank you all for your assistance.  I took Planner's advice and reached out to Lily this morning.  (a most delightful and helpful young lady.

After some back and forth dialogue, and filling out a couple forms, we have retained her services and she is in the process of providing a sponsor letter for us.

We had previously been told that the purchase of a home would be proof enough to qualify us for our visa application, however Lily informed us that this has not been the case for several years. 

We still require a sponsor letter.  We are now on our way to completing the last and final document needed to submit to the consulate for our visas.  Hopefully we will have the electronic copy tomorrow afternoon (which the consulate states they will accept for the visa application) and can overnight the apostilled documents to California.

We will receive the original sponsor letter when we arrive in the DR and can use that for our official interview when it is scheduled.

We certainly could have saved ourselves a bit of heartache but all in all, it was a good and not too painful, learning experience.

Hoping to be "home" in the DR and some much needed sunshine really soon.

Tracy

That's good to know, I'll google it for sure.
Thanks Uncle Buck