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Hello:
I will be getting married to long time fiancé in November  2021 however, I want to come over in April 2022 and stay with her while this day approaches. My questions:
1. Can I apply for residential visa under these circumstances i.e a formal engaged person.
2. I have enough savings to live there comfortably until I can tap into my retirement in 2.5 years-will my ability to show money set aside be acceptable as demonstrating my financial solvency?

Thanking you in advance.

A Good News Update!!!

I last posted in July, when we seemed to be in eternal hold status for our final approval for the residency.

Good news from Lishali, WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED!!!   

We won't be there until January or so to pick up the credentials and such...but I just wanted everyone else to know that the Immigration Ministry is indeed, now moving forward...if not as fast as we all would like.

Also, wanted to take this chance to praise Lishali Baez, who undertook to help us recover from a stalled effort under our previous lawyer (who shall not be named). 
>> Our situation with our previous lawyer had gotten so bad, that we had to simply terminate them.  We could no longer trust their word, among many other problems.  Progress was glacial, if not zero!!
>> Fortunately, we soon thereafter found Lishali through this very forum.  She came highly recommended.
>> And Lishali has delivered on every single promise made!!!   

This is a lawyer knows how to WORK!!!  Smart, efficient and well-respected in her community.   

Obviously, we recommend her highly.   

Best of luck to others who may be in "holding patterns" due to COVID-19.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel!!!  Hang on for the ride, you'll eventually get there.

ExpatRusher

What a great update!  Congratulations. 

Lishali is a gem isn't she!!!!

Scorpions

I am sorry I missed your post! 

Thanks answer no.  Sorry engaged doesn't qualify you need to be married.

And savings won't qualify as proof of income.  Sorry that would not qualify either.

Like Expatrusher, we also got good news last week from Lily (Lishali) and we picked up or Residencias and Cedulas on Friday.

Lily has been a joy to work with and it's been great having her by our side for this journey! 

Brief summary of our journey:
January 9, 2020 - Applied for Residency Visa as Pensioners in Washington, DC
February 6. 2020 - Received our Residency Visas
March 12, 2020 - Submitted our applications for residency in Santo Domingo and completed our medical exams
September 21, 2020 - Notified that our applications were approved
September 25, 2020 - Received our Residencias and Cedulas

Considering the  covid mess, that is quite reasonable timeline and process!   Yayyyyyy!

planner wrote:

Considering the  covid mess, that is quite reasonable timeline and process!   Yayyyyyy!

Yes! I give Lily much credit for us not hitting any snags! She made sure we had all of our documents in order for both the Visa Application and the Residency Application. The only small issue we had was that some of the pictures we submitted did not have a white enough background, so we had to have those retaken, scanned and added to the application. They let us know right away and we were able to resubmit within a few hours.

Thank you very much for your kind words! it has been a pleasure to help you in your next step in the Dominican Republic.

Thank you so much! It has been a pleasure to be of help to both of you!

Looking very much forward to meet you again soon.

ddmcghee, you were on the fast track with Lishali!!

We had a horrible experience with our 1st lawyer.  I won't belabor the point, but we lost a full year to and wasted a good chunk of change.   There were certain irregularities in the process, as well, that made us nervous.  In the end, we simply lost confidence that the firm could complete the process in a timely fashion.  Ultimately, we terminated the relationship. 

I'm saying all of this ONLY as a warning to future expats who want to hire a lawyer.
>>  BE VERY CAREFUL OF WHO YOU GIVE YOUR MONEY TO!! 
>>   You have to rely on reputation and your personal impressions, to be honest...there's little other choice.  But make sure you get CURRENT (or, at least, Extremely recent) referrals, not referrals from even a few years back. 

Firms can and do change, over time. 
>> Firms can take on too many clients but not take on sufficient staff to handle the added business. 
>> Key personnel can leave the firm, or change duty responsibilities, and the replacement hire is not of the same quality.
>> Or, the business could have once been very competent in the immigration space, but over time grew into new business areas, and they lost focus on the nuts and bolts of the original business. 
>> Or, Staff can be hired with insufficient English-speaking skills -- which is a CRUCIAL mistake if your client base speaks English. 
>>   Or, the firm could simply leave their office unmanned, seemingly for weeks at a time, so there's no one there to answer calls or take messages.  Or maybe the firm simply don't answer the calls or email.
>> For the client, it doesn't matter WHY the poor service exists...it exists.  And when multiple clients are experiencing the same problems, well, it's time to move on.   

In the end, I don't know what went wrong with our 1st legal firm. That's on their end.   

BUT, here's the Lesson Learned:  CHOOSE YOUR DR IMMIGRATION LAWYER VERY, VERY CAREFULLY...USING CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THIS FORUM!!!

And today, a whole bunch of expats are UNIVERSALLY recommending Ms. Lishali Baez.    You should consider that recommendation with the highest regard. 

I'll leave it at that. 


ExpatRusher

Well that's pretty darn clear!

Residencia question - I stumbled across this In latin America sometimes even though it says rentista which one would think means rental income (obviously it can) also can mean just income. If you google translate the information on that link it actually says permanent income or income from a company. Keyword being Or income. Does that mean that now as long as you can show $2,000 a month coming from a company not necessarily rental that you may be able to get a permanent residencia?

It means income from a non work related source. Permanent source or long term

I second, third and forth every statement expatcapitalist and others above have made. I will simply add - if you use a lawyer based on recommendations from a family friend for one thing like rental agreements or land purchase (locally) and they want try/learn the Residency process - DO NOT DO THIS . I tried being a nice guy and it added 18months to the process for me, so the high recommendations for Lishali are made because she an honest, conscientious lawyer that, in my opinion, goes above and beyond to ensure her clients successful completion of the Residency process!

On the link I posted it says  from a company. That's where I was confused. Sure it could mean a annuity that makes sense where it says permanent income, but it says permanent income or income from a company.

Like a pension..... gov't or job related

Good to know thanks.

Hi;

Am in the US and my girlfriend (US citizen) and myself (UK citizen) are looking to spend a year in the DR and need help obtaining our temporary residence visa.  We meet all the requirements (we are retirees) and plan on arriving on/around April 1st, 2021.  Can anyone recommend a good immigration lawyer to help us please.

Hi;

Am in the US and my girlfriend (US citizen) and myself (UK citizen) are looking to spend a year in the DR and need help obtaining our temporary residence visa.  We meet all the requirements (we are retirees) and plan on arriving on/around April 1st, 2021.  Can anyone recommend a good immigration lawyer to help us please.

Yes
Atty Lishali..... very good reports on her work.... and English speaking

Just read the earlier posts higher up in this thread for those reviews

Many thanks....will try and find her contact info......unless you have it and can share it.

Much appreciated,

Simon and Cindy

Good morning;

I wanted to reach out and introduce ourselves and ask for your help getting a Temporary Residency Visa....

My girlfriend (US Citizen) and myself (UK citizen) live in Tampa, Florida and want to spend a year or so in the DR and need to apply for a temporary Residency Visa.  We meet all the requirements but need some one to help us manage/complete the process.  We plan to enter the DR on April 1st, 2021.

You come highly recommended. Hope to hear from you.

Thank you.

I sent you her contact info by private message!

Hi all,

I am more confused all the time.  We are building a house in the DR to retire to.  We checked multible websites all of which said it was easy to move there.  We now found out that 3200 a month is not enough to retire there because it's not all considered retirement income. We found this out after spending a lot of money on paperwork.  Now trying to come in as tourist for 6 months a year and that's not allowed either.  We can't afford to fly back and forth every 2 months.  We are so upset.  Does anyone have any suggestions.  Thanks Hilda

Curious why it is not all considered retirement income?  Can you elaborate?

BTW:  We are DR dreamin to!  Plan on moving in 2030.

Hilda
Have you spoken to Atty Lishali ?

Who told you would didn't qualify.....?
Get professional advice if you haven't already......

BTW, not all lawyers are professional..........Lishali is !!

Because part of it is from the sale of our business.  We financed part of the sale so we have money comingvin every month from the new owners.

It was the dr embasdy in Ottawa, Ontario

WillieWeb wrote:

Hilda
Have you spoken to Atty Lishali ?

Who told you would didn't qualify.....?
Get professional advice if you haven't already......

BTW, not all lawyers are professional..........Lishali is !!

Truer words have never been spoken.  It is amazing how many people go off an add on Facebook or casual referral.  The DR is it's own beast, and not subject to the rules most Expats are used to playing by.  Do your research, talk to many people, do more research, and then ask specifically about the lawyer/realtor/developer you want to use, and then research some more.  Honestly, we got very lucky with one referral to our realtor, and her referral to our lawyer.  We never knew his excellent reputation until we closed the deal on our villa, so we consider ourselves lucky that he is one of the best on the North Coast.

Sent you a pm Hilda1959.

The Embassies aren't always up to speed......

Get  to the source here in the DR....

I feel really silly but where do I find personal messages

Where do i find the private message?

Hi Hilda.  You should receive an email directly saying you have a private message. 

Or go to the very top of the page their are notification icons. 

Income needs to be long term to qualify. And you are also building which is an investment and that qualifies as well. 

Please contact Lishali.  She is an amazing English speaking attorney who specializes in immigration.  She knows what will and what won't work. 

Her number +1-809-860-1231

Hi Hilda,

I sent you a private message.  Just click on the bell at the top of the page on the right...

The Government seems to be moving very quickly now.  Our renewal applications were accepted, we paid Monday night, Tuesday we get calls for appointments on Friday.  Sheesh!!  Way too soon, and not at the same time, no way we could arrange work and travel that soon.  Friends just told me the same thing happened to them.  From what the website says, it may cost us $1,000 RD each to reschedule, but we don't have a choice.  Let's keep fingers crossed, and see what happens!

Hello everyone,  my name is Scott and i wanted to introduce myself.  I am new to this site but when i found this site, i knew this would be a great place to learn more about DR.  We are looking to possibly move to DR in couple years but doing my research now.  We will be visiting in April hopefully just to see the tourism area and also look at condos/restaurants for possible sale.  Any advise or information you could give me would be much appreciated. 
thanks

Hello - as others such as Planner, will soon advise, there is a lot of info here on this forum. Just check out the various threads and you will garnish much. Once you have reviewed these, if you have specific questions about certain areas/things, ask away - there are many that can reply and advise. Cheers..

UncleBuck - wow.  Unheard of happening that fast.   Keep us posted! 

Scott - welcome to the forums.  Best to go to the welcome thread and introduce yourself, then start reading honey.  If you don't find what you are looking for start  a thread to ask for what you need.

Hi Planner,  Can you also please send me Ms. Lishali Baez' contact information?  We're planning to apply for DR Residency.   We meet the retirement income requirement (US Military Retirement).  Thanks for all you do to share important information with the expat community.  Thanks!  Victor