Changes in Immigration policy

@planner Thank you for letting us know.  I will look for those changes.

As we slowly make our preparations being up on current changes is always a good thing. Thanks planner and Lishali!

@planner

Can't wait to see what the changes are.

I hope all the changes are for the good.

Standing by

Good afternoon Planner and readers.

For a few weeks now, the institution of the Directorate of Immigration has a new director of immigration and residency, for distinction purposes: 

The director of immigration and residency is the head of the department that handles residency and renewals applications, this position was replaced recently, the general director of Immigration is the head of the whole institution, the latter has been for the last 2 years.

The new director of immigration and residency has taken several measures that impact requests and response time for current and future applicants, we have decided to make a series of posts to inform the interested community.

In the cases of American citizens with dual nationality,  previously it was possible to apply for any residency category by showing a notarized and apostilled copy of the naturalization certificate, in addition to the original birth certificate duly apostilled,  as simple as making a copy of the original naturalization certificate, presenting it to a public notary in the United State.   Currently, for cases of US citizens applicants, the certified and apostilled copy must come directly from the United States immigration service, slowing down the process of gathering the applicant's documents.

Additionally, it is important to know that this requirement is specially relevant for residency applications at the General Directorate of Immigration, - after receiving a visa abroad-  please note that, it is possible that you have presented a simple copy or even have not presented a copy at all of your naturalization certification to apply for a visa and even received a visa without any further inconvenient, however,  when getting ready to apply for the residency at the General Directorate of Immigration you will encounter this situation. 

For context,  for the embassy and consulate of the DR abroad, your nationality it's proven with the presentation of your original passport book, no further questions are asked regarding your nationality, while in the DR you'll be requested -as indicated- all 3:

1- Original passport of the prefered nationality to apply;

2- Original birth certificate duly legalized with apostille

3- Certified copy of the naturalization certificate made by the United States Immigration Services department to later apostille.

In the case of Canadians applicants with dual citizenship, -Canada recently entered the Apostille convention- , the process is:

  1-   Original passport of the prefered nationality to apply;   

  2- Copy of the naturalization certificate made by a public notary.

  3- Legalization by apostille of that copy made by a public notary in Canada.   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

These posts are informative based on day to day experiences, it does not constitute an official government source of information and in no case implies a specific consultation about your case.

following...

@AttyLishali2

Great information! Hopefully , they can reduce the wait time for reviews and approvals

Have a friend waiting 5 months with DGM for retirement residence permit

Thanks for the valuable information!

So DW (naturalized US citizen) would have extra steps to take.

    @AttyLishali2
Great information! Hopefully , they can reduce the wait time for reviews and approvals
Have a friend waiting 5 months with DGM for retirement residence permit
Thanks for the valuable information!
   

    -@CHRISTOPHER DAVID56

Waiting in home country?

@sparks1093

No, as mentioned with DGM (migración)i

n the DR. The 2nd part of the process the DGM Retirement Residence application permit

    @sparks1093No, as mentioned with DGM (migración)in the DR. The 2nd part of the process the DGM Retirement Residence application permit         -@CHRISTOPHER DAVID56

Thanks for the clarification, I missed the ramifications of "with DGM". Waiting sucks but I guess I'd rather wait there then here (provided it's an option of course and it sounds like it is, for now).

Dear All:

i am little bit confused regarding the following:

1- Original passport of the prefered nationality to apply;  I AM NOT AMERICAN WITH PASSPORT

2- Original birth certificate duly legalized with apostille.  Though I am american citizen but was born in Russia.  They want my Russian original birth certificate?  PLEASE kindly advise.  Thank you

3- Certified copy of the naturalization certificate made by the United States Immigration Services department to later apostille.

Sorry, meant to say I AM NOW AMERICAN CITIZEN

As I understand it you decide which to use.  Russian or American

@rgwsf Hello,

In your case you'll need to pick which nationality you want to use, this decision should be based in which country you have resided for the last 5 years, country of birth or country of second nationaly.

Assuming the answer is the USA, you'll need:

1- Birth certificate legalized with apostille.

2- Naturalization certificate lealized with Apostille

3- Original USA passport book.

Along with the set of additional requirements to apply.

Best,

@AttyLishali2  thank you very much.  that is what I am trying to figure out.  I was born in Russia ( well it was USSR then) and no way I have my birth certificate from the former USSR exist (I am 54 years old).

so, if I can not provide the original USSR birth certificate I am doomed?  No chance to get the residency here?

Not to mention that pretty much all Russian consulates are closed in USA and flying to Russia for me is not a choice

    @AttyLishali2  thank you very much.  that is what I am trying to figure out.  I was born in Russia ( well it was USSR then) and no way I have my birth certificate from the former USSR exist (I am 54 years old).
so, if I can not provide the original USSR birth certificate I am doomed?  No chance to get the residency here?
   

    -@rgwsf

It sounds to me like it's your naturalization certicate they will need since that shows that you are a US citizen.

I think the Russian born person might indeed be screwed by this circumstances, but Lishali can respond. 

I had an issue where I only had a hospital copy of my birth certificate used for my legal residency process in 2001 and I recently had to get an Apostilled copy from the USA when I tried to renew my residency a few years ago after renewing many times without issue.  They caught up to that detail and it was a challenge to get that birth certificate with apostille done remotely. I almost had to make a trip to the US just to get it.

I suspect if you can't get an apostilled birth certificate from your home country, you won't qualify, but that is best answered by a lawyer.

Apostilled documents come from the Department of State in the USA, at least mine did after an official copy was generated in one office in my city of birth, legalized at the county seat  and then the apostille applied at the department of state .  Three different offices were involved just for that and it took months.

Wow  what a hassle.  Maybe  its time you got citizenship @windeguy.....

I have made a comment that was incorrect, Lishali gives us the truth here:

Just wanted to let you know that it is possible to translate documents at the consulate or embassies and it's even recommended this way, specially for Canadians and Americans.

ME:    Wow  is that embassy at home or here?

Home, each embassy and consulates offers translations services apart from the visa service.  When they go to a third party USA translator those translations are usually only valid for the embassy or consulate, never valid for the immigration here

The embassy or consulates translations are valid there at the consulate at home and here for the immigration

@rgwsf Hello,

Thank you for your message.

In cases like yours what is recommended is to submit as a USA national to DR consulate or embassy near you, this you'll need to do with the naturalization certificate with the formalities as explained above.

Then whe preparing to apply for the residency application at the Dominican Republic, you should also prepare a legal letter explaining the reasons why you can't comply with the birth certificate requirement.

Best regards,

Lishali

@planner  hello, that is the thing.   I am American citizen.  But was born in the USSR.  The country does not even exist anymore.  So, the question is if I have an American passport and all the needed naturalization papers do I really need the original birth certificate ?  That is what I am trying to figure out

@AttyLishali2  Thank you very very much.  I so much appreciate your help!!!! THANK YOU!  Are you a DR attoney?  Please kindly advise as I have a few more issues going on in DR and just started to look for the representation.  please kindly advice.  Thank you in advance

@windeguy it is Russian Birth certificate.  or to be more specifIc USSR the country which does not exist any more…  but looks like I got an answer how to deal with it.  Thank you very much for your care 🙏

    @AttyLishali2  Thank you very very much.  I so much appreciate your help!!!! THANK YOU!  Are you a DR attoney?  Please kindly advise as I have a few more issues going on in DR and just started to look for the representation.  please kindly advice.  Thank you in advance
   

    -@rgwsf

Yes she is an immigration attorney and highly recommended by a number of us here.

@planner I am a DR citizen. 

When I got the Apostilled birth certificate to regularize my residency, I got 2 of them so I could proceed with becoming naturalized since one was also needed for that process.  It was the hardest single thing I needed to get.

I did the entire naturalization process without using a lawyer, by the way.  I even got a DR passport as a souvenir.

Woooooo hooooooo! Felicidades!

@windeguy Congratulations!

General question- is there an expiration date on Apostilled documents? I believe many of the ones that are required are also required for future renewals of visas (like the retirement visa) and I was wondering if it made sense to obtain multiple copies at one time in order to eliminate waiting down the road, if any of that makes sense. Of course if the document in question needs to be Apostilled within a certain time frame of applying for the status this course of action isn't an option.

@sparks1093

Normally and from my knowledge they are good for 1 year. However, the appostile birth certificate in English and Spanish has no expiration. Its normally the home country police/FBI report that has between 9 months to 1 year expiration. However, the best approach to the answer the question would be a legal advisor.  The requirements and laws can change frequently here in the DR

@CHRISTOPHER DAVID56

Oh, yes, that's one of the things I have discerned so far from this forum- things can change muy rapido in the DR. The US government moves at the speed of smell. The DR government, much, much faster.

LoL, well much faster (DR) in consistently changing the process but not to sure faster within the established process. My opinion...

@CHRISTOPHER DAVID56

Oh yes, island time is still in full effect no matter how much the law changes. I figure I'll be retired and in no hurry come the day (although I might need to have one of those portable seats with me for the lines).

I love this -  The Speed of Smell .  @sparks I am going to remember this one.

Does anyone know how far in time the Police/FBI report should go?  is there a time limit?  Also, is DUI considered a crime when applying for residency here? 

@rgwsf

Your FBI report will go back as far as you have any history/violations with any state or US territory. They normally will register misdemeanor and above. It all depends if the state (police/sheriff department) sends the violations or charge to the FBI.

Yes, DUI has the strong potential of appearing on your FBI report.

Yes, just a plain DUI is a misdemeanor. However, it can be charged different levels it all depends on how it was charged and how the judge classified it.

Again, not a lawyer just sharing my knowledge as I know it and recommed seeking legal advisor.

@CHRISTOPHER DAVID56  thank you.  does it have to FBI or a local police report is accepted too?

From my understanding FBI for US citzen, Apostille by state department, and then translated by certified translator and then Apostille by the DR government agency