My Personal Experience with the Naturalization Process in the DR

First, it is a must to point out that I love the Dominican Republic! This country, with all its good and not so good, is one of my favorite places to be. However, this place gets a bad rep, especially when dealing with services, specifically legal services. So please allow me to share my experience with you all that I had with someone who offered me outstanding legal assistance with naturalization process.

Personally, I am a "do it yourself" type of person and like to show others how do it so that they do not make the same mistakes. I did that with the residency process in the DR. I did it in another country as well with sucess. Howver, when I attempted the naturalization process on my own here in the DR, I was quickly overwhelmed. I checked the forums and all of you recommended one person...Doctora Lishali Baez. Needless to say, that was the best decision I could have made.

We all know that Dominican Republic gets a reputation for bad legal services and that is what everyone speaks about..."she took my money and did nothing"...and so on. However, I rarely hear about the great service that some provide. That is what I want to do with this post.

Now, I know we are not supposed to advertise and I am not, but please allow me to just share so that people know that there are good people in the legal industry in the Dominican Republic. Some are honest and offer great service which is all we really want in the end, especially when dealing with the complex immigration process.

When I came to the conclusion that my "do it yourself attitude" was not going to work with this naturalization process, I sought out Doctora Lishali. She responded quickly, I answered her questions, and we had a contract soon after. Without going into too much detail, just know that she is a professional. You will not get "mucho labio" and excuses. You will not get a smooth-talking lawyer that sells you cheap services while getting nothing done. You will not get a lawyer that takes 100% payment upfront, then runaway with your money, never to be heard from again. We all heard the stories. La Doctora will do the work and keep you informed throughout the process. She will answer your questions. She is a true professional! Though I am still in this naturalization process, my paperwork was accepted and the fingerprinting is complete with the Ministry of Interior. The hard part is done. If you are familiar with residency process, then you know that hard part is getting the paperwork accepted by Migración.

I do not want to make this post long. Although, it is important to highlight great legal service. So, if you find yourself needing legal services in the Dominican Republic, especially immigration services, I recommend Doctora Lishali. Sure, there are others, but do you know if great service was rendered. Are people who have worked with that lawyer actually recommending that lawyer? If not, you cannot go wrong with La Doctora...honestidad, confidencialidad, justicia.