Residencia - 2020 - How to get it done.

Thank you planner in my wife home country of Latvia somehow they call you to check that you are home. Here in America that might be coming soon, there are talk about shutting down for 100 days, I do not believe it, but there is always the what about if ? Covid- 19 is the biggest nightmare the world has ever seen, too many resources drained that without it, could have been applied to those needs in society . God Bless you all !!

There won't be a 100 day shutdown.  Won't happen.

By the way we try to keep threads on topic.  There is a thread dedicated to covid honey, go take a look!  ( Actually I think there are 3)

thank you planner I will follow your advice, I am pretty positive myself , as I believe in all of us !!!

Update on residentia, our application has been approved and we will be picking up our documents tomorrow in time for our flight on Friday! Yoohoo! 
I have a question though; we are bringing our three cats with us (yes they have all the necessary paperwork) but what I woukd like to know is what happens upon landing.  I've read that there needs to be a vet at the airport but how do I make those arrangements?

Sorry no clue

Hilda
you won't need a vet at the airport

There is an Agri/Animal office -
present your papers and pay the prescribed fee (I don't know it)

Same thing on the way out.... DR vet papers presented and pay
All done at local vet

Thanks for the info!

Congrats on the residency visa!!!  Travel safe!

Thanks!

Hilda - we just flew our dog in last week. The fee at the airport for processing the paperwork was $10 US.

A couple of questions for you: Which airport are you flying to?  Are your cats flying in the cabin?

2 are flying in cabin and 1 in cargo, he is the size of a small dog. Lol

Is that 10 us dollars?

Yes - $10 US dollars for the processing.

I hope it all works out - especially if you're flying into POP. We were told that POP was not accepting live cargo as of last week. We had originally planned to fly in there since the flights from MIA to SDQ were all on planes that didn't allow live cargo, but we had to switch to STI.

Had no issues flying in with our 3 cats.  Make sure you have the proper paperwork.

We are in Sosua and need to get our photos done and photocopies of our passports to send to Lily, does anyone know where we go for this.

If there is a CPS or Mail Boxes Etc there, they should be able to do both.

For the copies of your passport, you can also use an app called CamScanner that can do batch scans and create a PDF that you can send to Lily.

In Sosua, Coral Foto, near the Texaco gas station, is good and inexpensive for your residency photos.  Leave your jewelry at home, no hair bands, and cover your shoulders, no cleavage.  $600 pesos per couple for the photos, and you can take a picture of your passports with your cell phone/tablet and email/text them to her.  FIf you NEED the photocopy, they may be able to do that too. Otherwise, Microjet, in the walkway to Playa Sosua, right by Checkpoint Bar, is very good for that.   It's strange with the residency photos, at least for renewals: you still need to get your pictures taken, but then you take a picture of that picture to upload it to the Government.  How very Dominican!!

We came in with our cat - all paperwork in order.  there is supposed to be someone there up to I think 5PM to check the papers etc.  No one did.  They just waved us through immigration with my cat carrier plainly in sight.  When we booked our flight they said you had to arrive I believe it was before 5 so you could see the animal person.  Think I read that on the Punta Cana airport website.  Each airport may be different with different times.

Another question, what is a good vpn down here?

Lets keep this thread on topic please.  This is Residencia.  We can open a thread for VPNs if there is not one already.

Oops sorry

Hilda1959 wrote:

Oops sorry

No worry honey,  it happens to all of us!

Things have changed. I am in the process with  Lily right now. What use to take 20 to 30 days at the Consulate now takes about 2 months. Thats with a good lawyer that knows the ropes.

Absolutely good advice.  Its an ever evolving process and with Covid things seem to take longer!

thank younger the advice , asi will need locate a good lawyer for the residence, I think home buying will also help for a permanent stay ? Krumite

@Krumite - owning property here does not qualify you for residency.  You must have proven passive income (rentista) or pension, or invest in a Dominican company.

Or...you have to have a work visa, meaning a job with a Dominican company that will sponsor your residency.

I believe real estate held in a Dominican corporation will work if enough value.  I will confirm.

Yes you need a letter from your doctor.  Saying that you are in food health,

Yes all of that is in the original posts outlining  how its done.

Yes you can own real estate and believe it is over 200k.

Real Estate only works if you own it in a company name. So add the expense of establishing a DR company to the overall cost.

So for the Corp more or less $1,500 plus annual reporting etc of about $300.   If that is how you need to qualify for residency it may be worth it.

planner wrote:

So for the Corp more or less $1,500 plus annual reporting etc of about $300.   If that is how you need to qualify for residency it may be worth it.

The good part is many lawyers have corporations on the shelf ready to be transferred to the buyer's name at the drop of a pin.

If you want one with a specific name it will take a little longer but my take is the more vague the name the better.

For a holding Corp it doesn't matter about the name. 

Shelf corporations cost a bit more because they are already established.  Don't fall for. Paying a pile of additional money for one though!   

Currently a new corporation takes 3 to 4 weeks for me to get done.  A shelf corp transfer will still take a week and a half.  Unless you have a strict timeline it may not be worth it.

planner wrote:

For a holding Corp it doesn't matter about the name. 

Shelf corporations cost a bit more because they are already established.  Don't fall for paying a pile of additional money for one though!   

Currently, a new corporation takes 3 to 4 weeks for me to get done.  A shelf corp transfer will still take a week and a half.  Unless you have a strict timeline it may not be worth it.

That's right. Not that much of a rush going in, but a definite advantage when it comes time to sell.

No worries about titles, deslindes,  no onerous contracts.  Just a quick transfer of shares done with a signature and the lawyer takes it from there.

That is another benefit.

Estate planning and laws also can come into play for foreigners.  It's another reason to utilize the corporation

Not sure if I should post this here but it is part of getting your residentia.  Had an appointment at the bank this morning to open a bank account, and walked out with debit card in hand.  Done in about an hour.

Hey Hilda,

Could you share the name of the bank and where is it?

Here in the capital it can be a nightmare to open a bank account for non-residents, it takes several days in many cases.

Thanks!

Many thanks to everyone for the great insights. The estate planning issue is a big consideration, especially if you and your spouse have children from a previous marriage.

If my wife and I already own a property in our names, can we create a corporation and transfer the property to the corporation?