More Scrutiny of Expats Living in DR?

They are catching on electronically to all the cons going on.

It took three weeks for us to get approved for a bank account here and we had all our documents in order! This was in February/March of this year.

They are definitely being more careful with expats!

That  is all about international money laundering rules. Its fairly straightforward in many banks  IF you have all your documents ready AND If they are at full staff.

Most banks are working at least part of the time remotely. Which means very little is actually getting done in a timely manner! Its ridiculous. 

Not all banks are the same. Glad you had a decent experience,  3 weeks is quite reasonable.   I waited  3 months for  additional accounts, not new ones,  additional ones. Just ridiculous!

All normal, hasn't changed in 16 years.  It's just everyone expects it to be immediate.  Welcome to the DR and be grateful it took only 3 weeks. 

Of course there are always exceptions and as I always say...it depends.

Too much drama going on here when most of it is business as usual.  Chill, take a pill, and go and enjoy the beach...IMHO

The banking is stuck from 30 years ago. I had a bank check made out wrong and went back to get a new one. What a process it took even with original check in hand!

Also had deposited a check from outside the country, took 30 days to clear although cleared from the outside bank in one day.

Do you need to be a resident and/or a property owner to open a
bank account in the DR  ?

No you do not. BUT you do need to have legalized status. If coming in on a tourist visa, best to get your bank account process done in the first  30 days. After that it gets much more difficult.

It is not an easy process and may require trying a few different banks.

planner wrote:

No you do not. BUT you do need to have legalized status. If coming in on a tourist visa, best to get your bank account process done in the first  30 days. After that it gets much more difficult.

Planner,

Do you need to get an apartment before opening an account? I'm assuming you must provide a fixed address. Or can you apply for an account while staying temporarily in a hotel?

Not needed honey,  they dont care about the address too much. Use whatever address you want to.  I would not use a hotel address though.