The best age to move to the Dominican Republic

Great question !!

Hoping the main answer is around 60 years old

My husband and I moved here at ages 54 and 57 - basically as soon as we got our ducks in a row after our pension started.

Qualifying for residency, unless you are a pensioner, is very difficult! Unless you plan to gain residency as an investor by starting a company here, I have a hard time understanding why anyone other than a retiree makes the move. You have to have residency to work here legally, and it's pretty hard to qualify for residency if you need to work.

If you can get residency through marriage to a Dominican, that could work too, but you need to understand that no matter what your qualifications and credentials, you will most likely make a fraction of what you did in your home country.

The DR has some great incentives for retirees - including waiving the transfer tax on your real estate purchase after you gain residency, exemption of income tax on any passive income earned outside the country (including pensions), and there are others that escape me at the moment.

As mentioned above, it's more difficult to get your residency if you are not retired. We had been vacationing in DR for years, then fell in love with Las Terrenas on our first exploratory visit as a place to retire. Once we did the research on the cost of living here vs. the US, we determined we could retire about 8 years sooner than planned!

Perfect age to move here? The earliest you can qualify for residency!

Great informative response DDMcghee !!!

it's awesome to be able to do it before the full retirement age at any age . i too pick a bit early 63 as my two pensions would make up the gap until 66.10 now lol . who wants to wait until if one can right? minus well start now that we are still able to walk, run etc and relax years longer.
thanks friends for the help as always

They're currently working on implementing a digital nomad visa, so I suspect the perfect age will skew lower as soon as that comes into play

AlaPlaya wrote:

They're currently working on implementing a digital nomad visa, so I suspect the perfect age will skew lower as soon as that comes into play

@AlaPlaya - do you have any other info on this? I searched and can't find any articles mentioning that this is in process.

This is the English forum. Please don't post in french

I can't find anything either on a digital nomad visa. Please update us

There is no digital nomad visa for the DR at this time that I have seen anywhere.

The "correct time" to move to the DR to live is:

1) When you no longer have to work and have enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life

AND

2) When also  you have a way to become a legal resident

When you have 1 and 2 and also want to proceed, go for it.

Probably the best answer  Windeguy!

bingo!!

Just saying for myself that age doesn't matter....its when your ready. People move there at least to Las Terrenas at all ages and for lots of different reasons.

If you have a plan and a way to have income either through a job where you can work from anywhere or as a friend did you decide to build a hotel and live there. The biggest thing I noticed was source of income, a GOOD lawyer to help with residency and a desire to experience new customs and a different language. You must be willing to respect the local people and their country. Its not wherever your coming from so respect that. I found it shameful to see many expats coming over and taking advantage of the locals either financially or in other unsavory ways. Its a tropical paradise but not a free for all, anything goes place. Go with an open mind and BE RESPECTFUL! If you wouldn't do something in your own country you probably don't want to do it here either.

Just my two cents worth.

Glauriel

ddmcghee wrote:

AlaPlaya wrote:

They're currently working on implementing a digital nomad visa, so I suspect the perfect age will skew lower as soon as that comes into play

@AlaPlaya - do you have any other info on this? I searched and can't find any articles mentioning that this is in process.

Unfortunately I don't have very much information, other than the fact that per my contact, the Dominican government is working on implementing a digital nomad visa. I'm paying close attention to this front, so if I see anything publicized on it, I will be sure to share.

AlaPlaya wrote:

ddmcghee wrote:

AlaPlaya wrote:

They're currently working on implementing a digital nomad visa, so I suspect the perfect age will skew lower as soon as that comes into play

@AlaPlaya - do you have any other info on this? I searched and can't find any articles mentioning that this is in process.

Unfortunately I don't have very much information, other than the fact that per my contact, the Dominican government is working on implementing a digital nomad visa. I'm paying close attention to this front, so if I see anything publicized on it, I will be sure to share.

Hopefully they can also "work on" and actually create a 6 month snowbird visa which allows someone to be legal in the DR for up to 6 months (including being able to legally drive here).  The government has a very difficult time creating such logical and needed laws and regulations.

Until someone hears something concrete this is a rumor and maybe wishful thinking!   

What is not a rumor is the intent to TAX  the digital work being done here by Dominicans and foreigners!  They are actively working on that.

This could be one of those "be careful what you wish for" things.  Up until now, digital nomads just come, work on line, stay as long as they like and pay am overstay fine when they leave if they overstay on a tourist card.  An actual digital nomad visa might include payment of taxes which could exceed the fine  when leaving.  Time will tell.

Working on line virtually is "virtually" the only way to make good money here.  If you are coming here to work in the local market, you are better off at home, unless you are currently from the Ukraine or Somalia.   That said,  retire here when you no longer need to work.

We won't be allowing comment like the above.

Hello   I retired at age 54.  It was my goal to do it by age 55 and I made it. I learned about investing at a young age and how to save money and watch it grow. The first little book I read was called "the wealthy barber" which is about a barber, who is a millionaire and not because he charges $50 for a haircut.  The book must be 30 years old, too bad its not in Spanish so I could hand it out to Dominicans to help them. The book is about a Barber, who talks to his customers about simple ways to save money over several years.  Basically, save 10% of your earnings. Dont touch it for any reason, period.  Hard to do when your only earning a few pesos but the principles do work.

I tried to make it to 55 but I retired at 48 and have lived in the DR full time since then. I finally reached normal retirement age in my country and most of my friends are still working.

@Cheryl 

All ages are good to move to Dominican Republic 

If you have even small amount of free capital 

20000 or 30000 usd you can start your own small business 

Colmado shop 

Or other thing 

And live with no rat race 

Relax not must wait for retire 60+age 

I go in next 2 year hope and try open hostel mini sized 

Europe is end with schwab new communism plan from Davos 

Dominican Republic still cash in use  <3

@Cheryl 

I have not relocated permanently to the DR.  Not yet. I share my time between the DR, the United Kingdom, and Spain. However, the Dominican Republic suits an older ex-pat a lot more.

In my opinion, the pace of daily life in the DR may be a bit too slow for a younger person. As the world is a small global village now, what goes on in Ontario, Canada is instantly visible to youths in Santo Domingo. Similarly, aspirational lifestyles that exist in Barcelona, Spain can be accessed online by boys and girls in Santiago. We were all young once.  So, I would imagine that persons below the age of forty whose homeland is in North America and western Europe won't fall over themselves to become ex-pats in the Dominican Republic. Conversely, I'd be surprised if young persons born and raised in the Caribbean won't be tempted to grab an offer to relocate to North America.    

I live in Las terrenas age 51

Their is a good number of 20s and 30s  and the next big group and the largest is i 60+ 

@Cheryl I will probably wait til age 62, what do you think?

This is one damn ridiculous question for a topic. 

It's individual.  Everyone makes decisions based on their needs and their families needs!! 

My wife & I are in our mid-40’s living in S Florida. We’re considering a move to Casa De Campo to get out of the hustle bustle of our current city. I can work remotely and fly back for meetings as needed. My wife has skills that would easily transfer to a resort type destination … one of our (many) concerns is meeting people our age. Our son would go to school, but I’m not sure if other parents live in town, or inside the gates.

Post #10 by 'windeguy' says it all. The reality is DR best suits older expats without children of education age. 

I think mid 50’s and up , the people who are starting to plan their retirement and the people who are retired , I say this because I don’t really see a job market for someone in their 20’s - 30’s  here  , I think with the pay scale difference between the states or Canada or the UK why would someone starting out want to come down to a third world country when all the action is elsewhere all the other countries offering hi finance / tech job’s , theater , restaurants / and so on …. No I think the DR is for the community that wants to wind down a little and forgo the hustle ….. just my opinion 🤔

I removed the completely off topic  comment.

i was not aware of a retirement visa. does that allow for long visits? i have spent varing amounts of time in DR, and i love the weather, and slow pace of life. that said, i would not want to be  a perminant resident. i would prefer to return to USA for regular medical, to spend time with friends, and not really spend the worst part of the summer. i am 72, and now  have enough resources to do something like this, but  last few times i was there, the "crack down" on overstayers, and the posibility of showing up, and being turned away, did not interest me.  is there really a retirement visa? and does it allow for multi entries?  thanks for any info.

bobk.nyc,  I have never heard of a "retirement" visa.  There are ways to qualify for legal residency by having enough retirement income.  Here is a link to all of the options that do exist (no retirement visas listed)  directly from DR Migracion:   https://migracion.gob.do/en/servicios/services/

Windeguy is correct. There is no retirement visa.  There is a qualification for residency based on "pension" income.  

I think bobk is referring to this Visa -
[link under review]

Thats not a visa. 

I will check the link. thanks

I was wondering   ( wishing ) maybe there was a conference one could attend , where maybe one of the attorneys that practice in this fields … Realestate / immigration  etc. would hold and field questions in person and if one wishes to  could possibly hire one of the speakers to consult with  their particular process

That is a good idea.  Let me see what we can put together!