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My residency expires

Oct and was not able to renew until November (no faster appointments offered) so that was only offered but I still think they charge a late

fee for being "late" even though we had no option. I don't think it's going to be issue from legal perspective though.

Yes the late fees will always be applied! Unreal!

So, we are now able to renew without necessarily having to hire a lawyer to assist? 

@classygringo

Yes, the same for me no appointments until Nov , mine also expired Oct 2025. The stranger thing is my Cédula is valid until Oct 2026

@ExpatRusher

Renewing by yourself online is a pretty simple ordeal. No need for a lawyer at all.

@UncleBuck

Exactly what I did

UPDATE

I had declined the January appointment and said I needed an appointment in November at the very least.  When I checked today, I was offered an appointment for the end of October.

Yes please!

But I still wonder why the initial January date for an early November expiry??

@UncleBuck

Lol may you may never know ....we know th8ngs changes daily here... good luck!

@UncleBuck

@CHRISTOPHER DAVID56

Good morning gentlemen.

THANK YOU for sharing your experience regarding RENEWAL.

With regards to LEGAL assistance, in my case, in 2009 in the USA, I married a native born Dominican who has dual citizenship (DR / USA). I am currently spending another month (Oct 2025) in my wife's DR home. Plan for us is to permanently relocate to the DR as my wife inherited a small home in the Santiago area.

Could you gentlemen (or anyone else who reads this) let me know if the initial application is so much more difficult than the renewal process that "No one should go it alone without a LAWYER".

I eagerly await your response.

And THANKS AGAIN for sharing your experience as it is priceless information!

@jwronasc

I strongly recommend a lawyer for the initial application for Residency.  Well worth the money.

THANK YOU for the quick reply. The more research I do the stronger my agreement with your position becomes. To the point that I hope to email a few law firms today. Any suggestions based on your engagements in the DR?

@jwronasc

The lawyer I used no longer does residency, from what I am hearing.  I know there is one who is heavily recommended here, but she may be over-burdened and not replying as quickly as she needs to be.

I don't have any specific recommendations, but you will get good advice here.  Just absolutely NOT Abreau.

@jwronasc I did not use a lawyer for mine but it was difficult. My wife helped me a lot if she would not have been able to help me navigate the process it would have been way too frustrating and I would have definitely used a lawyer.  The renewals are easy to me so I don't mind doing those on my own.

THANK YOU for your reply!

I am of the mind that a lawyer if the way to go with the initial application.

I'm suspecting the move from USA to DR is going to bring many unsuspected frustrations.

So alleviating as many of the known/possible should allow me to keep my sanity.... but not my money.   : )

Wow! Ours were set to expire September 15. We submitted our application for renewal on August 13, it was approved on August 20, and we had our appointment on August 26.

@jwronasc - we use . 809-860-1231. She handled our initial residency and all three renewals.

@ddmcghee the renewal gods want you there. That’s encouraging.

Anyone contacting any services or lawyers in Santo Domingo, those offices are all closed today, possibly tomorrow as well due to this storm

@karynllanders

And Lishali makes things happen!

We just renewed on Wednesday, luckily just before storm hit SD. Thanks to Lishali and Melissa we were  on our way home  after just 2 hours

Anyone contacting any services or lawyers in Santo Domingo, those offices are all closed today, possibly tomorrow as well due to this storm - @planner

Two questions about this -- and of course, the higher priority is hoping that everyone in Santo Domingo stays safe and well!

(1) Regarding private services and lawyers -- when there's a closure like this, do professional-services providers just shut down completely or do they continue at least answering messages from home?

(2) Regarding government offices -- are the cancelled appointments from the last couple of days likely to have a cascading effect, even after things get back to "normal," displacing future appointments as well? or can people with appointments later next week (assuming this thing moves on by then!) be relatively sure of keeping them?

I have an appointment this Thursday, I'm coming in from out of town and have booked a room x2 nights, and I was already having trouble getting answers from my lawyer (on other questions) before the storm, so I thought I'd ask and see if I could get any context here.

@wondering9

Suggested; You can call DGM or use there message system via FB if yiu don't speak Spanish you can use Google translate to assist.

Also monitor your DGM portal for updates.

@Christopher David56 I am working through a lawyer and do not have a personal log-in to the DGM portal.

@wondering9

Ahh, well hopefully your lawyer can track down that information Monday morning

To answer your questions:

1 some do some don't.

2 you need to ask your lawyer. As far as I know all future appts are kept and those who were cancelled get rescheduled and squeezed in!

I hope this helps

I already have a bunch of questions out to my lawyer that have been pending for over a week, and I have already followed up once. This lawyer has in the past answered from outside the office/working hours (so I know that's an option for them), but did not do so this time. That's why I was curious about what the general practice might be here... and curious about any other bits of context that people who are not lawyers but have more experience in the DR could offer.

Thanks for the info!

Here is my best advice: be persistent but respectful.  Sometimes things get a bit overwhelming here, like in a big storm. Remember that clients are worried, often bombarding them with questions, which I do understand.

But also every relative  and many friends are doing the same.  There is a great deal of uncertainty across the country, friends and family are worried about each other. Oftentimes the most successful are expected to help the unfortunate members.

That is to explain they may miss your email, text or WhatsApp amongst the many messages. So, be persistent and respectful. Maybe wait until this passes if they are in the south and west areas of the country.

The noncommunication had already gone on for a week before the storm became an issue. I have been persistent and respectful throughout the time we've worked together, and plan on continuing to be so, of course. This lawyer made a comment to me once that I was better organized and less high-maintenance than many of their other clients. I really feel like I am doing everything I can from my end to make this work.

^^and that is probably a good "least said, soonest mended" place for me to stop talking about it. With any luck, Thursday will go as planned and then I can take a breather from this stuff for awhile. The info shared here has been very helpful, and I appreciate it! Thanks, Planner and Christopher.

Goodluck! One thing I learned about the DR culture quickly is a lot of professionals, Doctors, Lawyers, Nurses, Banks,etc don't like to be challenged or questioned. However, for many XPATs that won't work. As Planner said be persistent but professional. There will be times that you will find yourself you just have to tell them like it is....we all have been there...hope all goes well....

My comments were meant to be generic for n nature.

update: with whatever thanks are due to little birds in the background, I got an answer and we seem to be back on track -- good Lord willing/creeks don't rise (literally).

@ddmcghee

THANK YOU for your lawyer contact info!

@UncleBuck Cedulas for foreigners are issued when you renew. They are not affected by the change in cedulas for Dominicans.,which most likely will keep being delayed,

@om2252001

Not at all times. My Cédula renews next year and my residency renewal date was Oct 8th, this year.