If you want to move to the Dominican Republic, there is one thing to understand first: the route does not start on the island, it starts at a Dominican consulate abroad. Arriving as a tourist and applying for residence once you are there no longer works. The foreign ministry MIREX states on its visa page that the residence visa is the first requirement of the residence procedure, under Article 48(a) of Decree 631-11, the regulation to the migration law Ley 285-04. After that comes a fixed sequence: choose your route, obtain your documents, apply for the residence visa, enter the country, file with the immigration authority within 30 days, collect your card, renew. The requirements and deadlines below come from the immigration authority DGM (Dirección General de Migración), the foreign ministry MIREX, the migration law and its regulation, and the tax authority DGII, as of early November 2026.
The requirements at a glance
Before you apply for anything, check four points. If one is missing, careful planning of the others will not help you.
If you meet these four points, you have the actual requirements for moving to the Dominican Republic in hand. The rest is a matter of order.
Step 1: Choose your route
Which route suits you is almost always decided by your income. If you receive a pension of USD 1,500 or more, the pensionado route is the most direct. If you live from rent, dividends or interest, the rentista route is the one to look at, with one hurdle: under Article 6 of Ley 171-07 you must show that this income will flow for at least five years, and prove that the money actually reaches the country. If you want to invest, you take the investor route with a certificate from the investment agency CEI-RD.
If none of these grounds applies to you, you face the real bottleneck: even for ordinary temporary residence, the DGM first requires the RS visa, and the consulate issues it only for the grounds listed. All amounts, proofs and fees for each route are set out in our guide to residency as a pensionado, rentista or investor. The steps that follow apply to every route alike.
Step 2: Your documents from home
This is where your timeline holds or breaks. In principle, foreign documents for the Dominican Republic must be either legalised or carry an apostille. According to the HCCH status table, the Dominican Republic joined the Hague Apostille Convention in 2009. For most countries that means an apostille from the competent authority in the country that issued the document is enough.
There is one exception you should check. A state can object to a new member's accession, and then the apostille does not apply between the two. The notifications of the Hague Conference list four objections to the Dominican accession in 2009. Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands have since withdrawn theirs; Germany's objection of 11 June 2009 still stands. Documents from such a country need the classic legalisation route: first a pre-certification by the issuing state, then legalisation by a Dominican embassy or consulate. That takes longer, so look up your country before you order anything.
You need three documents in any case:
1. Your birth certificate. For temporary residence the DGM expressly requires the full version (Acta de Nacimiento Inextensa). If the name in your passport differs from the one on your birth certificate, for example after a marriage, you also need the document that proves the change.
2. Your criminal record certificate. According to MIREX it may be no more than one year old for the visa, and in federal states it must come from the federal authority. If you have lived in several countries in the last five years, you need several certificates. Minors do not need one for the visa.
3. Your marriage certificate, if your spouse comes with you as a dependant, or, for unmarried couples, a notarised declaration of a partnership of at least two years.
Anything not in Spanish must be translated by a court interpreter, and the translation also needs the matching certification. Allow several months for this stage; criminal record certificates with a pre-certification often take the longest. How to organise apostilles and certifications, and where the countries of the region differ, is covered in our apostille roadmap for Latin America.
Step 3: The residence visa at the consulate
With your documents ready, you go to the Dominican embassy or a consulate general responsible for where you live. For the pensionado visa, MIREX asks, in essence, for:
As a rentista you submit, instead of the pension certificate, proof of the source of your income, such as bank certificates, lease agreements, statements from brokers or proof of shareholdings. As an investor you need the CEI-RD certificate.
The fee, according to the MIREX fee schedule, is USD 200 for the RS visa as a pensionado or rentista and USD 250 as an investor. The ministry gives 10 to 20 working days for processing.
Take two of the ministry's statements seriously. First, a complete application is not a promise: the decision is made by the ministry in Santo Domingo, not by the consulate. Second, the ministry expressly advises against booking non-refundable flights before the visa has been issued.
Step 4: Entry and the 30-day deadline
According to MIREX, the RS visa is valid for 60 days and a single entry. You have to travel within that time, on your passport. Every traveller completes the electronic E-Ticket form for each entry and exit on the official E-Ticket portal; airlines often ask for its QR code at check-in. You may bring cash and foreign currency without limit, but amounts of USD 10,000 or more must be declared on the customs form.
From the day you enter, the most important deadline of the whole procedure runs: you have 30 days to appear at the DGM and file your originals. If you miss it, the authority charges a penalty fee. For temporary residence the DGM lists an extension of the filing deadline (Prórroga para depósito de expediente) for 7,000 pesos. Meeting the deadline is cheaper.
You start the application online on the DGM service portal: register, choose the service and office, fill in the questionnaire, upload your documents. The authority wants the scans in JPG format. Only then do you go in person with your originals.
Step 5: Filing with the DGM, medical examination and card
At the DGM you submit, besides the documents from step 2, further papers that you can only obtain in the country. For the pensionado route, the DGM service description lists:
For the examination there is a small but costly rule: it must take place within three days of payment, counting the day of payment. Otherwise you pay again. The result is available after about ten days. Dependants file their own documents, with birth and marriage certificates, a copy of the passport, the visa and a criminal record certificate. Children under 16 do not need the criminal record certificate.
Once everything is complete, you receive a receipt form with which you later collect the card. For pensionados and rentistas, Article 7 of Ley 171-07 sets a maximum of 45 working days from receipt of the application. The first card is valid for one year. The fees for each route are in our residency overview.
Step 6: After the card: ID, driving licence, household goods
With the residence card, the practical part begins. The DGM fee includes the confirmation for the cédula, the Dominican identity card for residents. You need the cédula for almost everything involving authorities, banks and contracts in daily life.
The driving licence is an obligation many people overlook. Foreigners with residence have to apply for a Dominican licence at the transport authority INTRANT. You will usually need your valid foreign licence and a confirmation from your country's embassy that it is valid, certified by MIREX, plus the INTRANT fee. Ask your embassy in Santo Domingo what its confirmation costs.
Household goods can be imported duty-free as a pensionado or rentista. Article 11 of Ley 171-07 refers to Ley 14-93 on the household goods and personal effects of foreigners who settle in the country. You apply to the customs authority, already with the DGM's approval letter, before the card arrives. Two limits: under the law the benefit applies only to the main applicant, not to spouses and dependants, and duty-free household goods may not be sold without paying the duties.
Working is allowed for pensionados and rentistas under Article 15. The salary is then taxable like that of any other employee in the country.
Step 7: Renew and stay legal
After one year the first renewal is due. Article 8 of Ley 171-07 requires the form, a copy of your cédula, a Dominican criminal record certificate, the expired card and above all proof that your pension or income has arrived in the country, for the entire period of the previous card. If you leave your pension sitting abroad, you will have a problem at renewal. So have the money flow regularly into your Dominican account from the start.
Always keep your card valid. The authorities have recently stepped up checks of residence status, including at roadside police checks. Anyone found without a valid permit risks penalties up to detention, and illegal stay can lead to a re-entry ban. How things continue towards naturalisation after a few years of residence, and how the Dominican Republic compares, is shown in our naturalisation comparison for Latin America.
Tax: when you become resident
Your residence card and your tax liability are two different things. According to the DGII, you become tax resident if you spend more than 182 days in a year in the country, consecutive or not. In its Aviso 22-25 the tax authority also makes clear that the country does not have a purely territorial system: it taxes Dominican-source income and foreign income from investments and financial gains. Newcomers get a grace period: foreign investment income only becomes taxable from the third year of residence. What this means for your planning is set out in the Dominican Republic country profile.
The home side: leaving, pension, health cover
Alongside the Dominican procedure, you wind things down at home. Moving to the Dominican Republic does not, on its own, end your tax residence at home. What your home country keeps taxing, whether you have to deregister, and whether a tax treaty helps, depends on where you come from:
Pension. If you receive a pension from abroad, tell the paying body your new address and bank details in good time, and expect to return a life certificate regularly. Who may confirm it in the Dominican Republic differs from one pension provider to the next, so ask yours which confirmations it accepts before you leave.
Health insurance. The DGM guarantee policy is not health insurance. You have to arrange health cover yourself, ideally before your flight. What works in the region is covered in the guide to health insurance in Latin America.
The sequence as a checklist
1. Choose your route: pensionado, rentista or investor. Check your income against the minimum amounts.
2. Order your documents: full-version birth certificate, marriage certificate, criminal record certificates from every country of residence in the last five years.
3. Check at the HCCH whether your country has an objection on record; then apostille, or pre-certify and legalise. Have everything translated by a court interpreter.
4. Put together your pension certificate or proof of income and bank statements for the last three months.
5. Apply for the RS visa at the Dominican embassy or a consulate general, USD 200 fee. Book flights only once it is issued.
6. Enter within 60 days and fill in the E-Ticket.
7. Within 30 days apply online with the DGM, file your originals, take out the guarantee policy, open an account, have the medical examination within three days of payment.
8. Collect your card, get your cédula and driving licence, register your household goods with customs.
9. Transfer your pension or income to the country regularly and renew after one year.
10. Settle things at home, update your pension details, return your life certificate on time every year.
Carpe Diem. Life is short and fleeting. One shot. Make it count.
