Guide 04
Residency and stays.
Buying property does not automatically grant a right to stay, but it opens several routes to obtain one. Which route is yours depends on where your income comes from and how much time you want to spend there.
In brief: as a Polish citizen, you enter visa-free and can stay legally as a tourist. Residency becomes useful when you want to remain longer, handle matters locally or obtain a cédula.
Starting point
Before you consider residency
Most owners from Poland do not need residency at all in the first years. You can buy, own and rent a property as a non-resident using your passport.
A passport and the free E-Ticket form completed before departure at eticket.migracion.gob.do.
The standard period granted on entry, counted from the border-crossing date.
A stay can be extended at the migration office for up to 120 days in total. Without an extension, the fee is settled on departure and rises with the length of the overstay.
Foreigners buy on the same terms as citizens. Residency is not a condition.
Your route
Choose your profile and see the route
Dominican law categorises applicants by income source. It determines the entry threshold, waiting time and whether you move directly to permanent residency.
Residency through investment
Migration Act 285-04 allows people investing at least USD 200,000 in the country to skip temporary residency. The investment can be property, company shares, a term deposit or securities, and it must be registered with CEI-RD.
Documents
Documents issued in Poland require an apostille and certified Spanish translation.
How the procedure works
Residency for people with passive income
For people supported by passive income from outside the Dominican Republic, such as rent, interest, dividends or business profits. Employment income does not qualify, and the income must be shown to have been stable for the past five years.
Documents
Documents issued in Poland require an apostille and certified Spanish translation.
How the procedure works
Retirement residency
This route has the lowest financial threshold in the system. A documented pension of at least USD 1,500 per month is sufficient, whether paid by a public or private institution, including the Polish social security system.
Documents
Documents issued in Poland require an apostille and certified Spanish translation.
How the procedure works
Temporary residency
The standard route for people who do not fall into the other categories, including remote workers, people starting a local business or joining family.
Documents
Documents issued in Poland require an apostille and certified Spanish translation.
How the procedure works
The amounts shown are official fees. Including legal support and translations, the total usually comes to USD 1,000-3,000. Thresholds, fees and processing times are set by the Dirección General de Migración and may change; before filing, we confirm the current requirements with a local immigration lawyer.
Why it matters
What residency actually provides
The most important benefit is not the residency status itself, but the cédula, the Dominican identification number. Without it, many everyday matters have to be handled indirectly or through an authorised representative.
Citizenship can usually be requested after five years of residency. Under the investment route, an application may be possible after two years of permanent residency, provided the investment conditions remain satisfied. Naturalisation requires an interview in Spanish.
Our role
We coordinate the case with a lawyer
We are not an immigration law firm. We work with lawyers in Santo Domingo and coordinate the entire process, from selecting the right route and preparing documents in Poland to attending local appointments.
If you do not need residency, we will say so clearly. For many holiday-apartment owners, tourist status is entirely sufficient.
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We will identify the right route for you
During the consultation, we review your income situation and residency plans, then identify the application category and provide the required-document list.