The Truth About Getting Dominican Citizenship (and Why I Haven’t)

I probably need to start this with a little honesty.

I qualify for Dominican citizenship multiple ways:

• I’ve lived here over 3 years

• I’ve invested well over $200,000

• I’ve been married to a Dominican for more than 2 years

And yet… I still haven’t finished the process.

Not because it’s confusing.
Not because it’s insanely expensive.
Mostly because life keeps happening, and the system is just inconvenient enough that it’s easy to say, “I’ll do it later.”

But over the years, I’ve learned a lot about how Dominican citizenship actually works — the paths, the costs, what’s optional, what’s overkill, and what people routinely misunderstand.

So this is me finally consolidating everything in one place.
Partly for you.
Partly to shame myself into getting my butt in gear.

To be clear — this is my best knowledge - it’s not gospel and shouldn’t be treated as such. Costs vary, other’s have different experiences but I hope it at leasts give you a guideline to work from.

First — an important reality check

You do not need residency or citizenship to live in the Dominican Republic.

Let me say that again because it surprises people:

You can live here for years — even decades — without formal residency or citizenship if you want to.

Is it technically overstaying? Yes.
Is it common? Extremely.

What usually happens is simple:

• You enter as a visitor

• You stay as long as you want

• When you leave, you pay an overstay fee at the airport

For most people, that’s roughly $60–$100 USD, depending on how long you’ve stayed.

A lot of people I know just mentally budget that cost and move on.

There are ways to extend your visitor status through immigration (often discussed up to ~120 days), but honestly… I’ve never bothered. Paying the exit fee is easier.

Do I recommend this long-term? Not really.
Is it doable? Absolutely.

And yes — this is probably part of why I’ve delayed my own paperwork.

The real paths to Dominican citizenship

Here’s how it actually works.

1. Citizenship through Dominican parents

If your mother or father is Dominican, you’re Dominican by origin — even if:

• you were born abroad

• you’ve never lived here

• you’ve never held Dominican documents

This isn’t naturalization. You’re basically just claiming something that already exists.

Costs:
Mostly documents, apostilles, translations
Attorney (optional but common): ~$1,000–$2,500

This is the fastest, cleanest path if you qualify.

2. Citizenship through marriage

This is the most common path I see.

If you’re legally married to a Dominican and have legal residency, you qualify for accelerated naturalization.

Costs:
DIY: a few hundred dollars total
With an attorney: ~$1,800–$3,500 all-in

Government fees are surprisingly low. Attorneys mainly reduce friction and mistakes.

3. Citizenship through investment (residency first)

Quick clarification because this gets confused constantly:

The Dominican Republic does NOT have citizenship-by-investment.
That’s Dominica. Different country.

What the DR offers is residency by investment, which then leads to citizenship later.

Requirements:
Minimum qualifying investment: $200,000
(Real estate or a registered business)

That money is your asset — not a fee.

Costs (excluding the investment):
Residency legal + government: ~$3,700–$6,900
Citizenship legal + government later: ~$1,600–$3,200

Total legal/admin: ~$5,000–$10,000

This is the route where attorneys usually earn their keep.

4. Standard naturalization (long-term residency)

If you’ve had legal residency for many years (typically 5+), you can apply even without marriage or investment.

Costs: similar to the marriage route
Downside: slower, no shortcuts

The part people underestimate

No matter which path you take, there are a few steps that almost everyone hits — and nobody really talks about until they’re in it.

A big one is background checks.

For most foreigners, that means:

• An FBI fingerprint background check (or equivalent from your home country)

• Apostilles

• Certified translations

• Documents that expire if you don’t time them right

None of this is hard.
It’s just annoying.

This is where people get delayed:

• Fingerprints get rejected

• Documents expire mid-process

• One missing apostille sends you back to the start

This is also where attorneys tend to add value — not by changing the rules, but by helping you avoid dumb resets.

And yes… this is another reason I’ve dragged my feet.

So why haven’t I finished mine?

Honestly?

Because:

• I qualify multiple ways, so there’s no urgency

• Life here is easy without it

• Paying $60–$100 to leave the country hasn’t hurt me yet

But long-term, citizenship (or at least residency) does make sense — for stability, banking, paperwork, and just being properly rooted in a place I love and plan to stay.

Which means… yeah. I should probably stop procrastinating.

Want to go deeper?

Inside the DR Inner Circle, we have a citizenship & residency discussion board where:

• People share real timelines and costs

• You can see which attorneys others are actually using

• You can learn from people actively going through the process

• And you don’t have to figure this out alone

You can talk to my attorney as well who has helped some get citizenship (and has been working on mine).

If you’re thinking about residency or citizenship — or just trying to decide if it’s worth it for you — that’s the best place I know to pressure-test your thinking.

And maybe… it’ll finally push me to finish my own paperwork too.