POSTERN

Dominican Republic

Ley 171-07, Régimen de Pensionados. A Dominican law granting fast residency and a permanent tax exemption on foreign pension income for qualifying retirees.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 27, 2026

Ley 171-07, Régimen de Pensionados

A 1-year residence card initially, then a permanent residence card renewed in 4-year increments.

Who qualifies

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

1

Does it fit your family?

3 questions, from the program’s own rules.

Steady monthly income, from any source?

Not legal advice.

2

What it takes.

Income
Steady income each month, rising with each person who moves.
Just you$1,500
2 people$1,750
4 people$2,250
Time
A few months to about a year.
Cost
Government fees plus legal assistance, typically a few thousand dollars.
The hard part
Proving the pension is a genuine, recurring, verifiable foreign-source payment, not a one-time transfer of savings.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

3

Citizens by 2030.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

  1. 2027
    First residence permit

    1 year, renewable for 4 years at a time.

  2. 2029
    Apply for citizenship

    With a civics test.

  3. 2030
    Citizenship

    The decision usually takes 4–12 months.

Civics
An interview and a Dominican general-culture exam set by the Interior Ministry.
Time away
Two years of uninterrupted residence. The law says trips abroad of up to a year, with the intention to return, do not break it.
Two passports
Yes. You keep your U.S. citizenship.
  • Permanent residence from the start (a one-year card, then four-year cards); citizenship after two years of residence.
  • The clock start: the law says 'residence', but the gob.do page asks for permanent residence and Migration certifies 'more than two years of residence', so it is treated as running from the permanent card.
  • The five-year temporary-to-permanent rule and the 1-then-4-year card lengths come from a law firm's summary of Law 285-04; the migration service's own pages returned 403.
  • No Spanish level is set in law; the interview is in Spanish in practice.
  • Decision time: the Interior Ministry says 4–6 months from handing in the original documents, and gob.do says 12 months; secondary sources report 10–18.
  • Dual citizenship: Law 1683 asks for no renunciation, and the Constitution protects naturalised citizens' ties to their state of origin.
The law behind these dates
4

Living there.

Time you must spend there
No published minimum days; the residence card itself, not physical presence, is what must be renewed on schedule.
Tax
Permanent exemption from Dominican income tax on the qualifying foreign-source pension income.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

5

Start today.

  1. Apply through the Dirección General de Migración's pensionado/rentista service.Open migracion.gob.do ↗
  2. Round up the papers.
    • Proof of steady income: at least $1,500 a month
    • Request your FBI Identity History Summary
    • Health cover for the move
6

Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

17 steps, from the first paper to the passport. You do 4 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →
7
ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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