A guarantor is a Dominican person, company or legal resident who is economically solvent and is held responsible for the applicant’s moral conduct and economic conditions. Usually, Immigration authorities request a guarantor for authorizing the issuance of an immigration permit (Dominican residence, Dominican ID or Dominican citizenship). Without a guarantor foreigners will be unable to apply for such permits.

A letter of guarantee is a document used by the government to assure foreigners will not be unprotected in the country. So, in the event of illness, insolvency or any other eventuality all foreigners will have a solvent sponsor, who will be in charge of feeding, accommodating and paying for the necessary expenses, including the repatriation costs, if necessary, to avoid becoming a burden for Dominican government.

However, who can serve as a guarantor? Why both, the Immigration and Homeland Security Department request a guarantor for authorizing an immigration permit? These and other questions will be explained below.

All Dominicans of legal age, foreigners with permanent residence in the country, as well as any company incorporated in the Dominican Republic can serve as a guarantor. Such guarantor will have the obligation of demonstrating his solvency to the immigration authorities.

In this sense, in addition to the letter of guarantee mentioned above the immigration authorities request some documents that could justify the guarantor’s solvency in the country, which we described as follows:

• Title deed of a property registered under his/her name;

• Bank letter, with a minimum of RD$100,0000.00; or,

• Copy of the Vehicle registry.

In the event the guarantor is a company, the following documents must be attached:

• Copy of the bylaws of the company;

• Copy of the Dominican ID of the company’s representative;

• Copy of the last Board Resolution;

• Copy of the Mercantile Registry; and, • Copy of the Tax ID card.

Any of the above mentioned documents, can confirm the guarantor’s solvency. Once the foreigner has the letter of guarantee and the documents mentioned above, he will be able to request either the Dominican residence or citizenship.

It is important to mention, that once the application has been deposited, such documents will be registered and filed before the Immigration or the Homeland Security Department, depending on the request, and in the event of any eventuality the guarantor will be contacted for taking care of the foreigner during his stay in the country. From these viewpoints, the letter of guarantee imposes certain moral responsibility on the guarantor in this manner.

Bibliography:
www.migracion.gov.do
www.seip.gov.do