SRL, SAS or EIRL: choosing a Dominican entity
Compare ownership, governance, capital design and continuity before choosing the legal form that fits the business and its founders.
Plain-English legal guides
Doing business in the Dominican Republic, explained
Original guides from our desks across the Dominican Republic on company formation, trademarks, real estate, DIGEMAPS registrations, foreign investment and residency — written for international founders, investors and families.
All guides
How to renew a Dominican Commercial Registry
Build the renewal file, reconcile company records and separate a routine filing from amendments, tax updates or catch-up work.
Should a foreign buyer use an SRL for Dominican property?
Compare personal and company ownership around liability, governance, financing, succession, compliance and the intended use of the asset.
A practical Dominican corporate compliance calendar
Coordinate registry, governance, tax, payroll and sector obligations without treating every company as if it followed one generic deadline.
Company-formation mistakes to avoid in the DR
Prevent ownership, purpose, authority, document and post-registration gaps that can make a newly formed company difficult to operate.
Dominican property inheritance for foreign owners
Plan for heirship, foreign documents, succession tax clearance and title transfer when a Dominican property owner dies abroad.
Remote Company Formation
Form a Dominican company from abroad with clear guidance on foreign shareholders, powers, translations, Mercantile Registry, RNC and beneficial owners.
Employees vs Contractors
Compare employees and independent contractors in the Dominican Republic, including classification, contracts, TSS, labor registration and foreign-worker issues.
Trademark Search and Clearance
Search ONAPI records and assess earlier-rights, distinctiveness and goods or services risks before filing or launching a Dominican trademark.
ONAPI Objections and Refusals
Understand formal and substantive ONAPI objections, response options and refusal review for Dominican trademark applications.
Trademark Cancellation for Non-Use
Understand the Dominican three-year non-use rule, qualifying use, evidence, justified reasons and partial trademark cancellation before ONAPI.
Trademark Enforcement and Anti-Counterfeiting
Protect Dominican trademarks through civil, criminal and customs measures, including DGA right-holder recordation and border enforcement.
Importing Goods & Customs
Plan imports into the Dominican Republic: tariff classification, permits through VUCE, the customs declaration, DGA controls and shipment release.
Food & Beverage Registration
Register food and beverages with DIGEMAPS in the Dominican Republic: classification, dossier, labels, local representation, VUCE and customs.
Cosmetic Registration
Register cosmetics with DIGEMAPS in the Dominican Republic: classification, formula, labels, local responsibility, VUCE permits and customs release.
Joint ventures
Compare a Dominican joint-venture company with a contract-only venture. Plan control, funding, IP, deadlock, exit, tax and regulatory responsibility.
Manufacturing & private label
Structure Dominican manufacturing, supply and private-label contracts around specifications, IP, quality, permits, recalls, imports and Law 173.
CONFOTUR Due Diligence
Verify a Dominican CONFOTUR project, resolution, phase, tax scope, title and permits before buying. Updated for Law 30-26 (2026).
Powers of attorney for use in the DR
Most foreign clients never board a plane. Why special powers beat general ones, what registries actually check, and why the POA sets the closing date.
Commercial leases: what to negotiate
Usually the first Dominican contract a foreign business signs, and often under time pressure. Deposit rules, assignment, and why the exit matters more than the entry.
Buying off-plan: pricing the risk properly
Pre-construction is where the best value sits and where foreign buyers lose most. Verify the project, tie payments to milestones, and price delay in advance.
Trademark licensing and franchising
Confirm title, file early, and decide whether optional ONAPI licence recordal helps. Quality control, royalty withholding and Law 173 still need separate analysis.
Closing a Dominican company properly
Companies are formed with ceremony and abandoned in silence, and that asymmetry is expensive. Dissolution, liquidation and why dormancy is not an exit.
Closings and escrow: how a purchase is protected
A clean title with a badly structured closing is still a risky transaction. The promise of sale, releases against milestones, and the tax before the title.
DGII audits: what a review involves
Most reviews begin with a data mismatch, not suspicion. The deadlines that decide outcomes, and why documentation prepared beforehand is the whole defence.
Medical device registration with DIGEMAPS
Risk level and the live DIGEMAPS route shape the technical file. Keep titleholder, Dominican representative or establishment, importer and customs steps distinct.
Apostilles and document legalization for the DR
Every cross-border matter meets the same bottleneck, and it is never the law. Apostille versus consular legalization, certified translation, and the validity trap.
Which Dominican residency route fits you?
Pensionado, rentista, investment, employment or family. The right route turns on where the money supporting you comes from, not where you want to live.
Doing business in the Dominican Republic
A ten-step map for foreign companies entering the market — structure, incorporation, banking, incentives, compliance, hiring, IP and the two traps.
Dominican legal glossary for foreign clients
RNC, ITBIS, NCF, cédula, deslinde, CONFOTUR, ONAPI, DGII, CNZFE. The institutions, documents and concepts everyone around you treats as obvious.
US tourist and business visas from the DR
The officer is not assessing your trip — they are assessing whether you will come back. What 214(b) really means and how to prepare a stronger case.
Distribution agreements and the Law 173 problem
Appointing a Dominican distributor is easy; removing one can be expensive. Statutory protection, Central Bank registration and how DR-CAFTA changed it.
Shareholders’ agreements: control, deadlock and exit
The bylaws bind the company; the agreement binds the partners. What belongs in each, and the three provisions people skip and later need.
Opening a corporate bank account in the DR
Usually the slowest step in a launch. Beneficial ownership, source of funds and business rationale under Law 155-17 — and why applications fail.
DIGEMAPS renewals and variations
Renewal and modification rules are category-specific. Check the live DIGEMAPS route before relying on an expiring registration or implementing a change.
Patents: protection, term and the PCT route
Foreign patents do not create Dominican rights. The baseline 20-year term, PCT timing and narrow disclosure exclusions all require current, fact-specific review.
Transfer pricing and related-party charges
Management fees, royalties and interest paid to a parent draw the most scrutiny, because they reduce Dominican profit. Documentation is the whole defence.
Renewing residency: progression and deadlines
Residency is a rhythm, not a one-off grant. Where files quietly fail, why absences matter, and how a lapse can reset years of naturalization progress.
TSS registration: what an employer must do first
A new company is not ready to hire the moment its RNC issues. Health, pensions and occupational risk under Law 87-01, and the monthly cycle that follows.
Keeping a Dominican company in good standing
Registry renewals, assemblies and corporate books, monthly DGII filings and TSS. Most corporate distress is an unattended calendar, not a bad decision.
Trademark renewal: keeping a mark enforceable
Ten years, renewable indefinitely — if someone watches the date. Plus the ownership gaps that quietly weaken enforcement and reduce a sale price.
Repatriating profits: remittance rights and paperwork
Law 16-95 recognises remittance rights for documented capital and declared dividends after applicable tax. Registration, corporate records and bank AML review still apply.
SRL, SA, SAS or EIRL: choosing a Dominican vehicle
Capital, governance and the commissaire requirement differ in ways that show up years later — in audit costs, investor entry and what a buyer asks for.
Branch or subsidiary in the Dominican Republic?
A branch is not a separate legal person, so the parent carries the liability. When each structure fits, and why the branch is rarely the lighter option.
Applying to CNZFE for a free zone licence
Free zone status is a licence granted on the merits of a project, not a registration. What the council assesses and the obligations that follow approval.
Buying a condominium: what to check first
Title diligence is only half of it. Maintenance arrears follow the unit, and the bylaws may decide whether your rental plan is possible at all.
ITBIS: how the Dominican VAT actually works
ITBIS is generally 18%; IT-1 is generally due by day 20 and data formats by day 15. Electronic sales invoices are not duplicated in 607.
Electronic invoicing: what Law 32-23 requires
The e-CF replaces paper fiscal receipts with a signed document validated by the DGII. A systems project with a deadline set by your taxpayer classification.
Trademark opposition before ONAPI
Publication opens a 45-calendar-day window. What makes an opposition succeed, and the ways to answer one filed against your application.
Copyright: what ONDA registration adds
ONDA creates a dated official record of the deposit and registrant's claim; it does not decide disputed authorship, ownership, validity or infringement.
Work permits in the Dominican Republic
Dominican work authorization is employer-sponsored and shaped by the Labour Code’s 80/20 rule — how to plan a hire before the offer letter goes out.
Dominican citizenship by naturalization
Naturalization depends on the statutory ground, uninterrupted residence history and current Interior Ministry requirements. Ordinary, marriage, investment and other grounds require separate analysis.
Deslinde: turning a share into a titled parcel
A constancia anotada may reflect an unindividualized portion; verify the registry product, legal-status certification and cadastral plan before deciding whether a deslinde is required.
IPI: the Dominican property tax to plan for
IPI uses different bases for individuals and trusts; any CONFOTUR treatment requires project-, unit-, buyer- and transaction-specific verification.
Pensionado residency in the Dominican Republic
Law 171-07 created a residency track for retirees with foreign pensions — the current income threshold, document-authentication rules, and tax or import provisions that require eligibility and transaction-specific review.
Rentista residency: living on foreign passive income
Investment income, rentals and annuities can support Dominican residency — but the evidence must prove a stream, not a balance. How to build a file that holds.
Dominican Republic tax guide for foreign companies
Corporate ISR is generally 27%, with a temporary 30% threshold rule for fiscal years 2026–2028; ITBIS is generally 18%, and incentives depend on the statute, approval and activity.
Buying a business in the DR: the M&A due-diligence checklist
DGII debts, labor severance, land title and the escrow that protects you — the buyer’s checklist for Dominican acquisitions.
US visa from the DR: family petition, NVC & the embassy interview
The I-130, priority dates, the NVC document file and the interview in Santo Domingo — the full step-by-step for Dominican families heading north.
How to register a company in the Dominican Republic
SRL or SA? ONAPI, Mercantile Registry, RNC — here is the exact order of steps, what each registry checks, and how long incorporation really takes.
Buying property in the Dominican Republic: a legal guide for foreigners
Foreigners can generally own Dominican property, but a title copy alone is not enough: check current registry status, cadastral identity, seller authority, taxes and permits. The full due-diligence checklist.
How to register a trademark in the Dominican Republic
The DR is not covered by your international trademark portfolio — protection here means a national ONAPI filing. Here is the process from search to certificate.
DIGEMAPS sanitary registration: selling food, cosmetics & health products in the DR
Choose the category-specific product route, dossier and labeling rules, then coordinate the required Dominican establishment or representative, VUCE and customs layers.
Dominican Republic residency by investment: fast-track options
Residency follows investment in the DR. The qualifying routes, the document checklist, and how the fast-track timeline compares to ordinary residency.
Law 16-95 explained: foreign investment rights & incentives in the DR
National treatment subject to activity and sector rules, registration within 90 days, and documented remittance rights — how the framework works in practice.
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