Moving to DR this summer. Need advice.

[Ozzyny]

Hello everyone,

I am a big fan of this forum. Although I never post, I have been reading for years.

I am planning to move to DR soon and no, I did not meet a beautiful dominicana and I'm moving to chase her, lol. Actually I wouldn't mind meeting one when I get there. Anyways, I'm 28, speak excellent Spanish, and English, good computer skills, Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. Several years of work experience with good recommendations.

I am planning to stay at my family's house, which is in a decent section of Santo Domingo, so I won't have to worry about renting a place and such.

How are my prospects for finding a job? Before I get berated for not searching, I did search and I found discussions on call centers, which seem to be a disaster from what I hear from you guys, and some other jobs here and there.

I would like to find a job in an office setting, possibly a bank, or maybe at a hotel. I have excellent customer service skills and I have worked for several years for U.P.S while I've been here in the USA.

Before anyone says, if you work for UPS why not stay there? Well, I am in the U.S on a work visa which is expiring sometime this year. I need to move. My mother is dominican but I was born in Venezuela. Going back to Venezuela is not an option as everyone in my family left due to the political situation. Unfortunately for me, U.P.S does not sponsor foreign employees for green cards so at the end of my temporary Visa I have to go unless I want to become one of the much maligned 12 or so million illegal immigrants in this country.

[Luperon]

Find a wife in NY now! It cant be that hard.

Then after getting your citizenship, you can move to the DR by choice. If you dont have money in the bank or a pension, the DR is not a place you want to work for a NY style living. (even with free rent)

[PeterInBrat]

There is a very good market for web-design in the DR especially with tourist related businesses. I checked out one company in Cabarete and they were charging $1000 per website. That is a big chunk of change for a lot of small hotels so maybe you could could do the website for a smaller set-up fee and then charge a monthly maintenance fee. If you could get 30 businesses to pay you $30/month with a $100 set up and then get a new client here and there, you would do very well. I can't believe there are so many hotels that have nothing for a webpage and then some that have websites in English/German/Italian/Spanish.

Even without webpage as your work, I would think with your fluent English/Spanish and computer skills you should do pretty well.

[Hillbilly]

You give a very good first impression, I must say. Look, the suggestion about getting married is not that far off the edge...Lots do it and while it might hamper your movements for a while, in the end you are in the Big Apple legally, although you mighthave gotten there a bit illegally.

You have a claim to DR citizenship, of course, through your mother, so you might want to get that going so you can work in the DR as a legal resident (ie. citizen--but don't broadcast that since they would lower your pay scale...)

Investigate the other couriers here and even check out your present company...theydo a lot of business here...Look into a supervisory position overseas that reports to HQ. And don't limit yourself to here...

COredailly,

HB

[Ozzyny]

Originally Posted by Hillbilly

You give a very good first impression, I must say. Look, the suggestion about getting married is not that far off the edge...Lots do it and while it might hamper your movements for a while, in the end you are in the Big Apple legally, although you might have gotten there a bit illegally.

Thanks for the compliment. Good ideas, although I definitely won't be getting married just to do become a permanent resident here. I'd rather give up the luxuries I've become accustomed to and not end up marrying the wrong person.

You have a claim to DR citizenship, of course, through your mother, so you might want to get that going so you can work in the DR as a legal resident (ie. citizen--but don't broadcast that since they would lower your pay scale...)

They do. wow. Ridiculous if you ask me, but who am I to judge. Thanks for the heads up. I guess I'll keep that tidbit to myself.

Investigate the other couriers here and even check out your present company...theydo a lot of business here...Look into a supervisory position overseas that reports to HQ. And don't limit yourself to here...



COredailly,

HB

Thanks, I definitely will.


On another note, it is so hard to find information online about many services in DR. For example, for the life of me, I could not find information about tuition at UASD. I did find information for some of the private schools, but none for UASD. I called, and no one answered, I e-mailed and did not get a response. Lol.

Also, how are the rates on certificate of deposits. I couldn't find that anywhere. I guess I will call some of the banks in SD and see what the rates are.

Anyhow, thank you all very much for all the information.

[savrina]

I think you have much posibilities to find a very good job here, don't be afraid.