Working in the Dominican Republic as a French National: Work Permit, Minimum Wage, Contributions, Tax and Economy

The 30-day tourist stay does not give the right to work. To take up salaried employment, the General Directorate of Migration (DGM) issues the temporary work residence (RT-3): a one-year permit for foreigners who enter the country exclusively for work, on the basis of a contract. The DGM requires a passport valid for at least six months, a multiple-business visa (NM1), a legalised or apostilled birth certificate, a criminal record for the last five years, a marriage certificate or a declaration of single status, medical examinations at an approved establishment, a guarantee policy taken out with an insurer approved by the DGM and a one-year or open-ended employment contract, notarised and bearing the seal of the Ministry of Labour.

• Costs published by the DGM: filing fee 14,000 pesos, medical examinations 6,300 pesos for an adult and 4,200 pesos for a child, processing time of 90 days.
• Special feature: the DGM specifies that this type of residence does not open a personal identity cédula.
• Temporary workers: the temporary worker permit is a one-year non-resident status, renewable once on proof of extension of the contract. It is aimed at companies recruiting for agricultural or construction work and requires a resolution of the Ministry of Labour registering the contract; the filing fee is 7,000 pesos.
• Pensionados and rentistas: Law No. 171-07 (article 15) authorises these residents to carry out paid activities, with the salary taxed like that of any Dominican employee.

The residence formalities are described in living in the Dominican Republic, and the guide to working abroad gives the overall picture.

The National Wage Committee of the Ministry of Labour sets the private-sector (non-sectoral) minimum wage through resolution CNS 01-2025 of 26 February 2025. The Superintendency of Banks reports its highest scale: 27,988.80 pesos a month from 1 April 2025, then 29,988 pesos a month from 1 February 2026. The lower scales, which depend on the size of the company, appear in the resolution itself and should be confirmed with the Ministry of Labour.

The official sources consulted do not publish a grid of average salaries by profession or by city; the “Economic indicators” block above gives the macroeconomic indicators. The minimum wage does, however, offer a local reference scale, and the amount of tax and contributions is calculated on actual pay. A local contract is negotiated in pesos; some expat contracts set part of the pay in foreign currency, to be specified in writing in the contract.

The Dominican social security system rests on Law No. 87-01 and three schemes, including the contributory scheme, which covers public and private employees and employers. The Social Security Treasury (TSS) publishes the following rates:

• Family health insurance (SFS): 3.04% paid by the employee and 7.09% by the employer, or 10.13% in total.
• Old-age, invalidity and survivors insurance: 2.87% for the employee and 7.10% for the employer.
• Occupational risks: no deduction from the employee; the employer pays a fixed 1% plus 0.10 to 0.30% depending on the company’s risk level.

In total, the employee share for health and pension reaches 5.91% of salary. The contributable salary ceilings in force since 1 February 2026 are 232,230 pesos for health, 464,460 pesos for pensions and 92,892 pesos for occupational risks. The TSS specifies that a foreigner obtains an affiliation number if they hold a work visa, a migration card or a regularisation card; a foreigner with only a passport does not contribute to the system and receives no benefits from it. How care works is described in the healthcare system in the Dominican Republic.

The DGII publishes the personal income tax scale for 2026: exemption up to 416,220 pesos a year; 15% of the portion between 416,220.01 and 624,329 pesos; 31,216 pesos plus 20% of the portion between 624,329.01 and 867,123 pesos; 79,776 pesos plus 25% above 867,123.01 pesos (official answer of 16 January 2026). The DGII specifies that this scale also applies to pensioners and that changes to these thresholds, provided for by Law No. 30-26, apply from the 2027 tax year. Local VAT (ITBIS) is 18% at the general rate.

No tax treaty binds France and the Dominican Republic. The list of treaties in force on 1 January 2026, published in the BOFiP (the French official tax bulletin) on 29 April 2026, does not mention it, and the list of tax information exchange agreements does not mention it either. Without a treaty, each state applies its domestic law: French tax residence must be assessed case by case, because you can remain a French tax resident even though your home is abroad. A tax adviser should confirm the treatment before departure.

CLEISS describes secondment outside an agreement: an employer established in France that sends an employee to a state with no agreement can keep them in the French scheme under domestic law, for three years renewable once, with a gap of two years before a new secondment in the same country for the same company (article R.761-1 of the Social Security Code). The employee then has a dual status: registered with the French scheme, they are also registered with the host country’s scheme, whose compulsory contributions are due. Beyond the maximum period, they become an expat and fall only under the local scheme. See seconded or expat.

The self-employed worker falls, under article 7 of Law No. 87-01, under the contributory-subsidised scheme when their average income reaches at least one national minimum wage, and under the subsidised scheme below that. Their residence status must allow them to practise, which is checked with the DGM. The remote worker serving foreign clients from a tourist stay finds no dedicated category in the DGM pages read for this page; prior advice from the DGM is needed, and the guide to digital nomad visas and digital nomad insurance complete the subject.

According to the Directorate General of the Treasury of the French economy ministry (page of 17 February 2026), the economy is dominated by services: tourism, trade and financial services; industry (construction, manufacturing, mining) plays an important role. Tourism accounts for 15% of GDP and the country welcomed a record 11.7 million visitors in 2025. Diaspora remittances reached USD 11.9 billion in 2025, or 9.2% of GDP, and foreign direct investment exceeded USD 4.8 billion. The currency is the Dominican peso (DOP), whose exchange rate appears in the “Economic indicators” block above.

Among the risks, the Treasury cites the heavy dependence on the US economic cycle, climate vulnerability and the need for fiscal reforms and reforms in the electricity sector. For an employee, the outlook therefore depends mainly on tourism and services, which concentrate activity. Health insurance needs to be organised as soon as the contract is signed: see healthcare reimbursement in the Dominican Republic and expat health insurance.