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I bought my house with a ( chase ) bank check and boy was it a problem before they would process it I had to have documentation that it came from my bank account so 3 months of bank statements and then a letter from bank branch manager stating the check actually came from their branch then they wanted to know where and how I got the money ( proof  ) then it had to sit in Santo , Domingo, for 4 weeks so a total of sitting 2 weeks in Puerto Plata and 4 weeks in the capital….. my banker in NY never heard of  cashier ck he said he read about them , but they were fazed out in the 80’s

A check made out to you can be deposited.  It will be held for 30 days until it clears and you will get it deposited in pesos at their exchange rate.  You may want to open a US dollar account to deposit to and then exchange whenever you want or need.

Yes , I cash ( deposit ) checks from my personal account and it takes 30 days , but not sure about 3rd party checks ,,,, 🤔

Once again a huge thanks to everyone who has pitched in with wise and experienced answers to my 1001 questions. My to-do list is less gnarly and my brain less frantic thanks to all of you. What a great forum!

@wondering9

Yes  most DR banks will accept and normally a 15 to 20 business day hold and you have a DR bank account.

Just to add my experiences, yes, I've deposited a US$ check into my dollar account here from one of my customers.  It cleared his account in the States in about 3 days, showed up as a balance in my account here right after, but was not part of the "available funds" for 4 weeks.  That is to say, the local bank here played with the money for 3 weeks before releasing it to me.

The other options if you have it is deposit it via your home country bank mobile APP deposit checks. If yiu are keeping a state side bank open

@CHRISTOPHER DAVID56

Yes, I find this to be the best option for me. Although, I never tried depositing a foreign check into a Dominican bank.

I deposit checks from my PNC bank in USA to my dominican dollar account @ banreservas and funds are usually available to use in 5 business days. If I need funds quicker I can do international transfer for just USD $5 fee from PNC bank and no fee from receiving account @ banreservas . Great option online without having to set foot in bank.

We've had no problems depositing various US checks into our DR dollars account.  I haven't tried depositing a US check into a pesos account, but presumably it would work the same.  Typically clears our US bank within a week, but sometimes takes 10-12 days.

I cannot speak to how fast the money from the US check will be made available within that Dominican account -- we've had no particular reason to withdraw anything in any particular time frame, and our balances are sufficient (and the deposit check modest enough) that it has never become an issue.

1. But, you should make that part of your considerations.
2. Many an expat has deposited US or Canadian checks, and expected the funds to be made available immediately, when it can be more like 4-6 weeks for some DR banks to make funds available (worst case estimate based on various posts I've read). 
3. True, some expats report very fast availability with some banks. 
4. I can't help but wonder if that isn't because they are somehow designated as VIP clients, and thus get special treatment. 

Best of luck to you.

Often the speed of availability is directly influenced by your history with a bank.  The first one usually takes the longest and after that things speed up.  My guess is both banks are greedy and they have been burned by foreign checks in the past thus very careful.

@wondering9

I was told I have to be a resident before I can open a bank account in the DR is that true?

@sharonnickerson

You can open an account within the (first) 30 days of  your tourist visa.

@sharonnickerson

I was told that once, too. I just went to a different bank and eventually got my account. If you read back through the forum posts you will find an amazing variety of experiences, even at the same bank. In fact you need a bank account to *apply* for residency. Individual banks can make whatever rules they want, though, and employees seem to have a lot of leeway in interpreting the rules. But I am one of the least experienced people here so don't take my word for it!

@wondering9

I have regularly deposited US checks into my DR USD account. 

I also make a deposit every month with a check from the states into my USD account never a problem but usually like Buck said it takes about 4 weeks for availability