The FIRST STEP is the deposit of the residency application and all supporting documentation such as copies of current passport, certified or official copies of your birth certificate (you will not get this back, so it is a good idea to keep some extra sets before hand) and a police letter of good conduct from your local police department.   In addition to the above, an Interpol background check is completed by the national police and often enough, this is the most time consuming process of all.  However, assuming you are not someone wanted by Interpol, you will not have a problem and this background check not a concern.

THE SECOND STEP will be having a medical exam that MUST be taken inside the country with the medical doctor at the Department of Immigration.  In addition, a urine sample, a blood sample and chest x-ray is taken.  What they are looking for is Aids, illegal drug usage and tuberculosis.

Once the residency application file is deposited, it has been the case that immigration has processed such applications fairly quickly and as such you can expect to obtain your initial provisional residency card (initially valid for one year) and your initial Cedula card (also valid for one year) within 60 to 90 days.  With such documents in hand, you can legally live and work inside the country and have all the rights of a citizen with the exception of voting privileges (only citizens can vote in local elections).  Under the recent legislation applicants would continue to renew and hold PROVISIONAL residency status for 5 years.  Once the 5 years have passed, then at that time the applicant can change their status over to PERMANENT RESIDENCY.