Immigration and Overstay Issues

Yeah I don't mind paying the overstay, I just want to avoid any problems when coming back.

I have a friend in inmigration and they were not charging the overstay fee, but I guess that was when humanitarian flights were happening. Now they are charging again.

To put your mind at ease....

ask a lawyer
Nobody here wants to give legal advice w/o absolute certainty of the facts

Yes - I too have heard that husbands & wives are now equally treated under the law
but I forget the length of time for the marriage requirement.....

Lily is the lawyer here.... Lishali Baez Mejia

Yes I think the payments for overstay continue but holding it against you may have softened as this overstay is not your fault!

Yes both men and women can now confer citizenship by marriage.   I don't remember the time period either.

The overstay payments certainly continue....
my daughter paid Friday on her way out..... 4,000 pesos

You could pay your overstay and because of your nationality, you enter as a tourist with no need of tourist visa.
Better to start your residence process. I've heard the consulates will start working since the 15th of July, but make sure to check first.

Thank you Tom.

Guatemala frontiers tentatively open on August. I will catch the first flight to start the residence process.

Good luck with it.

Citizenship guidelines through marriage:

https://www.mip.gob.do/index.php/requisitos-matrimonio

I just went through all of this, passed the Civics Test,  and am approved to be sworn in if the MIP ever reopens for that purpose.  I wonder when that will be?  Probably after Abinader is sworn in as President and all the personnel will have been replaced and things will be running "really smoothly" with all the new people.

Most people would not take the time and effort to do this. I had quite a few documents needing an apostille from the US as well as all of the DR ones.   And I did it with no lawyer except for a few notarizations that require a lawyer in the DR.  The list of documents is extensive if you check the above link..

People are now reporting they are paying the normal overstay fees AND overstayers report that copies of their passports are being made when they leave the country.

Not sure why as I applied for an extension which was granted.

Do you know if you can pay with a card at SDQ?

Thanks

We left on July 7th, paid the usual overstay fee but no copy of passport. There already is an electronic record of your stay

Yes - cards accepted at SDQ

That extension is not a waiver of payment, is just asking for permission to stay 60 days more. You still have to pay.

Hopefully none of us have issues when returning, I doubt they will deny entrance to anyone since they need the tourism and visitors

Windeguy - I am going to copy your post and make a new thread.  That subject deserves its own thread.

Overstay and re entry - never assume because we need "tourists" that this will effect decisions regarding overstays!   What other countries can you go to and just stay until you feel like leaving?

Nothing is sure, just stating my thoughts due to the situation.

And I can name a lot of latin American countries you can overstay with no "knowing" issue, but yeah let's not get into that. If you can be legal , do it, some like me right now, have absolutely no way to do it.

By the way I reached to DGM and they said they will grant me an extension as long as borders in my country are closed and that I shouldn't have problems re entering...will see..

That is good to hear about DGM. In this case absolutely this pandemic is no one's fault and overstaying is not a choice in many cases

Definitely...I am going to apply for residency just as I manage to get back.

Windeguy - is there any residency minimum to apply for citizenship? Didn't find that in the requirements.

You can't apply for citizenship without residency first.

But there is a minimum time you must hold/have residency before being able to apply for Citizenship

That was the question

It different depending on your residency.  So  investors its fast tracked. Marriage is a different hold then  for regular or pensioner residency!

Marriage & Investor are the 2 faster ones - yes - I think so
Marriage for sure has a shorter timeline

For everyone information, just had  a last call with the DGM, and they have let me know no problems should arise from me staying here since march besides the fine. My intention is to come back with the visa residence but if that wouldn't be possible and I try to get in again with a tourist visa, and I quote , it depends of how "picky" (actual word used) the inmigration officer is...and that's pretty much it.  Anyways good luck to everyone and info shared! I usually enter through Santiago where they ask 0 questions, I've found SDQ officers are , more picky haha.

Good luck everyone and thanks again.

I'm firmly back on French soil after 5 1/2 months in DR.
On arriving in February I applied online for an extension of stay which was granted till the 9th June 2020.  However due to airport closures I was only able to leave DR on
17th July.  On presentation of my papers issued by the Police for the extension of stay the officer in charge "waved" me on.  I went to the next person where I handed the Immigration (blue) forms-duly completed.  To my utter surprise I was not asked to pay for any overstay fees.  Not sure if this is a first but happy to report the saga.
I already miss DR but confess I feel much safer in France for the time being.

That was definitely lucky, as extensions are not a waiver for overstaying fees. But if that happens then their system definitely is not tracking as much as we think. Or else their payments wouldn't match. I love France btw was their last year.

Actually what I thought I understood was that as I had applied for an extension of my tourist card and because of Covid-19 I would be exempt.  As I understand the application online is very new but I produced the papers and all seem to be okay.  Anyway that was good news.

My daughter - trapped in RD for 4 mos... had to pay on exit

You got lucky Ducketts!   That is definitively not the normal.

The difference is that 'ducketts' applied for and got an extension to his stay, but then the borders were closed for covid19 and he left after they reopened, and so it perhaps appears they took this into account in relation to the overstay fee.

He did the right thing by getting a legal extension, and the enforced stay was not of his making. But a good immigration officer is needed to understand and make it all happen.

Yes I think you got that spot on-albeit luck is always a good thing to have on your side!

For those that spend a lot of time in DR but do not hold residency and have benefited from the laxness of the immigration authorities under past governments, reassess again now with this new government.

The new minister in charge and his deputy were instrumental in preparing the current immigration law and it appears they intend to implement it in full.

https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2020/08/07/chu-vasquez-promete-devolver-tranquilidad-a-los-dominicanos/#

Immigration Law

On the issue of immigration and the controls that must be taken in this regard, Jesús Vásquez affirms that nothing should be invented on this matter, but rather that it corresponds to complying with the mandate of the General Law on Migration, promulgated in 2004 when at that time the Senate of the Republic presided. "It was up to me, as president of the Senate, to pass the Immigration Law. When we deeply learned about this Law, we hired the expert Juan Manuel Rosario and precisely now he is going to become vice minister of the Interior and Police, who is going to handle the immigration issue. We do not have to invent anything, it is to fulfill the mandate of the Law ”, he insists. He points out that the great problem that has occurred in the Dominican Republic is the lack of coverage with the institutional legal order. He maintains that the immigration issue became more acute in the country when the regulations for the application of the Law's mandate were not made in time and after that many illegal persons arrived. Also, he points out, that there has been a lack of political will to face the situation as a whole.

Interesting - now lets see what they do with it.  As we all know talk is cheap.

planner wrote:

Interesting - now lets see what they do with it.  As we all know talk is cheap.

The guys that pushed through the law at the end of the Meija government before 16 years of PLD are more likely to act on 'their' law.

I think its more focused on Haitians and venezeluans ilegally coming and staying (and specially working) , until they mention something specifically about overstaying (which is the discussion here) I doubt it will get adressed.

Lennox -  great point.

In this time of economic crisis and a decimated tourism sector, I would think the Dominican government is desperate for tourism and tax revenues to pay their bills. This would not be an opportune time for them to crack down on those who overstay, in my opinion.

It might be better if they prove themselves as a new Gov who can deal and mitigate the problems of Covid-19.  Whilst not in power till the 16th August, I'm sure they have had plenty of time to think about the serious health problems in DR rather than worry about immigration.  I can't help thinking this is a PR stunt.

For people many tourists like me who do not wish to live in DR, the previous Gov introduced "online" applications of extension of the tourist card up to 120 days.  This was easy and free.

I see no improvement whatsoever current health situation and it really needs strength and depth and creative imagination to deal with this enormous problem of Covid-19

Understand that  tourism and immigration are two different things.

Coming to this country and  overstaying and working from home is NOT tourism.  Its breaking the law.  Again the overstay fines are an administrative work around.  They are not a fix.

Overstaying a tourism card for  30 or 60 days  is tourism.   That needs to be addressed, I absolutely agree.  But until its  addressed people are taking their chances.

I can see this being an issue soon!  We need to stop acting like its just going to continue as usual, its not likely to be the case for much longer.

Overstay fines have been in place for decades. With the greatest crisis of our time crushing economies around the world, governments will not now start imposing the law to restrict entry....

Jesús (Chú) Vásquez, the named Minister of Interior & Police in the upcoming Luis Abinader presidency, says the next government will apply the General Migration Law 285-04. He said the law was passed when he presided the Senate in 2004. “Nothing needs to be invented. Just apply the law,” he says. He says Juan Manuel Rosario, who consulted on the law back then, would work with him as Deputy Minister of Interior & Police, responsible for the migratory matters.

Vásquez says that the migration issues worsened because of the delays in the government passing the ruling to apply the law. He said during those limbo years, many more people migrated here. He says there also has not been the political will to confront the situation.

The named Interior & Police minister has been senator for María Trinidad Sánchez province from 1994 to 2010. He was the provincial governor from 1982 to 1985. He presided the Senate from 2003 to 2004. Before the division of the PRD-PRM, he was the vice president of the PRD. Once the PRM was formed, he was the party’s first new secretary-general. Carolina Mejia replaced him. He is a professional politician and farmer-entrepreneur.

Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe

7 August 2020