Immigration and Overstay Issues

Worldwide most countries have put up barriers to unwanted immigration. Many countries have been strengthening those barriers.

DR has had an immigration law since 2004 which determines who can emigrate here and that law was further defined belatedly in 2012 with the rules of application.

The previous government never properly implemented that law and tolerated abuses but that appears to be changing now with a new government.

DR offers an easy route to staying here as a tourist for 4 months and that should be welcomed and not moaned about.

After that, there is residency which is still relatively easy for the people that DR wants to attract here. It is much easier to get residency here than most other Caribbean countries.

Only a relatively small group now fall beween the 4 and 6 months thresholds between tourist stay and residency.

It is a young country and so it does not wish to attract younger foreigners without special skills who could take opportinuities away from it's population. DR is no different from many other developing countries other than it has been very weak on applying it's immigration laws to date. DR seems set to join the rest of the world now with stricter immigration controls and checks.

It is tough for younger people who have dreams of living abroad. The world has changed from when I was younger and it is much harder to reside where you would like without deep pockets.

As we now read, DR is still largely focused on Haitian illegal immigration, but is has just confirmed 'new tools' are on the table to combat illegal immigration and will fine those that faciltate (all) illegal foreigner stays.

planner wrote:

It was an administrative work around.

And so is the new 120 day maximum stay. That is also an administrative work around - for the moment.

That is exactly what we are referring to.  Your  30 tourist card can be extended to a TOTAL of 120 days. Its an online  system and you need an exit  flight to qualify.

lennoxnev wrote:

There is still an overstay tax chart with fees to10 years displayed at the countries busiest airport (PUJ) and I will wait to see if this gets updated in the coming weeks:

https://www.puntacanainternationalairpo … prices.pdf

Change may be coming but it has not happened as of today.

Yes. At the airport.  That chart used to be on the Migracion web site, but it is gone.

The airport still has to deal with people who overstay for years and then leave.

So just to be clear is it presently still a legitimate option for snowbirds to stay for 6 months and pay for their overstay on their tourist card when departing ?

planner wrote:

That is exactly what we are referring to.  Your  30 tourist card can be extended to a TOTAL of 120 days. Its an online  system and you need an exit  flight to qualify.

And yet people don't recognize even this small yet significant change.

- 120 days maximum with "infinite overstay time exit fee schedule" removed from Migracion web site (but copies are still at the airport, so we can still overstay?  Read on)
- Requirement for a return flight to get that 120 days
- Government stating when they took power they will enforce immigration laws as written and in the news this week they will fine those who house or employ illegals and deport All those who are undocumented from all countries.


And yet all of the above means only one thing.  It is just about Haitians. Gringos are not part of All people.

planner wrote:

That is exactly what we are referring to.  Your  30 tourist card can be extended to a TOTAL of 120 days. Its an online  system and you need an exit  flight to qualify.

They are applying the Immigration law as written albeit with a twist....a maximum of 60 days extension beyond a toursist stay which can be either 30 days by tourist card or 60 days by visa including for some countries. They have taken the later 60 day tourist stay to calculate the maximum permitted 120 stay and for which tourists should be grateful.

They are not deviating from the Immigration Law but have deviated from the Decree 631-11 (rules of application) by easing the requirements to obtain the extension - again for which people should be grateful.

It is no workaround.

goinforit wrote:

So just to be clear is it presently still a legitimate option for snowbirds to stay for 6 months and pay for their overstay on their tourist card when departing ?

Migracion has a work around to stay for up to 120 days in total if you have a return flight during that period.

Anything else, is un-documented.

Pun intended. And that is as clear as it gets right now.

Okay fine, but it's a rather blinkered view if indeed the Gov thinks like that.  I did say most other islands offer better immigration facilities-that's all.  Frankly with Covid not planning to travel anywhere at present even though I had my first vaccination jab today.

After that we will see but seriously looking at Guadeloupe.  Zero immigration issues .

Then go elsewhere. IT is what it is!

https://www.elcaribe.com.do/panorama/pa … n-dajabon/

It has started as expected with the Haitians in the border town of Dajabon, and as reported motorcyclists caught carrying illegals were arrested and had their motorbikes confiscated. Time perhaps to reassess to whom you transport and rent housing?

Now I have a bit of an issue with this. Now you are turning  carros publico,  motos,  buses into  the police?   That is a bit over reaching.

I understand the  sentiment I do, but individuals on a  damn carro publico?    No.

What a dreadful rude reply. Of course I will go where I wish to.  I simply raise the issue that immigration is not user friendly-that's all.  Rather than being over protective least put forward your case with argument-not emotion.

ducketts wrote:

What a dreadful rude reply. Of course I will go where I wish to.  I simply raise the issue that immigration is not user friendly-that's all.  Rather than being over protective least put forward your case with argument-not emotion.

Having resided in numerous countries at this point, I have yet to see any that are particularly welcoming to foreigners. Kudos to the DR for working to enforce the laws on their books. A step towards a predictable legal system is necessary for a country that wants to attract foreign direct investment. After all, what's the point of drafting laws if not to enforce them?

lennoxnev wrote:

planner wrote:

That is exactly what we are referring to.  Your  30 tourist card can be extended to a TOTAL of 120 days. Its an online  system and you need an exit  flight to qualify.

They are applying the Immigration law as written albeit with a twist....a maximum of 60 days extension beyond a toursist stay which can be either 30 days by tourist card or 60 days by visa including for some countries. They have taken the later 60 day tourist stay to calculate the maximum permitted 120 stay and for which tourists should be grateful.

They are not deviating from the Immigration Law but have deviated from the Decree 631-11 (rules of application) by easing the requirements to obtain the extension - again for which people should be grateful.

It is no workaround.

Where in DR immigration laws does it enable any such extensions and describe the fee schedule, etc?

DR1's lawyer called the exit fees an administrative work around and he is one of the owners of a very prominent DR law firm.  The new up to 120 day extension with a valid ticket out are no different in that regard.  That is not based in any law.

Ley 285-04 Art. 40

Any charge is administrative. It is a tax and gets varied along with all other immigration charges as was the case in the annual budgets of 2010 and 2014.

AlaPlaya wrote:

ducketts wrote:

What a dreadful rude reply. Of course I will go where I wish to.  I simply raise the issue that immigration is not user friendly-that's all.  Rather than being over protective least put forward your case with argument-not emotion.

Having resided in numerous countries at this point, I have yet to see any that are particularly welcoming to foreigners. Kudos to the DR for working to enforce the laws on their books. A step towards a predictable legal system is necessary for a country that wants to attract foreign direct investment. After all, what's the point of drafting laws if not to enforce them?

Absolutely correct

Enforce the laws
Stop the graft

This country is NOT poor..... misdirected funds is the problem
Hopefully , this group will fix that.

Imagine, the revenue from gold, from tourism, from exports
Remember the former 1st Lady had a staff of 600 !!!
FOR WHAT !!???

Now this would be a workaround if it actually can happen:

From the DGM forum today:

https://migracion.gob.do/foro/Debate/staying-extension/#postid-52

Question:

Joesylvie
@joesylvie
1 publicación
enero 19, 2021, 2:54 pm
We are retired Canadians with valid Canadian passports.  We realize that to stay in the Dominican Republic as a tourist for more than 30 days and up to 120 days we need to submit a Staying Extension form online but how can we stay as a tourist for 6 months? 

Answer:

Admin
@webmaster
16 publicaciones
enero 20, 2021, 10:10 am
Hello,

In that case, the only thing that can be done is request another Staying Extension, and that one will count from the expiration of the previous one.


Time for some of you snowbirds to ask the same question to confirm.

lennoxnev wrote:

Ley 285-04 Art. 40

Any charge is administrative. It is a tax and gets varied along with all other immigration charges as was the case in the annual budgets of 2010 and 2014.

Charges being administrative is not the dispute. 

The charge for staying (after 60 days) is not based in any Dominican Laws that permit such a stay solely on a tourist card.  If you can stay for 120 days (with proof of a return flight at the end of that period)  and request and receive a stay for another 120 days as was suggested above,  none of that is based in immigration law.  It is simply a work around of the law.

if it works.... will appease a few people..... I hope it does work

I expect the second extension will not be correct. 

Let's wait and see how it rolls out.

Costs of government administration services are not contained nor needed to be defined in in the law.

Show us the cost of services for applicants for residency or visas and so on in the Immigration Law?  Those get established by the Ministries and get adjusted time to time.

Administration services of government are regularly updated and so were the overstay tariffs in 2010 and 2014.

The workaroud to which you refer as a lawyer stated, was the generally accepted procedure to overstay beyond your permitted tourist stay and pay an overstay fee on exit. That still exists today. It did not make that stay legal as was clearly stated at the bottom of the then tariff schedule. A tariff schedule is still to be found on the PUJ airport website.

https://www.puntacanainternationalairpo … prices.pdf

Note those charges are called a tariff (and has been on DGM documents in the past) which is a service for goods/services entering or leaving a country (Cambridge dictionary) and is set by the Director of DGM and can be varied.

The DGM staying extension web page also calls it the current tariff.

Costo
La solicitud de servicio es gratis. El usuario solo pagara la tarifa vigente de acuerdo a los días de prórroga solicitados.

Yes, as I stated, an additional extension request as mentioned in the DGM forum aswas suggested would appear at first look to be questionable based upon the rules of application 631-11 but not the Law..

What we should be discussing here is that DGM have annonced they will fine people who provide work, accommodationa and transport to illegal immigrants with the Haitians being the immediate issue, but it could impact other nationalities too as has been stated.

Of course the Gov should enforce the Law.  I never said they shouldn't  I repeat what I suggested, that is to have more user friendly immigration system for for the tourist who wishes to stay between 3-6 months-nothing more.  If so many other Caribbean islands can do it I'm not sure what the problem is.

I agree people are warm and friendly and DR is a great place.  But I disagree if you're suggesting some of the other islands aren't welcoming, because that is not correct.  After all it comes down to personal choice and convenience.

I think the subject has done its course.  Clearly there's a very small group on this forum who are very protective of DR.  I respect that but please respect my requirements as well.  I will not answer any more on this subject.  Thanks to all.

End of

planner wrote:

I expect the second extension will not be correct. 

Let's wait and see how it rolls out.

I am not so sure.

The only mention of the extension being one time only was in the application regulation decree 631-11.

Ley 285-04 states:

Art. 40.- Los plazos de permanencia que serán autorizados a los extranjeros admitidos
como No Residentes, podrán ser:

1.De hasta 60 días, prorrogables para las personas comprendidas en los incisos
1, 2 y 7 del Artículo 36.

It is the Immigration Law that presides here. Rules are more easily changed.

I would strongly suggest interested parties ask  further questions on the DGM forum on the thread posted above.

ducketts wrote:

Of course the Gov should enforce the Law.  I never said they shouldn't  I repeat what I suggested, that is to have more user friendly immigration system for for the tourist who wishes to stay between 3-6 months-nothing more.  If so many other Caribbean islands can do it I'm not sure what the problem is.

I agree people are warm and friendly and DR is a great place.  But I disagree if you're suggesting some of the other islands aren't welcoming, because that is not correct.  After all it comes down to personal choice and convenience.

I think the subject has done its course.  Clearly there's a very small group on this forum who are very protective of DR.  I respect that but please respect my requirements as well.  I will not answer any more on this subject.  Thanks to all.

End of

Why should a government respect what someone from another country wants? 

A government should respect what its own people want.  That said, I have always thought a 6 month snowbird visa would be a good thing.

lennoxnev wrote:

planner wrote:

I expect the second extension will not be correct. 

Let's wait and see how it rolls out.

I am not so sure.

The only mention of the extension being one time only was in the application regulation decree 631-11.

Ley 285-04 states:

Art. 40.- Los plazos de permanencia que serán autorizados a los extranjeros admitidos
como No Residentes, podrán ser:

1.De hasta 60 días, prorrogables para las personas comprendidas en los incisos
1, 2 y 7 del Artículo 36.

It is the Immigration Law that presides here. Rules are more easily changed.

I would strongly suggest interested parties ask  further questions on the DGM forum on the thread posted above.

As it is, the extensions of up to 120 days start to conflict with another government agencies laws on how long driver's  licenses are valid.  A concise snowbird visa for up to 6 months would be far better. I have no idea why they cannot figure this out.

I agree a snowbird visa would be excellent. Fee paid up front, license good for duration and everyone is happy!

And does not include right to work in the country.

The responses are so confusing and contradictory.
Am I correct in surmising you can still overstay on your tourist card and pay the additional fees as a form of tariff ?

When you overstay your tourist card or visa stay you have no legal immigration status but as of now you can still pay an exit tariff on departure. But understand that this does not negate the fact you disregarded the immigration law and your slate has the record.

Simple as that. You decide and you have to accept any future consequences however unlikely I suspect they are at this particular moment. Going forward less so imo.

You can't now say henceforth, 'I didn't have any other options'.

When you overstay and leave - does your passport get noted besides date stamp or in the system?

Sometimes it does and sometimes it does not.  We have reports of passports with specific notifications of overstay in their passports.  But this is not uniformly applied.  Yet!

DRVisitor wrote:

When you overstay and leave - does your passport get noted besides date stamp or in the system?

I would say it is because your passport is scanned into the servers upon entry and exit, along with fingerprint scanning for ID purposes.  But others might disagree. 

There is little anecdotal evidence that people have been denied from re-entering after frequent overstays

When I become a DR citizen I had to get all of the ins and outs of the DR from 2003 which I obtained from Migracion. What they do with that information is up to them when it comes to those that overstay. The past government just collected the overstay fees.

Yes all of that is stored digitally and has been for some time. 

Some seem to think that if they were not "warned" of changes in some way then they can just continue.  Not so much!  😊

Ignorance of the law or rules is never a defence or reason to continue doing what you want. 

As always, time will tell!

@Goinforit - basically, if you overstay, you do so at your own risk. You are in the country illegally and have no status. This means you can't drive legally on your US driver's license, you can't insure a vehicle and you are always subject to deportation (if they start enforcing). You can also be denied re-entry. This thread started with anecdotal evidence of people being denied entry to the country (turned away at the airport) after a previous overstay.

Is there currently a legitimate way for visitors to stay for a period of 6 months (180 days).

As far as I am I aware NO.  You can stay up to 120 days in total which includes your original 30 days

'goinforit' and 'ducketts', I posted this DGM Forum link yesterday which is quite staggering imo suggesting a second extension to the 120 days is possibly by the DGM responder:

https://migracion.gob.do/foro/Debate/st … #postid-52

If you are serious about wanting a snowbird type visit of upto six months you should use the DGM forum and ask.

The Immigration Law 285-04 says .De hasta 60 días, prorrogables para las personas comprendidas en los incisos
1, 2 y 7 del Artículo 36.

The interpretation of the underlined wording is key to whether this is possible.

As for recording/tracking visitors' stays....

Yes - it goes in the electronic file
- AFASIK

It gets pulled up every time on your passport
The extension needs your passport - that extension is noted when you leave on your appointed flight

What will they do with all the info?
we'll wait & see....

goinforit wrote:

Is there currently a legitimate way for visitors to stay for a period of 6 months (180 days).

Currently  we can say for sure you can extend for a total  of  120 days.

As Lennox refers to  - there is a response  to an online question  on the govt site indicating it can be extended again.  I will believe that when I see it though.