I May or May Not have a big problem

[windeguy]

I am a 68 year old US citizen who has overstayed my tourist card by 13 years. I have been retired and on pension all this time, so I never had to work in the Dominican Republic. I married my girlfriend, nine months ago. I had lived with her for 13 years and raised her three children as my own. The children are now all over 18, my wife has now gotten her passport and we would like to take a cruise which leaves from San Juan, PR. Does anyone know what my EXIT FEE (tax) would be, is there a cap on it? Would I have a problem re-entering the DR? Should I take a chance and pay 20,000 pesos under the table to a friend of my daughter in order to get this problem fixed? Thank you

People have addressed your overstay fee and you have several proposed options, but, and this is a HUGE but.... Your wife just got a Dominican passport and you want to take a cruise from Puerto Rico? That simply is not going to happen. So you don't have to worry about leaving the DR and paying an overstay fee on her account for that reason.

 

[rubio_higuey]

Wait a minute - 13 years???? You must have renewed your US passport during that time. Your entry stamp has to be in your old passport.

I'd just hand them my new passport, and say they never stamped in when you came in.......

Or better yet ... request a new US passport (if the one you have has been issued several years ago) and say your passport was lost and replaced by US embassy now. When asked about arrival, say early 2015, before the new screening system was implemented.

 

[windeguy]

Even if you went through the trouble and were able to get a green card for your wife, she would still need visas for any port of call at which a cruise ship stopped.

Did you even think of the visa she would require to get into the USA (Puerto Rico) in this case?

 

[rubio_higuey]

I have always wondered about fake the entry stamp what if they look for your departure stamp ? Maybe not here in the DR but going thru immigration in US maybe ?

You may not necessarily have entry stamp from your destination (after leaving the DR). For example, EU does not stamp entry/exit of EU passport holders. They do, however, for other nationalities.

 

[bermyboy]

Rubio I was talking about the departure stamp from the DR you will have all these entry stamps in your passport but no departure stamp
Or am I overthinking this?

 

[hammerdown]

Why not take advantage of the free naturalization process and get residency....no problem then.....you are married to a Dominican, its real easy....I just took advantage of it and its easy....
My thoughts not yours......

 

[bermyboy]

Hammerdown do you have a cedula from the natrulization process?

 

[jimmythegreek]

Why not take advantage of the free naturalization process and get residency....no problem then.....you are married to a Dominican, its real easy....I just took advantage of it and its easy....
My thoughts not yours......

I keep hearing from gubbies that the process is 'easy' and you can get residency with the naturalization program. This isn't the case and it is not easy to get 'permanent residency', which comes later and with all the same requirements.

 

[Tamborista]

You should be able to buy the stamp for RD2,000, not rocket science.

 

[bermyboy]

Jimmy that's what I was told you just get an extension to actually get your residency and cedula you don't actually get a cedula ? If the naturalization process was so easy why don't the 200,000 that applied have it yet ?

 

[Jaime809]

Wait a minute - 13 years???? You must have renewed your US passport during that time. Your entry stamp has to be in your old passport.

I'd just hand them my new passport, and say they never stamped in when you came in.......

If he's been in DR for 13 years, the passport may well simply be expired, and not renewed.

Simplest thing to do is to claim it was lost and need another. That way the 13 year old entry stamp get washed away.

 

[tommeyers]

How in the world do you survive in the DR with that mentality?

I don't just survive!! I thrive!!

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

How in the world do you survive in the DR with that mentality?

Not everyone's first inclination is to break the law or game the system. While no one is perfect, there are those who attempt to go through life demonstrating a modicum of enviable character most of the time.

Cudos Tom.

 

[rfp]

Not everyone's first inclination is to break the law or game the system. While no one is perfect, there are those who attempt to go through life demonstrating a modicum of enviable character most of the time.

Cudos Tom.

Good for you ... I hope that you dont lose your Anglo Saxon morals while surrounded by evil, deception and subterfuge. 95 % of people here are thieves. I would love to touch bases with you in a couple of years and see if you still practice what you preach. The moral compass on this not just off , it is completely broken. It will affect you and you will not be as self righteous as you currently are.

 

[HUG]

Good for you ... I hope that you dont lose your Anglo Saxon morals while surrounded by evil, deception and subterfuge. 95 % of people here are thieves. I would love to touch bases with you in a couple of years and see if you still practice what you preach. The moral compass on this not just off , it is completely broken. It will affect you and you will not be as self righteous as you currently are.

Hmm, I could say the same thing once you have experienced the consequences of the right hand of the law. You are correct, the system is bent out of shape in every conceivable level. And although 'every wannabe Sundance' on the island who likes to live off heasay and tales of heroic backhanders, there are many many times and instances your cash does not charm the mind of a Capitan or Judge in the same way you are used to magically making the panties of any morena vanish at will.
It will effect you, and you will not be as cock sure as you currently are for the experience. RD70,000 is not much for 13 years. RD5,350 per year, RD400 per month or RD100 per week. Just consider yourself having bought immigration a beer every week over the years for the pleasure of living care free. Or as most of the 'cowboys' have suggested, break the law, risk it, but don't bitch about the consequence if you happen to try to pack the pocket of someone hating on foreigners that day.

 

[bermyboy]

To the Op if you have a new passport w there is no entry stamp so just play dumb say you lost your passport and got a new one a few months ago after 13 years they are not going to have any proof.
To the guys saying bitc@ing about morals and using the corrupt system to ones advantage I say thats the choice of the person choosing to do it 9 times out of 10 it works that 1 time it does not means you just gotta throw a few more pesos at it everybody in this country is on the take Punto Y final. Either live and learn or live and get fcuked over all the time. That's the choice you have here in the wild west !

 

[HUG]

To the Op if you have a new passport w there is no entry stamp so just play dumb say you lost your passport and got a new one a few months ago after 13 years they are not going to have any proof.
To the guys saying bitc@ing about morals and using the corrupt system to ones advantage I say thats the choice of the person choosing to do it 9 times out of 10 it works that 1 time it does not means you just gotta throw a few more pesos at it everybody in this country is on the take Punto Y final. Either live and learn or live and get fcuked over all the time. That's the choice you have here in the wild west !

Problem with your mentality is that it's not the wild west, it's an unpredictable low moralled society that is only best played if you k ow who you are dealing with and how to deal with them. Advertising playing the corrupt system as a 9/10 chance is ridiculous, ignorant and very bad information.
You can bypass the queue, buy friendships, backhand your way out of little occurrances and make things go away on a daily basis with good judgement and the right mentality you can live normally as everyone does, more or less. But when you start to get overly cock sure that you can wave a few readies around and buy any situation in your favour then you will be brought down a peg or two and be made to deal with the consequence.

Yes it's up to the individual, yes we all need to bypass the BS, but intelligently pick your moments. Everyone is on the take, yes, and there is a higher chance on someone unknowingly buying their way into an even more expensive situation by attempting to bypass the original lawful one. Once you offer yourself up into a corrupt situation you automatically take the ball from the field into thier changing room, you are now under their terms should they decide to fkcu you. If you want to play under thier rules at an airport, then more fool you, imo.

 

[bermyboy]

HUG You do have points I will admit. Let me rephrase everyone is on the take but nobody ever wants to be seen as openly on the take. I never said that you flaunt that or openly insult them by assuming everything is done in discretion here. Hey how are you it's hot you look thirsty here you go buy yourself a beer have a good day that's how it works.

 

[HUG]

Yeh, in the movies maybe. At an airport, passport security.......?....... somehow I think it's gunna be a little different than slipping the security at the Casino RD200 for ignoring your flipflops, or the barman for keeping your run n coke topped up over his shift.

Before I was resident J used to just load my passport with RD1000 through control, that's a given, you lezve the door open, it's his choice to take it of charge you correctly. Actively trying to bribe in the airport imo is not goinv to work, on so many levels.

Point 1, the guy in question is asking for advise, not exactly Mr Smoothy!

 

[bermyboy]

To the OP if you have a new passport they will not know when you entered just say you came 6 months ago and lost your passport no bribing no under the table payments simple if not be honest tell them you came in 13 years ago and watch them smile and try to scare you into paying them the money its up to you.