Traveling to DR via the US: May have a problem

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hanswulff82

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Jan 4, 2010
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Hi.
This fall I will be traveling in the Dominican Republic for about four months. My plan is to fly to Santo Domingo via the US. However, after I started to read about US imigration law I found something that got me a bit worried:

"Under the Visa Waiver Program, citizens of eligible countries may travel to the USA for tourism or business purposes for up to 90 days without obtaining an entry visa. You cannot study or work on the Visa Waiver Program, nor extend your stay beyond 90 days. A return or onward ticket must be held, although the final destination may not be Canada, Mexico or in the Caribbean (unless you are a resident of that country or island)."

My destination is in the Caribbean (Dominican Republic), and of course I am not a resident of that country. I do however have a return ticket to Norway 110 days later, also transiting through the US.

Will this cause problems for the US imigration? In total, I will only be in the US for a few hours, but will the clock start ticking the day I pass through US imigration on my way to the Dominican Republic and continue ticking untill I levave for home? In that case I will be overstaying my allowed time on the US VWP.

This has me a bit worried, and I have started to wounder if I should re-book my flight via France or Spain instead of the US.
 
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Bob K

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Aug 16, 2004
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I don't think this will be a problem as your are "in transit" and only using the US as a link on your trip back home. You are not staying in the US or leaving the airport. However you will most likely have to pay a small fee to leave the DR as you are here for longer then allowed on your visitors visa. No big deal

Bob K
 
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tht

Master of my own fate.
Oct 10, 2002
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You have to go through US immigration and customs regardless of connecting flights or not, but you will have no problem. Immigration will ask (almost word by word). "What's the purpose of your visit"? Answer. "I'm connecting to Santo Domingo today". Depending on stamps in your passport (travel habits) they may ask "What sort of work do you do"? And that's about it.

It's a theoretical possibility (1 to a million or so) American Airlines (I assume the connection is with AA from either NYC or MIA) want to see a residency card or a return ticket when you check in / recheck bags / board flight. Occasionally airline employees (any airline) check in passengers to other countries (any country) without proper travel documents, if the passenger get kicked back because of insufficient travel documents the airline gets in trouble and employees kicked in their ass. This is my own experience based on 10 -15 flights a year through Miami. Any return ticket back to Europe will do fine, most likely you won't need any at all. Dominican immigration will never ask for a return ticket.

Make sure you do this before you travel.
 
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hanswulff82

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Jan 4, 2010
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UPDATE:

There where actually a problem. The american embassy told me to check with the airline company, and so i did. According to US airlines, they couldn?t let be board without a visa. (i.e. the visa waiver programs wasn?t sufficient in my case)

But I avoided the whole problem booking a flight via Paris insted.
 
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tht

Master of my own fate.
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hanswulff82 said:
UPDATE:

There where actually a problem. The american embassy told me to check with the airline company, and so i did. According to US airlines, they couldn?t let be board without a visa. (i.e. the visa waiver programs wasn?t sufficient in my case)

But I avoided the whole problem booking a flight via Paris insted.
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Do you have a Norwegian passport? First time I've heard the embassy checking immigration requirements with an airline, it's usually the other way around. Never mind, I guess it's possible if you travel from Norway.
 
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hanswulff82

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I am Norwegian, and offcourse I have a Norwegian passport.
I discussed this issue with a mate who also was in the DR a few years ago. He could not eitheher fly via the US because he then would need to apply for an American visa.

It looks like this only is an issue if you plan to stay for more than 90 days, because then you cannot use the VWP and therefore have to apply for an ordinary visa. It does not seem to mather if you are only trasiting.
 
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SKY

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Apr 11, 2004
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hanswulff82 said:
I am Norwegian, and offcourse I have a Norwegian passport.
I discussed this issue with a mate who also was in the DR a few years ago. He could not eitheher fly via the US because he then would need to apply for an American visa.

It looks like this only is an issue if you plan to stay for more than 90 days, because then you cannot use the VWP and therefore have to apply for an ordinary visa. It does not seem to mather if you are only trasiting.
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/ 23MAR10 / 1146 UTC



National Norway (NO) /Destination U.S.A. (US)


U.S.A. (US)



Passport required.
- Nationals of Norway may enter with passports valid for

period of intended stay.
 
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pedrochemical

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Aug 22, 2008
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Surely people from Norway can just enter the USA like almost any other (geographically) Northern European folks?

Do you really need to apply for a visa before you travel?
 
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AnnaC

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Jan 2, 2002
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pedrochemical said:
Surely people from Norway can just enter the USA like almost any other (geographically) Northern European folks?

Do you really need to apply for a visa before you travel?
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Yes but if you have followed this from the start the OP has said that he will be in the DR for more than the 90 day limit which the US allows Under the Visa Waiver Program.;)

He is going through Paris instead so problem solved
 
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tht

Master of my own fate.
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US immigration and Homeland Security monitoring number of days non US citizens spend in other countries than the US if the journey goes through the US!!??!! The OP spend less than a day in the US and 110 days somewhere else. Weird.
 
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Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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If you're in transit in the US it shouldn't make any difference whatsoever. As far as they're concerned, you enter and exit the country in a matter of hours under the visa waiver programme, and once you're out you can come back in days, months or years and go through the process again.
 
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tht

Master of my own fate.
Oct 10, 2002
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Chirimoya said:
If you're in transit in the US it shouldn't make any difference whatsoever. As far as they're concerned, you enter and exit the country in a matter of hours under the visa waiver programme, and once you're out you can come back in days, months or years and go through the process again.
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I have never heard of anything similar to this and I have a strong feeling it would never have been a problem checking in anywhere else than in Norway. I'm born in Norway and have a Norwegian passport. Now I remember why I left.. LOL.
 
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hanswulff82

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Jan 4, 2010
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tht said:
US immigration and Homeland Security monitoring number of days non US citizens spend in other countries than the US if the journey goes through the US!!??!! The OP spend less than a day in the US and 110 days somewhere else. Weird.
Click to expand...

I know it is wierd. But the vwp has the following statement in it:

Travel to contiguous countries (Canada, Mexico, Caribbean) is permitted during the 90 days, but travelers will not be granted an additional 90 days after re-entry.

I recon that for most travelers this is not a problem, however, for me it is. Who knows how they practice these rules, but nevertheless it is an unnecessery risk to take. However, I solved this problem by re-booking my flight via Paris.
 
bienamor

bienamor

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Apr 23, 2004
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hanswulff82 said:
I know it is wierd. But the vwp has the following statement in it:

Travel to contiguous countries (Canada, Mexico, Caribbean) is permitted during the 90 days, but travelers will not be granted an additional 90 days after re-entry.

I recon that for most travelers this is not a problem, however, for me it is. Who knows how they practice these rules, but nevertheless it is an unnecessery risk to take. However, I solved this problem by re-booking my flight via Paris.
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The only way this would affect anything is if you did not turn in the visa waiver form on departure, to the DR.
If you fill your visa waver on the way in and turn it in on the way out, then the same on your return, there is no way this affects.
 
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