does it cost to enter DR

In a few weeks I visit the DR with my wife and two teenage boys, I've already got the entry visa's, I've heard that there is also a charge made to get in and get out of the country as well as the visa. Is this true? I'd also be grateful of any advise to help make this our holiday of a lifetime. We are staying in Luperon, what do I need to take apart from the snorkeling equipment? Is there anything the locals like but can't get except at enormous expense.

I assume you have ourchased the $10.00 (USD) Tourist card to which you refer. That is the only entry fee, you will also be charged for a $10.00 departure stamp when you check in for departure from the country

Enjoy

Tom

Tom,

The $10.00 departure "tax" is to be paid in US cash only, is this correct?

Mark

Yes $10.00 US cash ONLY!!!!

According to the news (click below), the departure tax can be paid in Dominican Pesos or US Dollars.

Jim Hinsch JimHinsch@CSI.COM

Only $10

It's only $10 to enter DR ? When I went in 1990, everyone on the bus had to pay $20 US....I guess that's why the airport is so nice now in Puerto Plata...from what I've heard ! Then again, the people who went recently never been before. It was a little shack when I went there.

Re:Only $10 at any international Dominican airport

The cost of the departure tax is US$10 (or equivalent in Dominican Pesos) at 3 of the international airports (Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana) and US$15 (US$10 departure tax plus US$5 airport fee) at La Romana. I'd say that the Santo Domingo airport AILA is equal in quality to the airport in Puerto Plata. Both put some of our USA airports to shame (JFK comes to mind as one of our worst).

US citizens do not need a visa to enter the DR. Just a tourist card, which costs US$10 and can be quickly purchased on arrival just before going through immigration but is also available at the ticket counters in Newark and JFK and at or near (the location changes) the gate or at the ticket counter in Miami.

The US$10 departure tax is paid at check-in on Continental flights and at the gate on American Airlines flights departing the Dominican Republic.

Jim Hinsch JimHinsch@CSI.COM

Re: Only $10

Diane

When you say "On the bus," are you referring to a tour bus from your plane? If so, did they possibly collect the arrival and departure fee?

Tom

Re:Only $10 at any international Dominican airport

Thanks to all for the info, at least I now know that I have to keep$80 back so we can get on the plane to come home, I wonder if they make us stay there if we spend up!

Re:Only $10 at any international Dominican airport

So there are 8 of you? That's almost a baseball team.

If you run out of money, a fool-proof alternative to ATM machines, which will leave you in a tough spot if for some reason it decides to keep your card and not issue any money, is to walk into any bank, see a desk person, show them a Visa or Mastercard, and receive a cash advance.

Jim Hinsch JimHinsch@CSI.COM

Re:Only $10 to get in, $10 to get out U.S. $ only

At Puerta Plata it was US $10 for the tourist card upon entry and $10 when you left DR. They only would take American currency.

Foreigners are still only being charged US$10 for tourist card and departure tax. Locals/residents have the option of paying RD$160 or US$10.

Re: Only $10

Yes, when we got off the bus to get to the plane, we had to give $20 American before we even boarded the plan. Some of the other Canadians were stuck because they thought that $20 Canadian would be acceptable...WRONG. They had to wait around for other buses to show up to try and get an American $20 bill from any other tourists who had it...in exchange for over $20 Canadian. Yes, it was shocking for the tourists but my travel agent warned me about that.

Re: Only $10

So your TOTAl for entry and departure was 20 USD?

Re: Only $10

I really don't understand this US$10 to get in and another US$10 to get out. When I went this year, our entry visa was included with our tickets and hotel vouchers. The only $10 to pay was to be able to leave. Then again, I didn't really want to leave. Ahhhh beautiful place.

Re: Only $10

Perhaps the $10 tourist card was included in the price of your package. Since I make my own arrangements, I purchase the tourist card upon arrival. I have encountered many an astonished traveller unaware of this fee when they arrive at the airport without one. There are even more astonished people unaware of the US$10 fee to get OUT.

Re:Only $10 at any international Dominican airport

Be VERY sure you want to do this. In many tourist spots, such as the DR, there is a large trade in stolen credit card numbers from "rich" tourists, American and otherwise. Many times the bank employees themselves are "in on" the deal, as it is not as if you will ever see them again. A friend of mine received very many fraudulent charges on his bill after doing something of the sort in India, and it was of course impossible for anyone to trace anything back to the culprits. Another hidden danger lies in foreign ATM machines, whose networks and general system security are almost never as strong as what we are used to in the USA. You are probably best off sticking to traveller's cheques, bringing extra for any emergency.

Re:Only $10 to get in, $10 to get out U.S. $ only

I had the twisted experience of going to the DR in 1988 to temporarily legalize my now-estranged spouse. At the airport, I was charged $50 cash by the rotten cop or whatever they are when you're on line to be admitted into the country. I didn't know any better and I gave it to him. I asked for a receipt and he gave me a carbon copy of a paper and said that it was very important that I hold onto it while in the country. Needless to say, I didn't check this paper as I was exhausted from standing for 12 hours in the airport in Puerto Rico because the brakes and the steering "went" on the plane and I had the flu and a fever along with my baby daughter who was only 2 months old. When it was time to leave the country, another cop or whatever he was asked to see the paper that I was given because I complained about why it cost $50 to enter the country. He then asked me to show him this famous $50 paper and I pulled it out of my pocketbook for the first time since receiving it. The paper was a carbon copy of someone else's name and address in the Bronx, NY and mine on top of it. It was barely legible. The second cop said that the paper was useless and that I had been cheated. Then I got really pissed off and I said that I wanted that first cop investigated and I was cursing in English and Spanish. At that point, the second cop took my hand, and said that I was a fighter, and that I was his type of woman and that I excited him and that he wished that he could come back to America with me. This is my twisted but true story about what it cost me financially and emotionally to get into and out of the Dominican Republic.

Re:Only $10 at any international Dominican airport

Your advice is not sound.

Credit card holders are not held responsible for fraudulent charges, although it is an inconvenience. Fraud is not unique to the DR.

Thousands of Dominicans use credit cards every day. The ATM machines use the same combination of hardware and software encryption used by the United States. The CIRRUS and PLUS systems require it in order to connect. ATM machines are every bit as safe as those in the USA.

There is a larger trade for stolen credit cards in the USA than in the DR.

Jim Hinsch JimHinsch@CSI.COM

Re: Only $10

I believe you're right Tom. They charged the $10 entry fee on our travel voucher. Our tour rep was very, very clear on the fact that we had to keep $10 each to get out of the country. She didn't want us to get stuck there. But, like I said before, being stuck there wouldn't be so bad as long as you have a job and a place to stay.