At POP the agent who took the money, the desk farthest to the right, would walk me over to the desk where they stamp and would tell that agent "está bien" and I would get my passport stamped, they had the racket worked out.
- Thread starter Lucas61
- Start date
Updates on Overstay Tax
Hold on. Let me stop what I'm doing and put on my I'm So Shocked face. A Dominican Government website not including key information? Gosh, who would believe it.
Why do no Dominican websites ever work properly. Even the foreign companies like IKEA and Scotiabank suddenly become completely crap when they morph into the Dominican version.
But I agree, government websites are in a league of awfulness of their own.
You forgot Altice and Caribe Tours. Incredibly useless for info.
Don't get me started on Altice. The payment option on their website has been off line for months.
My flight leaves on April 11, and I have a couple of questions about the exit fine.
What happens if your credit card/debit card is declined because the bank suspects suspicious activity? I contacted my bank and let them know in advance that I would be leaving the DR on April 11 and would have to pay the ten year exit fine using my credit card, but they told me the system is automated, and they can't 100 percent guarantee that the transaction will go through without hassle even though the card has more than enough credit to cover it.
Is it possible to arrive to the airport a couple of hours early, and then immediately go to immigration and pay the fine right after I check in? That way if there are any issues with the card, I can try calling the bank to notify them to let the transaction go through, I don't want to wait until it is time to board my flight because if I have issues with the card I could end up missing my flight. Also, I have no cell phone and would need to call the bank through Skype using my laptop, is there wifi at the Puerto Plata airport I could use to get in touch with them? This card only thing is really aggravating and stupid.
What happens if your credit card/debit card is declined because the bank suspects suspicious activity? I contacted my bank and let them know in advance that I would be leaving the DR on April 11 and would have to pay the ten year exit fine using my credit card, but they told me the system is automated, and they can't 100 percent guarantee that the transaction will go through without hassle even though the card has more than enough credit to cover it.
Is it possible to arrive to the airport a couple of hours early, and then immediately go to immigration and pay the fine right after I check in? That way if there are any issues with the card, I can try calling the bank to notify them to let the transaction go through, I don't want to wait until it is time to board my flight because if I have issues with the card I could end up missing my flight. Also, I have no cell phone and would need to call the bank through Skype using my laptop, is there wifi at the Puerto Plata airport I could use to get in touch with them? This card only thing is really aggravating and stupid.
Not sure of your other points as I don't know your bank, but we never pass migration later than 2-3 hours before our flight. Immediately when the check-in opens, we're there and then pass migration immediately afterwards. So not sure why would you need to wait to pass migration?
They do in Santo Domingo, but I think I read here that Puerto Plata does not.
For sure per others. Why take the risk? Bring CASH and make sure you have the correct amount. If you can't pay, you will miss your flight.
As posted above and also in other threads, the problem might be that cash is no longer accepted. Hence the question.
You should always get to the airport at least 3 hours before an international flight in any case. On a recent trip through Santo Domingo the Migracion systems were not working properly. We waited in line at least 90 minutes to clear Migracion, a lot of people in the line missed their flights, it was absolute chaos. I would definitely recommend getting there early if you have a considerable amount of money to pay (a 10 year exit fee sounds like a lot).
Ok that is good news, if I can go to immigration and make the payment a couple of hours before my flight leaves, that means if there is a problem with the transaction then I have plenty of time to call the bank and rectify it. Yeah its been I while since I've flown so I don't know how much things have changed.
Here is the thing, I don't want to go to the airport and hope that there is not an issue with my credit card. I have had two deaths in the family, I'm under a lot of stress and need to leave the DR as soon as possible, I just want to make sure things go smoothly. Do you know if the airport has wifi so I can call the bank if needed? I don't have a cell phone, only my laptop, Skype and a headset.
Wait, I was told that they were no longer accepting cash at the airport, that the payments could only be made electronically,
Ok I will leave three hours early just to be safe. Do you know if they have wifi at the airport that I can access in case I need to call the bank? I do not have a cell phone, only a laptop, Skype and a headset. I have enough money on the credit card to cover the exit tax, I just want to prepared in case the bank freaks out because they suddenly see such a large transaction being attempted and then freeze it as suspicious activity. You have to be prepared for these things.
You know the Dominican immigration really pisses me off with this. They should have sense enough to know that electronic payment methods are not one hundred percent reliable and there can be all sorts of problems, their decision to reject cash payments is the height of stupidity and incompetence, exactly why I hate the government, of any country. The only thing they do is make life harder than it has to be. You can always count on the government to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Cash is simple and reliable, it isn't our fault their people at the airport are dishonest, why not hire better people?
According to this there is wifi
I haven't been to Puerto Plata airport after the pandemic, so first hand experience I don't have, but this I found:
I fully understand you, my dad passed about a year ago, and i had to organize travel for 4 people with a week's notice and it was not fun...
At least with the flights we use, they always open the check-in points at least 3 hours, sometimes almost 4 hours in advance, and you never have to wait after that to go through migration, so that should be enough time...
It's none of my business why you can no mobile phone, but just as a very friendly tip if it helps at all, you can really purchase a no name brand smartphone with 3 k pesos (we just did) and then put a prepaid sim card into it. Then you would not need to worry about wifi and could even make voip calls.