New Immigration Charges ? or Rip-off?

lumiere987

Member
Jul 4, 2007
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Four retired Canadian friends who have been coming in Juan Dolio for the past 5 or 6 years, came in this past weekend into Punta Cana' s airport as they always do. They had purchased a roundtrip ticket with a return to Canada in 5 1/2 month from now. More time would mean losing their social security payments from the Canadian Government.

When they arrived in Punta Cana' s immigration, they were detained as they had not applied for a visa. They each had to pay $1,000.00 to be able to come into the country. They all were taken by surprise by this new rule. The result is that next year they will look for another island to spend the winter. I am sure that they are not the only one who will do the same...Another loss for the economy! Is this a new rule or was that a rip-off? :pirate:
 

Expat13

Silver
Jun 7, 2008
3,255
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Then the Duminicans accomplished what they set out for..... They feel their actions will never affect tourism, and if it does they don't care about that either. The focus is the immediate peso-in-hand. Always was and always will, don't try to make economic sense of it.
 

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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Nobody in 10 years has EVER looked at my return ticket upon arrival in any RD airport.
The only time they ask about your return is departure, if you are on a one way ticket out of your home country.
This does not make sense. Immigration just stamps your passport upon entry.
 

AnnaC

Gold
Jan 2, 2002
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I have a feeling the OP doesn't have full details or he/she would have replied by now
 

Lobo Tropical

Silver
Aug 21, 2010
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Four retired Canadian friends who have been coming in Juan Dolio for the past 5 or 6 years, came in this past weekend into Punta Cana' s airport as they always do. They had purchased a roundtrip ticket with a return to Canada in 5 1/2 month from now. More time would mean losing their social security payments from the Canadian Government.

When they arrived in Punta Cana' s immigration, they were detained as they had not applied for a visa. They each had to pay $1,000.00 to be able to come into the country. They all were taken by surprise by this new rule. The result is that next year they will look for another island to spend the winter. I am sure that they are not the only one who will do the same...Another loss for the economy! Is this a new rule or was that a rip-off? :pirate:

Lumiere,
Can you illuminate us with more details on this story?
Every Canadian receives a tourist card on board of the carrier.
You fill out the entry form hand over the tourist card, entry form and passport et voil? you're in.
You pay overstay taxes as you leave.
 

Castle

Silver
Sep 1, 2012
2,982
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5 1/2 months exceeds the tourist stay of 90 days + 60 days extension. Given that, they must either start the residency process or make the trip shorter. It's not a new rule, it's been effective as of August 2012.
I don't see anything wrong with that rule in particular. Anyone who spends half a year every year in a country is hardly a tourist.
 

drSix

Silver
Oct 13, 2013
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I arrived in Santiago two months ago with my wife, three kids, and 13 suitcases. No return ticket at all... I prepaid online for the Toursit card, and that is all it took. No one even mentioned a return ticket. Your friends must have brought it up, or they simply got hoodwinked.
 

drSix

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Oct 13, 2013
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Anyone who spends half a year every year in a country is hardly a tourist.

Why not. They are retired. They are touring... They don't have income here, kids in school, benefit from taxes.
Americans and Canadians, as I understand it, do not need a Visa to enter or stay in the DR. Not a Visa in the traditional senseof the term. I purchased a tourist card that has expired. That does not mean I am here illegally, it just means I need to pay a tax for the months I stayed and did not pay the tax on.
 

davetuna

Bronze
Jun 19, 2012
1,071
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Cabarete, Dominican Republic
I arrived in Santiago two months ago with my wife, three kids, and 13 suitcases. No return ticket at all... I prepaid online for the Toursit card, and that is all it took. No one even mentioned a return ticket. Your friends must have brought it up, or they simply got hoodwinked.

hardly hoodwinked. You have to have proof of onward travel if you are not a citizen/resident. this is quite normal. Maybe Immigration is slowly starting to do what nearly every other country already does.
 

drSix

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Oct 13, 2013
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Onward travel is a requirement of the airlines, not the DR. Americans and Canadians and many others do not need a Visa to enter the Dominican Republic. You pay a tax that is dependent on how long you stay.

I of course could be incorrect, and maybe I just got lucky.

I could very well be posting the same thing a year from now when we all go back to the US to visit family, and I am stuck paying an outrageous exit fee for five people. Hopefully I will have my provisional residency by then!
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
32,504
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Four retired Canadian friends who have been coming in Juan Dolio for the past 5 or 6 years, came in this past weekend into Punta Cana' s airport as they always do. They had purchased a roundtrip ticket with a return to Canada in 5 1/2 month from now. More time would mean losing their social security payments from the Canadian Government.

When they arrived in Punta Cana' s immigration, they were detained as they had not applied for a visa. They each had to pay $1,000.00 to be able to come into the country. They all were taken by surprise by this new rule. The result is that next year they will look for another island to spend the winter. I am sure that they are not the only one who will do the same...Another loss for the economy! Is this a new rule or was that a rip-off? :pirate:

First of all there is no rule that after a certain amount of time out of Canada you lose your Canadian VERSION OF SOCIAL SECURITY.
 

Castle

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Sep 1, 2012
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Why not. They are retired. They are touring... They don't have income here, kids in school, benefit from taxes.
Americans and Canadians, as I understand it, do not need a Visa to enter or stay in the DR. Not a Visa in the traditional senseof the term. I purchased a tourist card that has expired. That does not mean I am here illegally, it just means I need to pay a tax for the months I stayed and did not pay the tax on.

When you spend 1/2 year in a country, that country needs to account you as a resident in any present or future plans. I'm not saying DR does it, necessarily, but a country needs to plan public services, etc. according to the real population. Having thousands of people floating around really hurts any kind of calculation a government does. Otherwise you would have a town like, for example, Las Terrenas with a population of 1,500 people when you need to provide service for the 20,000 people that actually live there (all numbers made up just for the sake of the argument). I don't think any country will let you stay indefinitely as long as you pay for your overstay later on.
 

drSix

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Oct 13, 2013
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"The tourist card license is valid for thirty days. If tourists exceeds this time, you must pay an additional fee per stay when you leave:
From 30 days to 3 months: RD $ 300.00
From 3-9 months: RD $ 500.00
From 9-12 months: RD $ 2,000.00
From 12 to 18 months : RD $ 3,500.00
From 18-24 months: RD $ 4,500.00
From 24-30 months: RD $ 6,000.00
From 30-36 months: RD $ 8,000.00
From 36-60 months: RD $ 12,000.00
From 60 months onwards: RD $ 15,000.00"
Source: Department of Migration

2) Is a visa required for non US citizens to enter the Dominican Republic as a tourist?

Any person who can legally travel or reside in the United States, Canada and the European Union (including Great Britain) does not need a Visa to visit the Dominican Republic for tourist purposes and can enter the Dominican Republic with a Tourist Card and a valid passport.
Source: Dominican Republic Embassy

They got hoodwinked, bamboozled, ripped off...
 

drSix

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Oct 13, 2013
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but a country needs to plan public services, etc. according to the real population. Having thousands of people floating around really hurts any kind of calculation a government does..

Good point, I did not consider that. But, aren't most of those services paid for by local property taxes, sales taxes, and hotel taxes?
 

Castle

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Sep 1, 2012
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Good point, I did not consider that. But, aren't most of those services paid for by local property taxes, sales taxes, and hotel taxes?

I guess. But I don't think the problem is how to pay for the services, but the amount of services needed, which need to be planned ahead. Again, I don't think DR has plans to such level of detail, but we can't disapprove any attempts to do so.
 

charlise

Bronze
Nov 1, 2012
751
0
0
Never heard of that when you enter DR that they check your return ticket.... Last summer went to Qu?bec for a month vacation and re-entered via POP with a one way ticket only...

Nobody asked me if I had a return ticket to Qu?bec.... And I'm still here....
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
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Bob, I can list a dozen Canadians that think there is. And they go back every year for 6 months and a day. Maybe it isn't social security they are afraid of losing, but some provincial pension. And if you don't know about it you are the only one.

The only thing that is affected is provincial heath care after 187 days. You have to reapply and there's a 90 day waiting period. I'm obviously more knowledgeable that the dozen Canadians you know. I did my research before I moved here and I also have many family members that are Snowbirds as we Canucks call them.