That's a good question - I don't know. When you come in the country you have to buy a tourist card which is good for 30 days. You won't get in trouble for staying past the expiration date but normally one has to pay a penalty tax of $US10 for every month past the first month that you overstay - it's possible that students are exempt? I went the the DR immigration webpage and they had nothing about visas at all.
I was reading this site:
http://www.learn4good.com/travel/dominican_visa.htm#req and this page had a separate section for a student visa. Plus I'm pretty sure that my program stated that a student visa is needed. I'm going to look into the tourist card. Thanks!
Excellent choice. Most people choose Spain to study abroad, way to step out of the box. I went on two study abroad programs, one at PUCMM in santiago, and the other at INTEC in Santo Domingo. PM me for any useful info........there is much to learn, although santiago is no where near as daunting as the capital.
--Exxtol
I'm trying to go to Europe after the DR and I cannot afford to deal with the euro twice. Besides, I have problems understanding Spaniards when they speak. Through no fault of their own of course... Luckily that's changing. I currently have two teachers from Spain. I will definitely send you a PM. I'm trying to get as many first hand accounts as I can.
Assia, if you don't mind my asking: What country/city/state or province are you coming from? What in particular, draws you to DR? What will you be studying? And do you speak Spanish?....
I'm from the US and I live in Chicago Il.
One of my majors is Spanish so that is what I'll be studying. I am taking advanced level classes now, so when I get there, I'll take mostly literature classes. I'll be able to finish the remainder of my degree there.
My Spanish is very halting. When I talk there are pauses and hesitation. Plus I always seem to run into that one word that I don't know. It's very frustrating. I can read and write in Spanish though. I have three Spanish classes now so I'm getting better and better. At my level, I figure that being forced to speak it non stop will give me that push that I need.
I have always been interested in the DR. I have met a few but not many where I grew up. I wanted to study in a country which had a noticeable amount of people of african descent. Here in the states, we are rarely taught about people of AD in latin america. Plus there is Haiti on the other side of the border. I want to go there after the end of my program. I'm currently searching for an organization or business that will allow me to do it safely.
