President Abinader establishes committee to review country’s migration legal framework

[Dolores]

President Luis Abinader has issued Decree No. 268-25, creating an advisory committee to study the migration legal framework of the Dominican Republic. The committee will subsequently present suggestions deemed relevant based on its analysis to the President.

The temporary and honorary committee is coordinated by former president of the Constitutional Court Milton Leónidas Ray Guevara, alongside specialized public and private law jurists Jimena Conde Jiminán, Justo Pedro Castellanos Khoury, Juan Manuel Rosario, Belén Catalina del Toro, Lenis García Guzmán, Javier A. Suárez, Félix Tena de Sosa, and Jatzel Román González.

The Presidency says that the committee’s establishment underscores the government’s commitment to thoroughly examining and potentially updating the country’s migration laws and policies.

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[drstock]

Let's hope they do something to make it easier for people who want to live here legally to get Residency. Many countries in the region have much more straightforward Residency processes. And a friend just told me that further afield, you can now get a ten-year tourist visa for Thailand.

 

[windeguy]

Let's hope they do something to make it easier for people who want to live here legally to get Residency. Many countries in the region have much more straightforward Residency processes. And a friend just told me that further afield, you can now get a ten-year tourist visa for Thailand.

Thailand recently made it harder to stay there according to videos available on YouTube I saw a few weeks ago. Overstay and you won't be allowed back in.

Thailand does not offer a 10-year tourist visa. However, there is a Long-Term Resident (LTR) Visa that allows for a stay of up to 10 years, but it is designed for wealthy individuals, retirees, and skilled professionals rather than general tourism.
Other countries are making it harder:

 

[windeguy]

By the way, whenever the DR government refers to Migration Reform, that only means Haitians. There is no focus on others at all - they just don't care about them.

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

By the way, whenever the DR government refers to Migration Reform, that only means Haitians. There is no focus on others at all - they just don't care about them.

ah, your favorite topic

 

[windeguy]

ah, your favorite topic

Oh it would be if it covered illegals from Tourist Card countries, but it does not, I assure you.

 

[Meemselle]

Let's hope they do something to make it easier for people who want to live here legally to get Residency. Many countries in the region have much more straightforward Residency processes. And a friend just told me that further afield, you can now get a ten-year tourist visa for Thailand.

Somebody has to keep paying the lady men.

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

Oh it would be if it covered illegals from Tourist Card countries, but it does not, I assure you.

The illusion that all should be fair and just, according to the letter of the law, has nowhere, in the history of man, been proven more to the contrary than in the corrupt system of justice of the DR.

 

[Aguaita29]

Oh it would be if it covered illegals from Tourist Card countries, but it does not, I assure you.

If you entered through a port of entry, you were inspected, and upon leaving you pay overstay fees, technically, you´re not an illegal. At a class I took a couple of years ago, the teacher, who is a well known attorney, explained to us that overstay fees are like an extension fee that is paid later. Also, keep in mind the term used is fees, not fines. The Government seems to be profiting well from this, so I don't think this will change, unless they find a way to squeeze more $$ out of overstayers.

 

[windeguy]

If you entered through a port of entry, you were inspected, and upon leaving you pay overstay fees, technically, you´re not an illegal. At a class I took a couple of years ago, the teacher, who is a well known attorney, explained to us that overstay fees are like an extension fee that is paid later. Also, keep in mind the term used is fees, not fines. The Government seems to be profiting well from this, so I don't think this will change, unless they find a way to squeeze more $$ out of overstayers.

After 30 days when you enter on a tourist card, technically you are illegal. The lawyer who said otherwise did not know the actual laws and what the exit fines actually are.

We asked DR1's legal team about this and they explained the money payed for illegally overstaying a tourist card was an "extra legal workaround" with no basis in DR laws.

After 30 days of driving on a foreign license in the DR, your license is no longer valid. I got that information from the Manager of INTRANT in Puerto Plata.

After 30 days banks are not supposed to let you open a bank account and most will not.

So, your lawyer was full of

beans...

 

[Notengo]

In reality the law, and the interpretation/ enforcement of it are always in tension. Especially in the DR. Of course there are workarounds.
Btw I would call those entering legally but overstaying semi-illegals because all their info is in the systems.
Have to find a new stick, old one broke on the dead horse.

 

[windeguy]

In reality the law, and the interpretation/ enforcement of it are always in tension. Especially in the DR. Of course there are workarounds.
Btw I would call those entering legally but overstaying semi-illegals because all their info is in the systems.
Have to find a new stick, old one broke on the dead horse.

There is no semi-illegal fantasy here. Illegal is simply illegal. That is the case for a person entering on a tourist card and staying over 30 days. There is no doubt about that. What is absolutely true is the government only cares about one group of illegals and that is Haitians.

 

[johne]

Oh it would be if it covered illegals from Tourist Card countries, but it does not, I assure you.

It would be interesting to hear from you as to why this (tourists card overstay) is so important to YOU. I am not asking why it is not important to the government. (Case in point two weeks ago. I overstayed by 2 days..That was my choice because of the agenda in NYC. I paid 3500 peso knowing full well that would be my cost for this change. )
After reading for decades your posts on this subject, I don't recall why you are so passionate about it. In your own word, pray tell, tell us what bothers YOU.

 

[windeguy]

It would be interesting to hear from you as to why this (tourists card overstay) is so important to YOU. I am not asking why it is not important to the government. (Case in point two weeks ago. I overstayed by 2 days..That was my choice because of the agenda in NYC. I paid 3500 peso knowing full well that would be my cost for this change. )
After reading for decades your posts on this subject, I don't recall why you are so passionate about it. In your own word, pray tell, tell us what bothers YOU.

I have explalined this before. But here goes the short answer.
I don't like illegals in either country where I am a citizen.

I don't like illegls working here illegally. And as long as the government does not care about people
from tourist card countries working, they will. The government provides them with special treatment by
ignoring the immigration laws. The government only cares about one group of illegals.

 

[Aguaita29]

After 30 days when you enter on a tourist card, technically you are illegal. The lawyer who said otherwise did not know the actual laws and what the exit fines actually are.

We asked DR1's legal team about this and they explained the money payed for illegally overstaying a tourist card was an "extra legal workaround" with no basis in DR laws.

After 30 days of driving on a foreign license in the DR, your license is no longer valid. I got that information from the Manager of INTRANT in Puerto Plata.

After 30 days banks are not supposed to let you open a bank account and most will not.

So, your lawyer was full of

beans...

Article 40 of the Dominican immigration law states that non residents, which include those who entered on tourist cards, can extend their stay in the DR. Although the fees are not expliticly stated on the law itself, for instance, it doesn´t say you have to pay $50 pesos, laws itself entitles local authorities to set forth, procedures, policies, orders, decrees, bylaws, or whatever they see fit, to support the immigration system.
A fine is a punishment, a fee is what you pay for a service or privilege. What my teacher stated was that these are just fees, not fines.
You mean banks let you open a bank account right when you arrive? Please elaborate.

 

[Aguaita29]

There is no semi-illegal fantasy here. Illegal is simply illegal. That is the case for a person entering on a tourist card and staying over 30 days. There is no doubt about that. What is absolutely true is the government only cares about one group of illegals and that is Haitians.

Immigration is not one shoe size fits all. That´s not how things work worlwide. Not even in your "lands of the free and the braves" countries everyone is treated equal. If there is an excessive immigration flux coming from one particular country, of course that would be a priority to deal with, and that would be the most noticeable.

 

[windeguy]

Article 40 of the Dominican immigration law states that non residents, which include those who entered on tourist cards, can extend their stay in the DR. Although the fees are not expliticly stated on the law itself, for instance, it doesn´t say you have to pay $50 pesos, laws itself entitles local authorities to set forth, procedures, policies, orders, decrees, bylaws, or whatever they see fit, to support the immigration system.
A fine is a punishment, a fee is what you pay for a service or privilege. What my teacher stated was that these are just fees, not fines.
You mean banks let you open a bank account right when you arrive? Please elaborate.

Show me that exact law. Where is the link to that law?

Show me how paying a "fee after an illegal stay" makes you legal during that stay.

 

[windeguy]

Article 40 of the Dominican immigration law states that non residents, which include those who entered on tourist cards, can extend their stay in the DR. Although the fees are not expliticly stated on the law itself, for instance, it doesn´t say you have to pay $50 pesos, laws itself entitles local authorities to set forth, procedures, policies, orders, decrees, bylaws, or whatever they see fit, to support the immigration system.
A fine is a punishment, a fee is what you pay for a service or privilege. What my teacher stated was that these are just fees, not fines.
You mean banks let you open a bank account right when you arrive? Please elaborate.

It has been reported in the news that banks in the DR will only let people on tourist cards open an account within 30 days of arrival into the DR.
That is because they are only legally here for 30 days when arriving on a tourist card.

Your Legal Status and opening a Bank Account in the Dominican Republic

<p>If you’re a foreign non-resident opening a bank account in the DR, it’s a straightforward process, and local banks are accustomed to establishing accounts for foreigners. So, you’ll have no issues opening an account, assuming you’ve provided the required documentation and are in the country...

dominicantoday.com

If you’re a foreign non-resident opening a bank account in the DR, it’s a straightforward process, and local banks are accustomed to establishing accounts for foreigners. So, you’ll have no issues opening an account, assuming you’ve provided the required documentation and are in the country legally. This means for non-residents within the first 30 days of their stay in the country, or if they entered with a visa and did not pass the allowed time.

(Why within 30 days on a tourist card? After that you are NOT LEGALLY IN THE DR... This is very hard for some people to understand. Even some imbecile lawyers it appears.)

 

[windeguy]

By the way I have a response from a well respected lawyer who shall remain nameless and also will not let me quote verbatim their direct message to me about illegal stays for tourist cards after 30 days.

That lawyer said a tourist card cannot be extended legally despite the payment allowed on Migracions web site. That lawyer also called the money payed on exiting the DR when exceeding 30 days a fine and not a fee. So there is that.

Sadly, I cannot quote verbatim since I don't have permission to do that. But that agrees with everything I have ever seen on the topic .

 

[Meemselle]

It would be interesting to hear from you as to why this (tourists card overstay) is so important to YOU. I am not asking why it is not important to the government. (Case in point two weeks ago. I overstayed by 2 days..That was my choice because of the agenda in NYC. I paid 3500 peso knowing full well that would be my cost for this change. )
After reading for decades your posts on this subject, I don't recall why you are so passionate about it. In your own word, pray tell, tell us what bothers YOU.

The overstay fees don't bother me a bit. I've lived here for 14 years and I leave --- at most --- once a year. I began the residency process shortly after the 2011 regularización was passed. The process dragged on for years and years and pesos and pesos, and I finally just let it go. I do not own anything here; I do not have a business; I do not work. I am not married to a Dominican (heaven forbid) and I live a very quiet life, relying on my private income from the US. I sometimes get nervous and would like to have some kind of card to carry in my wallet, but at the end of the day, if I have to fork over $11,000-$16,000 pesos to cover a two to three year overstay, it's just part of the cost of the ticket. I do worry from time to time that the DR government, in its infinite wisdom, will amend this system someday. I'll deal with that if/when it happens. But it seems counterproductive, even in Dominican-think, that they'd want to do away with a system that's basically a cash cow for them. And now that fees must be paid by cards (and Belkis isn't getting a new phone from the slush fund under the desk), it would seem that the monies are going to the intended area of the government. What happens then is anybody's guess, but by then, I'm out of the equation.