- Thread starter Lucas61
- Start date
Updates on Overstay Tax
Apparently the rules vary by airport. Several have been told no cash in POP. SDQ still accepts cash.
This is more of a political statement than a simple question of cash accepted si o no. This is a support statement for bit coins...I think?
Ah. This I didn't not know. Sorry. Would like to see that sign from POP. That should settle things.
Maria made it sound like they (DR Immigration) are doing us a favor by not kicking us out for overstaying, but she has it completely twisted. By staying here 9+ years, I've actually contributed way more money to this economy than the average tourist who probably only stays here a few weeks. What she doesn't seem to understand is that the DR is competing for OUR tourism dollars, not the other way around. There are plenty of other places we could go, and let's not act like the DR is South Korea and they're manufacturing cars, computers, etc., and don't need the tourism money, tourism is like the main industry here.
My point is that immigration should want to make it as simple as possible to enter/exit, and 10+ years ago it was. You showed up to the airport, showed them your passport, paid your exit fine in cash, and you were on your way. Now they are asking for an e-ticket, whatever the hell that is, and will not let you leave if you don't have it? Had I not found this thread I wouldn't even know I needed an e-ticket! And then when you fill it out, and lot of the question they ask you are things that are already on your passport, so it is basically extra paperwork.
I talk to old timers who tell me how easy and wonderful it was to travel by air back in the 1970s, which was before my time. I even heard 50 years ago you could walk through the airport with $200,000 in cash and no one cared. My point is that international travel is becoming more of a hassle, especially after Covid, and I've been told by some people that they are no longer traveling internationally as a result. If countries like the DR that depend on tourism keep making it harder people will just stop coming here and then they will lose billions, and if you know anything about Dominican history you know this place wasn't a great place to live before tourism. It was tourism that stabilized this country.
I plan on returning to the DR in ten years. But if they keep making us jump through extra hoops to come here and leave then I might reconsider, we'll see. I just feel like you should give people as many payment options as possible, cash, bitcoin, electronic, as long as you're getting the overstay tax it should not matter how the tax is paid.
I wanted to say thank you for mentioning this e-ticket thing, I had no idea what it was. I went to the site last night, filled out the form and downloaded the pdf. So now all I have to do is print it out and take it with me to the airport and show it to them, right?If you are concerned whether or not your card will work down here try using it first. If it works at a local store like Playero, Super Pola, ect. then it should work when using it to pay your exit fee unless you have a limit on your daily spending amount, which most cards do not.
Also, be sure to fill out an eticket form online prior to your arrival at the airport or you will not be able to board your flight. This will require a valid phone number to complete the process.
eTicket
Ticket electronico requerido por la Republica Dominicana para las entradas y salidas del territorio nacional. Este unico formulario involucra el ticket de Migracion, Aduanas y Salud Publicaeticket.migracion.gob.do
Good luck.
Safe travels.
This e-ticket thing is new, they did not require this the last time I flew out of the DR, which was about a decade ago. The problem with this is that the government makes these changes but how are we supposed to know? If I didn't have an account with DR1 and the good sense to check it I would have gone to the airport completely unaware that this was needed. The ironic thing about it is most of the questions they ask you on the e-ticket form are things they could find by......looking at your passport.
I'm hearing two different things, some people are saying residency is cheaper, but others are saying it is cheaper just to pay the exit fine. You say you have citizenship; it seems to me that is the best way to go, how much does that cost? I heard it costs $100,000, I wouldn't mind having a second passport. If you buy a house in the DR can that be used as an investment and path to citizenship?
No worries, you're not an "illegal alien" like those millions of people who flood over the U.S. border every year who leech off the country and get free food, housing, etc at American taxpayer expense. Those are true illegal aliens, and they piss me off, because neither you nor I get anything free in the DR, we have to pay for everything here and a tax when we leave, Dominicans have not "supported" us the way Americans are supporting these third world migrants flooding into the US from all over the world, the dynamic is completely different. None of these third world migrants entering the USA could afford to live there if it were not for government assistance, that is a big difference between those of us that overstay here in the DR, who get zero assistance.
You're contributing to the DR economy; think about how much money you've spent over that five-year period. You and I being here for almost fifteen years combined is a boon for their economy, and of course we benefit from lower living costs. A win/win situation for everyone.
My thoughts exactly. As tourism driven as the DR is, it boggles my mind how difficult they make everything for everybody when it used to be so simple.
Remember those little forms we had to fill out to enter and exit DR? Some white, some colored, depending on your being a tourist or a DR citizen? The e-ticket replaces those. Much easier and more efficient.
Generally speaking, prior to travel, everyone is supposed to check travel document requirements froth the respective government. This applies to any country. It's no the govt duty to inform you but the contrary. This is repeatedly told to anyone in my home country, in particular the airlines. Some airlines even have a section on their ticket purchasing funnel where they ask you to verify that you have your travel docs in order. This applies to any country in the world I think.
Exactly. I have written this previously as well, the e-ticket is nothing more and nothing less than those customs declaration forms in a digital form.
I could not agree with you more, but the problem is, you could say the same for supply of electricity or water in particular in tourist/expat zones. Many tourists/expats live in the NC/Sosua/Cabarete area for example. They pay their bills (I assume), yet the same govt treats them like garbage with the luz and agua and apparently the road infrastructure of Sosua. None of this makes sense but yet the same govt does that. Why would you treat a paying customer badly?
This is very true, I agree with you on every word. Yet, we're visitors here, it's not our legislation, not our govt, not our rules...
My wife (born in the DR), has a EU residency that cost 28 EUR, she is entitled to a free healthcare there, and govt benefits should she be without a job. I have paid tens and tens of thousands of pesos for just the right to be in the DR and that does not come with any benefits at all, aside from not having to pay the exit fee and being able to drive legally here...
When I used to travel for work I printed up a bunch of them with everything pre-filled except the flight, date and airports.
I still have a bunch of them.
I know one thing, this is the last time I will renew my residency. If I'm still around after that, I'll pay the fee.
While a bit OT, if I did not have citizenship and had to obtain residency/citizenship now, I probably wouldn't. I got citizenship a long time ago, when the process was much easier. Now I do not think I would do it.
Dark Scorpion, have a safe trip back. Let us know how it went with paying the overstay fee, it may help someone else who is in the same situation.
I got citizenship in 2004. Cost a ham sandwich then. Now I have no idea............
I have residency and it costs a lot more more than paying the overstay fee. The cost of citizenship varies by how you get it. My fear has always been tht the overstay would get a lot more expensive. No other country is so lenient and charges so little for overstays as the DR.