What is the deal with DR Immigration officers?

[rafael]

I am not the brightest bulb but to me immigration officials should be concerned about fpreigners trying to illegaly immigrate their country. They should not worry about their citizens traveling to other countries whe said citizens have a valid travel visa for another country.

My GF recently flew to Mexico to spend time with me on a 2 week biz trip. She was dragged into an office in DR and grilled about where, what, who etc etc etc. Entering the plane again she was grilled. It didn't help that she was grilled and interrogated once arriving to Mexico but that can be understood to some degree.

She had a visa issued by the mexican consul in santo domingo. She had copies of flight itineraries, hotel reservations, sufficient cash, debit cards, letter of invitation from Mexican citizen and letter of guarantee that stated I was responsible for any and all expenses she would incur in Mexico. Heck, the hotel was already paid for so all I had to spring for was airfare, food and entertainment.

Her passport shows she has been to Argentina 3 times, Uruguay, Chile and Brasil with a valid visitors visa to Brasil.

She got hassled in panama even though never leaving the terminal. She even got hassled upon arriving back in DR. I am sure most of it is just the immigration flunkies being jealous that she has and will travel and they most likely haven't and won't.

The question is, do these yahoos have any right or authority to hassle DR citizens traveling with valid visas? To what extent?

 

[amparocorp]

tell her to dress like a college student and he rproblems will be over. she needs levi's not 200$ jeans, flat shoes, and a universty of miami shirt. i tried telling this to my wife over and over and over, but, she is dominican and has to dress like she is meeting the president everytime she leaves the house, hair perfect, nails, all new clothes to go to disney for a week. "i don't want people to think i'm poor she says"......."so what's wrong with the last pair of new jeans that cost 200$ and you wore them on the plane to vegas," i say........."oh, there old" she says, not too mention the jewelry and belts setting off security alarms.........

 

[ExtremeR]

Rafael, that did not have anything to do with visa issues, those guys asking her all sort of questions more likely were DNCD agents randomly picking and interviewing passengers to find any discrepancies or to read their body language while being interviewed. They are just looking for mules, is that simple...

 

[2dlight]

Rafael don't sweat it. My daughter was born in the U.S and has Australian citizenship and was asked by an U.S. immigration agent what she was doing back in the U.S. She told me she had to bite her tongue not to tell him she had a right to be here. After a 14 hour flight with a three year old, I think she did the right thing. Every time I go through customs I just have to shake my head at the stuff they ask. It's not just the DR immigration.

 

[gandolf50]

Argentina, Chile and Uruguay? Big red flag ! There is a lot of Dominicanas involved in drugs and prostitution plying those countries. I know Argentina is giving Dominicans a lot of hassels right now and any body can enter there.

 

[Mr_DR]

Argentina, Chile and Uruguay? Big red flag ! There is a lot of Dominicanas involved in drugs and prostitution plying those countries. I know Argentina is giving Dominicans a lot of hassels right now and any body can enter there.

I don't blame DR officials for doing this, just like I don't blame other countries for being extra careful with passengers traveling from DR since about 80% of the drugs carried to other parts of the world are being trafficked through DR. DR is doing a great job though, every weeks many drugs are discovered and many Dominicans as well as foreigners are busted.

 

[RacerX]

"about 80% of the drugs carried to other parts of the world are being trafficked through DR."

80%? Hahaha, Bullsht.

 

[Berzin]

I get all types of crap every time I fly out of the DR back to NYC. The last time, as I was leaving the luggage retrieval area to catch a cab, the officer asked me what I did for a living and where I worked. Just like that, out of the blue. And this was coming out of JFK. I didn't notice him asking these questions to anyone else either in front of or behind me.

Before that, back in Santiago, one of the employees on the check-in line followed me all the way to the plane entrance. Once I got there, he pointed me out to someone and they thoroughly went through my carry-on bag after I had already gone through the security check.

This happens every single time I travel, and this is aside from the quizzical looks I get from every single jackass who checks my passport. I also get asked for other forms of identification, even though the rule is to get on an international flight all I need is my passport. Why they ask for more ID I've never been told, and I stopped asking a while ago as it does no good-I've never gotten a response.

The way I see it, if you're not doing anything wrong and your papers are in order, let them jerk themselves off.

 

[william webster]

Try arriving in Canada..... it infuriates me.

I am in the the minority..... I am a naturally born Canadian ( thats akin to being a naturally born Californian)....

Inevitably, I am scrutinized by somebody wearing their cultural trappings and speaking with such a thick accent I can hardly understand them.
I always think that I should be asking them where they were born and why are they here ??

There's a rant......

I find the RD immigration reasonably painless...... especially El Catey.... a world of difference.

Bad = POP
Mediocre = SDQ
Good = AZS

 

[jackichan]

Travelling to/fro the D.R always raises eye brows to immigration officers. It happens to me thru all airports when flying back to africa.

 

[Expat-in-Cabarete]

I'm been asked a million times why I was in the DR for so long, what my husband does, what business do we have, etc., in entering the US with my very valid US passport. Not unusual.

 

[SKY]

I have tip for anyone going through Customs in the US. After they stamp your passport and you get your luggage you have to see a Customs agent with your bags to give him your form. In Miami and most other places there are a few lines leading to an agent.

I always try to get a male who is the oldest one there. These guys don't like to play detective, they are just looking to get their time in and get the pension. Also,they are sharp and don't waste time on normal looking people.

The worst are the young women just starting out. They think they are Dick Tracy, young men right behind.

Also, one question they seem to all ask is "what were you doing in the DR." When I tell them I live there that is the end of the conversation and I am gone.

 

[siegs]

DR is doing a great job though, every weeks many drugs are discovered and many Dominicans as well as foreigners are busted.

Please. More BS.

 

[SKing]

Please. More BS.

That is a great tip. Also another tip is if you are traveling out of DR frequentky, try taking the same fight each time. I ended up seeing the same customs officer several trips in a row because my flight always landed when he was on shift

SHALENA

 

[SKing]

I quoted the wrong post.
I meant to quote SKY's post

SHALENA

 

[cobraboy]

I am not the brightest bulb

I call BS on this...:classic: You areone of the brightest bulbs I've ever met.

I suspect it just profiling as others have mentioned. Unfortunate, but a 2011 fact of life. Dominicans are deeply involved in the drug and sex trade as you know. Good looking women are involved with both.

Dominicans have earned the scepticism of gubmint immigration authorities. The good are tainted with the bad.

I have a very common whitebread name. And there is some Bad Guy with the same name. Whenever I offer my passport to airline check-in personnel, a manager comes out, eyeballs both me and my passoprt, takes it into some back room for 5 minutes and then comes out with a smile and "Have a good day, Mr. Whitebread."

It is what it is.

 

[AlterEgo]

I get all types of crap every time I fly out of the DR back to NYC. The last time, as I was leaving the luggage retrieval area to catch a cab, the officer asked me what I did for a living and where I worked. Just like that, out of the blue. And this was coming out of JFK. I didn't notice him asking these questions to anyone else either in front of or behind me.

Before that, back in Santiago, one of the employees on the check-in line followed me all the way to the plane entrance. Once I got there, he pointed me out to someone and they thoroughly went through my carry-on bag after I had already gone through the security check.

This happens every single time I travel, and this is aside from the quizzical looks I get from every single jackass who checks my passport. I also get asked for other forms of identification, even though the rule is to get on an international flight all I need is my passport. Why they ask for more ID I've never been told, and I stopped asking a while ago as it does no good-I've never gotten a response.

The way I see it, if you're not doing anything wrong and your papers are in order, let them jerk themselves off.

I think it might be because you're a younger male traveling alone? Our son gets stopped and/or pulled out of line every time he goes to DR to visit the family. He looks like a gringo but speaks fluent Spanish, another trigger you may have?

My husband and I have never been stopped or questioned, ever, and we fly there all the time. Maybe our ages? They did empty our carry-on on the jetway last trip, but that was a first.

AE

 

[GinzaGringo]

I am an American citizen and frequent visitor of the DR. I always enter and leave through Santo Domingo and I have never been hassled, not even once. The Dominican immigration officials do not even review my customs or immigrations forms which I hastily and inaccurately fill out, in barely legible English.

On the US side I receive more scrutiny. Boston is the worst. New York is not bad at all and Miami is a walk in the park. My bags are always searched in Boston, even to the point of flipping through papers and personal affects. In New York and Miami the immigration folks are half asleep.

 

[Ezequiel]

I am an American citizen and frequent visitor of the DR. I always enter and leave through Santo Domingo and I have never been hassled, not even once. The Dominican immigration officials do not even review my customs or immigrations forms which I hastily and inaccurately fill out, in barely legible English.

On the US side I receive more scrutiny. Boston is the worst. New York is not bad at all and Miami is a walk in the park. My bags are always searched in Boston, even to the point of flipping through papers and personal affects. In New York and Miami the immigration folks are half asleep.

Everytime I had traveled through Miami they had hassled me. They asked me hundreds of questions, open my suitcase, check my personal stuffs. Every freaking time! I swore to never travel through Miami. I'm a US citizen born in DR.

One costum agent in Atlanta airport, when I arrived from Europe, asked me why I have an accept if I was an US citizen!!!!!! I replied to her in a bad manner that everybody has an accept, what is her problem. She stayed quiet.

In Puerto Plata they always ask for extra ID, don't know why, but they do. In Santo Domingo I once traveled with my expired Green Card, before I become a US citizen, and they didn't ask me a single question, once I arrived at Newark Airport they just told me that I needed to renew my Green Card and they gave me an application.

In Santiago they just ask questions when you are leaving country, like, why I opened my eyes so wide for my passport photo, and I told her so they can scanned my iris more easily in the US, she laughed.

JFK is piece of cake. No question.

 

[amparocorp]

i'm going thru the airport in SD at the time accompanied by my brother in law who was in his colonel's unifrom, dominican military, and in front of my brother in law they pat me down, after my luggage has been taken away and x-rayed. what a laugh we had, he walked me all the way to the plane......