The US Department of State issued on 11 March a consular information sheet alerting that Dominican migration authorities have required numerous US travelers entering the DR with proof of US citizenship (i.e. birth certificates and photo IDs) to obtain US passports from the embassy in Santo Domingo prior to returning to the US. The information sheet is part of the travel advisory section of the US State Department?s web site.
DR1 called the Department of Migration in the Dominican Republic and spoke to Antonio de Jesus Leonardo, the department?s legal advisor, who says he is unaware of any change in the policy of allowing US citizens to enter and depart with proof of citizenship. Likewise, Jorge Santiago, the Ministry of Foreign Relations? legal advisor, said he had not heard of this prior to our inquiry.
Furthermore, Las Americas International Airport?s migration departures supervisor, Jose Flores, was also surprised. He denied any change in formal procedure and says that there ?can be a very isolated case where a suspicious person is sent to the US Embassy to get a passport, but this person would have been taken there under arrest?.
Jose Oliva of the Punta Cana Group also said there had been no change in policy on behalf of Migration authorities at the Punta Cana International Airport and our call was the first he had heard on the matter.
Efrain Alvarado, the assistant of Tourism Minister Rafael Suberv? was not aware of any such situation, either but said he would pass the information on to the minister.
The US Embassy has not yet responded to our inquiry on how many US citizens the Department of Migration have referred to the US Consulate to secure passports after being denied exit with only proof of citizenship.
http://travel.state.gov/dominican_republic.html