Immigration Department director Jose Ricardo Taveras says that many foreigners are already visiting the Central Electoral Board (JCE) to enquire about starting to regularize their status. He predicts that the implementation of the plan will be a success.
“The truth is that most are not behind all the noise that has been generated, most just want to resolve their problem according to the law,” he said. He encouraged foreigners wanting to regularize their status to visit the JCE.
Taveras said that they were ready to issue the temporary residency cards to foreigners who will be given the special status. The process is for the people who are affected by the Constitutional Court ruling to visit the JCE and request their birth certificate and afterwards they will be issued an ID with their provisional migratory status until the Foreigner Legalization Plan confirms the details. With that card they will be able to continue to live in the Dominican Republic. The Department of Immigration says that the Foreigner Legalization Plan will be applied in two months time.
The plan is a first step towards legalizing thousands of migrants who have come to the Dominican Republic but have not legally obtained their papers as foreign residents or Dominican nationals. A purge of the civil registry has determined that thousands have obtained forged documentation. The new plan seeks to regularize their status starting by issuing to these residency papers. As a next step they will be able to apply for Dominican citizenship.