A report in El Dia points out that the National Foreigner Legalization Plan (PNRE), which expires today, Wednesday 17 June 2015, had the most to offer in comparison to similar plans in the Americas, mainly because the registration and status regularization process for applicants within the timeframe was free. The plan benefitted foreigners who had entered the country and stayed on irregularly before October 2011.
For a year and a half, the plan allowed foreigners presenting a single identity document plus evidence of having lived in the DR to receive free residency papers. It followed on from Constitutional Ruling 168-13 issued in September 2013 that ordered the government to implement the National Migration Law. Some 240,000 foreigners registered for the plan, which is 2.14% of the Dominican population according to the 2010 Census. This compares to the recent DACA plan offered by the United States, in which 0.2% of the population registered.
The plan began its implementation with Decree 327-13 dated 29 November 2013 and expired on 17 June 2015.
The report in El Dia mentions the lack of support from the Haitian government to the regularizing of Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic. As reported, Haitian government’s contribution to the regularization of its citizens living in the Dominican Republic was but to reduce the fee from RD$2,200 to RD$1,000 for registration in their Identification and Documentation Program for Immigrants (Pidih) for issuing immigrants a passport so they could complete their registration with the PNRE.
Nevertheless, all reports indicate that despite around 60,000 applications being received by the Haitian missions in the DR, fewer than 5,000 Haitians were able to obtain their documentation. The objective was to issue 200,000 documents. The PNRE is accepting receipts issued by Pidih to all who have applied for passports or birth certificates, pending the presentation of the identity document. However, the final birth certificate or passport needs to be presented for the final residency status to be issued.
The Haitian government attributes the delays to the political instability in the country. In Haiti, nevertheless, it is normal not to have legal status and most people living there are paperless.
People of 23 other nationalities have also regularized their status under the PNRE, reports El Dia. The Dominican government now has 45 days to review the applications.
In order to implement the program, the Ministry of Interior and Police opened 24 offices nationwide with more than 400 people working on the process.
Deputy Minister Washington Gonzalez said the Ministry of Interior and Police would inform all applicants of the outcome of their cases in 45 days.
http://mip.gob.do/Portals/0/docs/PlanRegularizacion/Decreto%20327-13%20Plan%20Nacional%20de%20Regularizacion%20de%20Extranjeros.pdf
http://eldia.com.do/alcance-regularizacion-supera-el-de-otras-reformas-migratorias/
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2015/06/17/i1198831_advierten-ficha-identidad-entregada-por-embajada-haitiana-acuse-recibo.html