The Dominican government presented to diplomats from Europe, Asia, North America, Africa, Latin America and international agencies details of the processes and procedures of the National Foreigner Legalization Plan (PNRE) as well as up-to-date statistics, and the plans for repatriation of undocumented residents.
During a four-hour session, the Foreign Relations Minister Andres Navarro, together with the ministers of the Presidency, Jose Ramon Peralta; of the Interior and Police, Jose Ramon Fadul; the director of Migration and others, explained the details of what the country has done up to the present on the issue of immigration and the next steps.
Among the ambassadors who attended the meeting at the Presidential Palace where those of United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Germany, Italy, the United States, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Morocco, Israel, Qatar, the Apostolic Nuncio and the charge d’affaires of Canada. Also taking part were the representatives in the country from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Organization of American States (OAS), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In the same manner, the ambassadors from Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Peru, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, Haiti, Cuba, Argentina and Brazil also received explanations.
The government reported that almost 300,000 persons registered in the 18-months of the PNRE and that an immigration status was recognized for around 62,000 persons.
Of the 288,466 foreigners that registered for the plan, 86,953 presented passports, 78,425 held legal birth certificates, and 56,695 had identity cards. However, only 1.8% of the applicants had fulfilled all the requirements of Decree 327-13 at the time of the deadline of the plan, 17 June 2015. The government, nevertheless, is allowing paperwork to be completed, within the 45 day period when the paperwork is being reviewed.
The Dominican government informed the Haitian government that it would grant a temporary residence permit to all foreigners that had provided an identity document and proof of entry to the Dominican Republic before October 2011.