President Mejia announced the implementation of a new high-security proof system for visas issued by Dominican consulates abroad. The new system for the request, registration, approval and printing of Dominican visas should reduce the number of phony visas to a minimum and will go into effect 6 March, with technology provided by the Canadian Bank Note Company, Ltd.
The new format is similar to that used by the United States and Canada to issue its visas, as reported in the Listin Diario.
According to a press release from Canadian Bank Note, the company is supplying more than 200,000 machine-readable visas to the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Santo Domingo. As part of the contract signed in 2001, the company assisted with the security design, origination and printing of the documents that now comply with the International Standards Organization (ISO) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines concerning machine-readable visas. The new Dominican Republic visa incorporates a sophisticated array of security features, including a security hologram and multicolor intaglio printing.
Forged Dominican visas, many times issued by the consuls themselves, have been a headache for the Ministry of Foreign Relations. The Ministry feels unable to control the consuls appointed by the President of the Republic, and the consuls in turn often function as if not subject to the regulations issued by the Ministry.