Immigration and Overstay Issues

I have not check in on here in a few weeks. Im veey please your back. Not the same without you.

I have friends who over the past 15 years have overstayed several times, but not recently. One is married to a local woman, they live in the U.S.  They visit a couple of times a year & overstay. His wife now has a US passport.  How many years back are they checking?  Go after the illegals, not the tourists, snowbirds & expats to be.

NO idea  Tinker on that.  Sorry,  but they are clearly looking for Multiple Overstays.

Thanks Moose.

Why re-write the book?  Nothing new same old stories:
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Don't know if widespread yet. Folks into POP today no problems. They overstay twice a year.

It is not yet widespread tinker but we all need to be aware.

This is another reason to get residencia guess.

I,sure hope the govt creates a new class of tourism visa.

If this thread is going to be helpful let's record some facts.  For every real occurrence, not 3rd party occurence, record:
Which airport -
Age Group -
Country of Origin -
Length of time in DR -
Length of time out of DR and returning -
Own property - (yes or no)
Married to a Dominican - (yes or no)
Working in DR - (yes or no)

Not everyone wants to go through the residency process or at least not until immigration can figure out what they are doing.  Many countries have no Dominican embassies or consulates so going back to the country of origin isn't even an option.  Secondly, large countries that do have an embassy or consulate, it may be hundreds if not 1000's of miles away from the persons home.  Not so bad if the instructions from the embassy or consulate were accurate but they seldom are.  With my experience, the many documents that I paid hundreds of dollars for were all declined when I submitted them in the DR.  This country is constantly putting the cart before the horse.  They have no clue about any legal or systemic process at all.  Every enforcement issue they try to make is at the very least against the international human rights act which this country has agreed to honor.  Why?  Because this country is the worst country for discrimination even against it's own people.

As always, their decisions make NO sense at all.

Sorry no one has the time to do that honey.  You want to take that on?

Its been confirmed several different ways that it is happening!  Good enough for me.

AND I could not agree more about the lack of planning,  disorganization,  jumping in without having a clue about what they are doing OR the consequences of their actions.

You are right their decisions make no sense to anyone who applies logic to this.

Yes, I don't mind recording as long as people can report these facts.  Otherwise it has very little significance in my opinion.  3rd party information is only propaganda.  News media is especially good at this as it is what sells newspapers.

Facts people...por favor.

Hahaha if we ran sites based on that nothing would ever be discussed honey. Its been comfirmed by various avenues. 

Those who choose can tell us their first hand experiences.

This may sound like a silly question, but how long do you have to stay before you are required to have a tourist visa?  I've been a few times, but only stayed a week at a time so no visa required. I'm planning a little longer trip for July so want to be prepared. TIA

Your tourist card that either came with your ticket or was bought at the airport is your tourist visa. It's good for 30 days.

Perfect!  Thanks for the clarification.

it seems as though coming from another country there is little respect for the laws,if you abide by the immigration laws you will have no problem, also I am very disappointed by planners statement who is an individual  who gave great advice yo the expat forum to use a degrading term as dam stupid in my opinion,regarding  abiding by the law in any country as you well know by now in Canada and the US such statement in dum stupid. pugypugy

Excuse me? My comment was in direct reference to the.lack of planning by this govt to create different classifications of tourist visas.

I stand by that comment!

I do not encourage anyone to break the current laws.

My only(little) worry when I depart for Ottawa on 13 Apr is how much they might charge me as I arrived back here on 01 Mar. However, when I return on 18 Mar, I will have my Temp Visa. Rules and enforcement may be fickle but as we used to say when charging someone in the military, ignorance is no excuse. Everyone should know the rules and if not following, be prepared to accept consequences. Sorry, but that's just plain common sense. Now if the government was effective enough for groups like Expats to or others to lobby, then that's another story....

Of the 5.5 million or so visitors a year, do we know how many ar such overstayers?  Or is it a state secret?

Why should they keep numbers when they can "obtain" money...

Absolutely agreed, Planner!
There is a vast difference between expatriates who bring money into the country via pensions, investments, savings, other income sources and illegal immigrants who come with nothing and seek work -- and that difference needs to be recognized with simplified residency permits or long-term tourist visas.

I stand by my statement,millions of tourist come to the dr every country is sovereign and has the legal right to to revised it laws,these laws are voted on and  pass by represetatives of the people on behalf of the country.once law is in effect you must abide or you will be in violation.being on an out side platform is like talking loud and saying nothing,therefoe that narrative is very unhelpful for individuals wishes to abide by the law, best wishes pugypugy

take care planner, was nice exchanging views,have a nice day,
best wishes,  pugypugy

In the context of what is being brought up in this discussion, your statement, that "you stand by," is irrelevant. No one has said anything about willfully breaking any laws here. We have been discussing the need for the government of the DR to create some extensions of tourist visas and new types of status for certain potential immigrants. If this government cannot get its act together and provide simple pathways to certain kinds of residencies or extend tourist visas, there are plenty of other tropical getaways in the world. Lots of nations have sunshine and beaches and enthusiastic residency or citizenship options for people with money. The DR will be the big loser if it doesn't make some serious concessions to potential residents of stable financial standing.

Well go to those countries it's your desire not mine straight up the alley

2VP,.  Your comment doesnt make sense.   Theyre computerized , so can see how many overstayed, and paid the exit shakedown. It would be interesting to know, but ill bet its secret.

Yes, and the best example is mexico, with its 180days, so perfect for snowbirds. And apparently even if you overstay that, they dont care..no shakedown.

Precisely! The DR would do well to pattern its policies along the lines of what Panama, Mexico, and Portugal are offering expats.

Hi Everyone
Just reading this thread .can someone give me a clarification  . I am planning to go to the DR to live with my husband who is a Dominican. I can only stay a month without a special visa . Is this right .

Hi Connie,

That's what they say.  Personally, I don't think you will have any issues.  But if you want to be legal, not sure what that means in this country, it should be a slam dunk for you to get your residency visa being married to a dominican male.

Cheers,

Never a slam dunk.  Same amount of paperwork, just different forms, trips to the consulates, plural, & still time consuming & mucho moola!  Go for it! It is worth the hassle.

Quite true tinker but in Dominican terms it's as easy as it gets.  Even the qualifications are quite simple compared to another type of Visa.  Putting it simply Connie, it's worth investigating and you may not even need a lawyer.  As long as your husband knows how to dance merengue he should be able to figure it out for you...

Thanks . My husband is a smart man .and if he cant figure it out .I have many friends who will be willing to help .thanks for the info.

A friend has been married to a Dominican woman for over 6 years, had two kids. He fulfills all the rquirements in filing for citizenship in the DR.  He has a large well known law firm in S.D.  Process ongoing for 8 months & still jumping through hoops  The Miami DR consulate is a stumbling block Ended up using the New Orleans consulate.  Guess it is just the luck of the draw.  He owns property here & is buying more.  No slam dunk for him.  At least he didn't draw duces & eights.

I am a Canadian.  Not an American .

tinker, being Canadian and being American is very different.  Not to review all of the political reasons behind it.   Also, a woman being married to a Dominican man is very different than a man being married to a Dominican woman.   You might want to read up on immigration law for the DR...

Mike - it is now the same for men and women married to a dominican. The laws have i deed changed.

Yiu are very correct that USA and Canadian systems are very different!!!

Yes, I agree that they are different in many aspects.  They are the same in others, such as,  ethno-centrism, territorial imperative and Jingoism.  I do not partake in mundane matters such as these.  I do enjoy the differences in countries & people.  Good luck to you all.   It doesn't matter where you are from, it isn't an easy task to complete.  It is increasingly complicated and expensive to have residence & citizenship here.

Absolutely correct tinker, it's not an easy task.  Planner, when did the law change and could you please send me the paragraph that refers to person rather than man and Dominican husband.  Thanks.