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More than 10 thousand foreigners from seven countries were deported and not admitted by the DGM

The statistical data correspond to the month of April.

The Directorate General of Migration (DGM) reported that during the month of April, 10,809 foreigners were deported and not admitted , that they were in an irregular situation in the Dominican Republic or did not meet the requirements established in Law 285-04 .



According to the statistical report of the DGM ,   of the 10 thousand 809 foreigners, 5 thousand 609 were deported to their countries of origin, while another 5 thousand 200 were not admitted when trying to enter the country by air, sea and land .

According to the institution led by Lieutenant General ® (ERD) Máximo William Muñoz Delgado , the deported foreigners were from Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, the United States, Haiti, Italy and Venezuela. 



The majority of deported foreigners, who had irregular immigration status, were detained during interdiction operations carried out during the last weeks in different provinces of the country.

In relation to other migratory movements, the DGM report reveals that through the national airports during the referred month, there were 639 thousand 445 entries and 674 thousand 416 departures, mainly by the Punta Cana International Airport the air terminal that concentrated the largest number of passengers, followed by the airports Las Américas in Santo Domingo, Cibao in Santiago , Gregorio Luperón in Puerto Plata, La Romana , El Catey de Samaná, Joaquín Balaguer in Santo Domingo and María Montes in Barahona.



Regarding the migratory flow through the land border, the institution reports   that 30 thousand 470 entries and 24 thousand 737 exits were registered , with the Jimaní border crossing having the highest flow, followed by Dajabón, Elías Piña and Pedernales.



As   regards the seaway, the statistics indicate 97 000 445 entries and 92 000 237 outlets, mainly by tourist ports Maimon in Puerto Plata and La Romana , which are the most visited by cruise traffic.



The statistical report of the DGM also indicates the voluntary return of 94 foreigners and the reception of 161 Dominicans after serving a sentence in 16 countries for the commission of different crimes.



Similarly, the report of the institution indicated the issuance of 2 079 residences of different categories to foreigners from 62 countries .

The most interesting part of this report is at the end - monthly numbers for issue of residencies.

Over the past years many foreigners residing in DR, have opted to get residency or even citizenship and those of us who have been here for some time, know of many that have now got their residency having seen the signs of change before and after the PNRE Plan (the amnesty decree allowing illegal long term residenst to obtain a residency status).

With over 2000 a month now getting or refreshing residency it is clear that there is a reducing pool of illegal long overstayers which is shrinking all the time.

The softly softly approach advising embassies of the limitations on overstay and foreign government travel advice too seems to be working without the need to panic Westeners  by extending the significant daily round ups to them as well as Haitians Venezuelans, some other South Americans, Asians, East Europeans and those from Caribbean nations as well as those that work illegally.

It is pleasing to see expat.com takes a clear approach recommending residency or a visa status to new expats whilst advising others of the current state of play and potential pitfalls regarding overstay.

On my recent trips to Migracion in Santo Domingo, the place has been completely full. Many Chinese and South Americans getting residency.  People who work illegally are definitely being targeted no matter the country of origin, while those from North America and the EU who simply overstay on extended vacations still appear to be under the radar for deportation.

The Chinese are certainly up to something in the DR. The Chinese love to take over a countries port system, which often ends up baldy for that country, but that is a different topic than than these normal monthly roundups by immigration.

Yes it an interesting topic that deserved it's own thread. 

These monthly roundups are mainly Haitians, Venezuelans with some other countries thrown in

Yes, of those 2352,  I'll bet none, or not many are actual gringos, so it doesn't even affect most of us.  Once in a while they manage to catch a real criminal amongst them, but not often.   And I don't believe the guy who denies it's a 'cash cow',  to get 2 or 4k from overstayers.  It's on the computer now, they see it, and just get you to pay another clerk there; she probably makes 10k a month so.  I'll bet they  makea fortuen from it.

Yes this really doesn't effect most expats from developed countries.

Here is May's report from DGM:



Whilst the monthly rate of denied entry and deportation creeps ever upward, there seems no change in the main objective of cutting back on illegal immigration by Haitians. They list immigrants from Belgium, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, United States, France, Russia and Uzbekistan were included in deportations, but probably in very small numbers.

A most interesting statistic is the increase in numbers of residencies given out, 3,321 in May.

There're not gringos, so those numbers mean nothing to most of us.

Well they do mean something to some of us!  We should all be paying attention to them.

Whilst there is minimal impact on so called gringos and nothing to worry about for those that are in overstay mode, we are seeing a gradual ramp up of those being deported back to Haiti in particular and the DGM's words sum it up:

El informe de la DGM señala un incremento en las deportaciones durante el referido mes.

They are increasing the entry denials and deportations.

The other nationalities who got deported long with Haitians are listed:

Los extranjeros deportados eran procedentes de Bélgica, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Estados Unidos, Francia, Haití, Rusia y República de Uzbekistán.
   
116 extranjeros

Very few in terms of the total and they were likely found working without residency or visa or other breach of immigration law other than overstay, but nevertheless a warning shot for any expat thinking of coming and working without residency or work permit....or indeed those expats who are hiding here in overstay with a criminal record from back home to serve.

And the numbers of residency issues in May has risen quite alot on a month by month basis and there are numerous so called gringos getting residency these days as the statistics posted on the DGM site confirm. Again an indication that the message of the benefits and needing residency getting understood and acted upon by many.

So as planner points out, there is relavence and food for thought to so called gringo expats, whether old, new, resident, non resident or at the planning stage in these monthly posted figures.....if you care to take notice.......which clearly PeteZZZ does not.

Nonsense, it does NOT affect most gringos, because most gringos are legal, even the ones who overstay, because they simply pay the shakedown fee when leaving, as is so often mentioned here.  There is no reason for most to worry if those other groups get deported, like haitians, uzbekis, because unlike the gringos, they're not bring money in.   Nor is there a worry if the odd, actual gringo gets caught, like some guy on the lam from the states or wherever.  There are very few of those, and knowing what the  cops are like, most probaby won't even get picked up.  The dr government easily distinguishes their main income, gringo dollars, from haitians, etc.

Can we stop using derogatory terms please.  Shakedown - it isn't. Its a well publicized overstay fee! 

Gringo - is also derogatory and its meaning is  people from the USA.  Lets start using expats please.

Take the intensity down a notch.

PeteZZZ
It's not quite as simple as you make it sound...

30 days is legal limit for a visit (non-visa)... that's written on your entry stamp these days.

After that , when you are officially illegal, the view gets murkier...
Certainly, there is no problem leaving - just pay the overstay fee.

Driving on a foreign  license can be called into question.....
An overstaying/illegal visitor has virtually no rights under the law.
You can be denied anything - you are illegal

Not cut & dried..... not even close

It is murky for sure!  Stay out of trouble and you are likely fine. 

I expect things will get clearer but not until after the next election.

Report for June in attached link:



The listed countries having persons deported or denied entry are Venezuela, Haiti, Czech Republic, USA, india and Italy. And of course the vast majority will be from Haiti.

The most interesting figure is perhaps the total number of entries by air at 597,127 which is slightly less than last June when the total number was 632,584 and that 5.6% drop overall appears to be largely to Punta Cana (a 12% drop to that airport) indicating perhaps the level of cancellations due to the bad publicity DR got from some American press. So much for the doom mongers. Facts speak louder than speculation..

The breakdown by nationality is yet to be posted by Banco Central.

Seems like that number is about the monthly average.

Well the American propaganda scandal has already as told to me by one tour operator just 2 days ago that they received 55,000 cancellations (Punta Cana only) from the American tourist population.  That in itself is a tremendous loss in revenue for the Punta Cana area not to mention how many Dominican jobs are affected.  I hope the Dominican Government realizes this loss and learns from it to tread softly when it comes to expats, tourism etc and start to treat people that come to this country with some respect instead of just looking for dollar signs.  This country would be bankrupt if it wasn't for expats and tourism and it takes more than a bunch of fancy resorts to keep people coming to this island.  It's pretty obvious what happens when you piss off a large country and the impact that follows, right or wrong.  You can't undo bad press.

Three separate issues. 

One is the bad press and propaganda over fewer people from the US that died this year over the previous year. For some reason, the North American press really latched onto this.  If there are indeed 55,000 cancellations, that is $550,000 US in just tourist cards, not to mention what remains in country from the resorts, airlines and other services used by such tourists. 

I suspect the loss in tourism to be temporary and Punta Cana will recover over the next several months.  The government publishes some data on this, so those who know where to find it will post it on various forums.

Second issue is Snowbirds and others that overstay 30 day tourist cards. Snowbirds are important to a couple of cities on the north coast and are not really on the radar when it comes to overall tourism in the country.  Those in Santo Domingo pay little attention to the north coast.  There does appear to be some movement on this with new data bases linking fingerprints, passports and the new passport stamp with a written in date showing clearly the time a tourist is in the DR legally.  I have waited for 16 years to see a snowbird visa implemented. We still have the exit fees...

Thirdly, as for expats,  we already live here and aren't likely to go anywhere because that news does not really affect us if we aren't working in a tourist related area. Íæż½ã½ãs without legal residency could face some issues depending upon new rules and how those rules are enforced.

Windy.... you can triple the $10....

$10 to enter --- $20 to leave

your $550K shoots up

Windeguy, no disrespect, but expand your thinking a little. 

55,000 cancellations does not mean 55,000 people.  It also does not mean they were all going to resorts.  The numbers could be much larger.   

I don't believe that expats and snowbirds have no effect on the economy here.  Many expats contribute large amounts of money to this country, much more than individual tourists.  Many snowbirds purchase property here, hire locals, spend gobs of money. 

Don't you think that expats and snowbirds have any influence or connection with other people outside of the country that want to come to the island, business associates, friends, family members...consider the ripple effect.

Many of us have large groups of followers and social media access.

Everyone is an important contributor to the DR and all should be considered.

I agree that one cancellation can be much more than the $10 entry fee. And I constantly forget about the $30 departure fee. Of course those cancellations can be from 1 to X people, multiplying that effect greatly.  Some of the money even stays in the country that people pay to those resorts in the food, drink and labor at the resorts, but the vast majority of the profit goes to the parent companies that are frequently off shore. My point is that even the $10 arrivals are far more important to the over all economy than several thousand snowbirds (and expats of which I am one.) 

If you look at one expat or snowbird and compare them to one tourist vacationing for a week, of course the expat or snowbird for several months contributes more than that tourist. My point is that there are thousands of snowbirds and MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS of tourists.  The math is hugely on the side of the vast number of tourists as compared to the thousands snowbirds and that is where the government focuses. Not upon the tens of thousands of snowbirds, if even that many,  or several thousands of year round residents like myself.  I certainly don't see tens of thousands of snowbirds or or  expats here  on the north coast. More like a few thousand.  The census numbers might prove interesting on that point.

I have lived on the north coast since 2003 and I very well understand the lack of interest in infrastructure and enforcement of the rule of law on the north coast.  There is a reason it is called a "wild west" area of the country.   There is no way to justify a statement that snowbirds and expats contribute anything close to the vastly larger number of short term vacationers and cruise ship passengers.

The number 55,000 is cancellations and does not count the number of people who decided to travel elsewhere before they book.
I said on another posting that the cost of a plane ticket for November is $380 RT. It was stated the price is always lower during off season, but as someone who follows plane ticket prices, it has not been this low in years from my location.
Real or not, this matter is going to have an impact on tourism for the next year as people usually plan vacations 4-6 months out.
It will be interesting to see the reported tourists numbers. We all know the government doesn’t fudge numbers. 😄

In case anyone thinks that several thousands of snowbirds or expats makes a huge difference to the DR government , have a look at this : 

In the first two months of 2019, Dominican Republic welcomed 604,977 tourists, an increase of 8 percent compared to this time last year. In that timeframe, 65 percent of those tourist arrivals came from North America, specifically the United States which continues to be a key market for Dominican Republic.

Hotel Announcements
In 2018, Dominican Republic saw a 6 percent growth in hotel rooms. The country added 4,365 total hotel rooms throughout various regions of the country totaling 80,256 overall hotel rooms. In addition to the flourishing additions, Dominican Republic’s hotel occupancy rate was an impressive 77 percent, a .5 percent increase from 2017.

The growth does not end there. ASONAHORES reported 65 projects are already approved for 2019 and Dominican Republic is slated to add 11 new properties between 2019 and 2022.

Air Arrivals
Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) continues to be the main point of entry into Dominican Republic with a record breaking 3,921,351 tourists received in 2018, an increase of more than 277,000 travelers compared to 2017. This growth is followed by Santo Domingo’s Las Americas Airport (SDQ) with 1,374,777; Santiago’s Cibao International Airport (STI) with 628,170 and Puerto Plata’s Gregorio Luperón International Airport (POP) following closely with 429,029.

This growth is due in large part to Dominican Republic’s open-sky policy, allowing for a large influx of flights as well as new nonstop routes to and from the United States.

Cruise Arrivals
Throughout 2018 Dominican Republic welcomed a total of 1,357,200 passengers via its four cruise ports, an increase of more than 157,000 compared to 2017. The Amber Cove cruise port in Puerto Plata continues to be the country’s main point of entry for cruise arrivals.

Now try and explain how a few thousand snowbirds and few thousand expats stand up in their contributions to the economy compared  to those millions of tourists and cruisers?

You are absolutely correct, of course it will have an effect!  IT has to.  How long the effect will last and how broad it is, well hoping the govt etc does positive things to mitigate the damage.

And we can hope (sadly) that something else catches media attention!!!!

The numbers of arrivals is reported each month as part of DGM's report and also in the Banco Central statistics.

The drop in June on entries was expected and c 35k and most noted in Punta Cana.

DR is without doubt the best and best value tourist destination in the Caribbean to include Mexico, and as soon as people see the difference on offer, numbers will likely recover and grow. Investment continues to grow strongly and some hotels are doing remodelling at this time too. Security and general hotel management has been upgraded too as a result of the negativity.

The tourist body in the East thinks the situation will recover by next high season starting November:



Enjoy any discounts whilst you can!

State Department issued a level two (out of four) safety warning for the Dominican Republic in April 2019. The warning advises travelers exercise increased caution due to violent crime in the country, which include armed robbery, homicide and sexual assault.Jun 24, 2019

Unfortunately , I live here and fly out from the north coast.  Not much is cheap when it comes to flights these days.   My area has been close to dead for quite a few years.

hi what u mean when  u say

My area has been close to dead for quite a few years.

freeperson wrote:

State Department issued a level two (out of four) safety warning for the Dominican Republic in April 2019. The warning advises travelers exercise increased caution due to violent crime in the country, which include armed robbery, homicide and sexual assault.Jun 24, 2019

Level 2 Advisories (Exercise Increased Caution):
Albania
Algeria
Antarctica
The Bahamas
Bangladesh
Belize
Bosnia and Herzgovina
Brazil
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
China
Colombia
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
Eritrea
Ethiopia
France
Germany
Guinea
Guyana
India
Indonesia
Jamaica
Kenya
Kosovo
Maldives
Mexico
Morocco
Nepal
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Spain
Sri Lanka
Tanzania
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia
Turks and Caicos Islands
Uganda
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Zimbabwe

Restricted choice then.........the travel advisory level did not change by the way.

Stick to the tourist zones such as Punta Cana and you will be very safe

What I mean is that Cabarete lost a huge amount of tourist business a number of years ago.  Cabarete is dead compared to what it was like when I moved here in 2003.

I understand your point Windy.  Statistics are a very real part of the scenario.  However, I believe you missed my point.  I am not an bean counter and I believe in thinking out of the box so simply take away all of the Snowbirds and expats from this country and tell me whether you think tourism will still be an attraction. Generally speaking, snowbirds and expats are the result of tourism.  Which comes first?  The chicken or the egg.  I am simply saying we are all important to this country.  It's not a competition.

Yes we are all important,  just different degrees.  Those who come for a week pay the US 10 fee, plus whatever  jobs are created at the hotels.  Most of the profit from this stays offshore.

Íæż½ã½ãs  and longer stay - also pay the US 10,  contribute to rent,  buying food at the stores, restaurants,  electricity, cable, internet,  gasoline etc etc.   But the numbers are far far smaller.

Both would have an effect if they dried up. We see what happened on the north coast. I too moved her in 2003 and things were booming on the north coast. A few years later and it was a totally different story! Those were both longer stay and short term tourists.

Which comes first......  I just hope they keep coming!

We well may be talking of different things, but to attempt to clarify. 

DR tourism did not start with snowbirds or expats.  It started with people visiting on vacation.  Then it grew to people spending winters as snowbirds and some people migrated and decided to live here. Cabarete, for example, was "discovered" by some Canadians who visited, I think in the late 1960's or early 1970's and found it to be a good place for windsurfing. 

Sosua was largely populated by Jews who were allowed to enter the country during World War II, but those expats did not last long and hardly a trace of them remains aside from a small Museum.    Sosua is infamous now by the type of tourist it tends to attract lately, which is different mix than it was a few decades ago.   


Now to my real point.  The amount of money spent by snowbirds and expats is a drop in the bucket compared to the money the government in Santo Domingo gets from short term tourists and cruisers.  Stated another way, the money from snowbirds and expats is far less significant to the economy of the country. 

Granted that to the small towns of Cabarete and Sosua,  tourism was (and is)  a significant factor. Some snowbirds still come.  Far fewer tourists visit Sosua and Cabarete then in the recent past. Far less than when I moved here in 2003. A few  more people are becoming full to most of the year expats in Sosua and Cabarete.  But those numbers are still rather small.  The towns of Sosua and Cabarete are largely ignored by the federal government in Santo Domingo because they really don't matter much in the overall economy of the country.

Sosua .. .. German Jews

One family didn't leave - and I think many stayed.

All were high up the social ladder - educated people

One family started a dairy farm....
it became Sosua Dairies
They sold it a few years ago for $250 Million
Not bad.... 1940 or so..... 70-75 yrs work
1/4 Billion.....

Windy, you may well be correct that the importance of a relatively small resident expat population in DR is overstated.

By small I mean an assessed number in the order of 80/90,000 expats of all nationalities other than Haitian and many of them now have residency, etc..

Anglophiles definitely seem to soley think of themselves rather than all the other nationalities despite likely representing less than 20% of expats living here excluding Haitians. The mix of tourists and expats in tourist zones where a small percentage of the country's population live perhaps deceives their true numbers. (the population of the municipality of Sosua which includes Cabarete is about 51,000 and Punta Cana about 100,000 Las Terrenas about 39,000)

The idea a majority of expats are here for tourism spin off is perhaps misconceived too. Tourism accounts for 9% of GDP.

What about all the other commerce in the country? There are Chinese in business everywhere in the country. There are numerous mining companies at work with many different nationalities. Then there is agriculture with foreigners here within the full supply chain. The duty free zone factories are in many cases operated by foreign companies. The ports, airport, refineries have foreigners at work. Don't forget senior management at the many large hotels are foreigners too. And diplomats are here in large number too. Construction has had a decent expat involvement too with specialist companies working here. And then we have Spanish literate entrepreneurs. I've probably missed some sectors too but we tend only to think as anglophiles imo.

And finally let's not forget the fastest growing group of expats here....retirees investing in real estate and residency.

I should add that inflows from Venezuela have also apprently been responsible for the decent growth in recent years through the fianancing of a large amount of apartment construction activity (in the papers today).

And when it comes to tourism, the average spend by non resident foreigners is reported as considerably less on average than by Dominicans and non resident Dominicans on vacation here....Central Bank figures. The large tourist population dilutes the daily spend of each to $136 in country. I can believe middle class Dominicans spend big having seen them when on vacation for the extended family.

Tourism is very important and protecting every sector is important. Winter and other short term visitors fill up beds and small hotels and guest houses and pose no long term immigration issues imo so should be accomodated with suitable short term visa solutions.

As for the remaining long term overstayers, perhaps we should question their value to the country if they can't or won't fulfil residency requirements. They could be considered a risk without undergoing all the financial, medical and police checks required of residency and work permits and lacking the repatriation insurance cover now required. They cannot legally work and if they do so take jobs from Domincians. They cannot drive legally with insurance cover after 30 days. They are now a smaller number and diminishing all the time compared to the numbers ten years ago.

The monthly numbers posted by DGM and then incorporated into Central Bank statistics have value and give us a snapshot of current migrationary control and changes, plus residency processing, and the tourism sector activity through airports.

And provokes discussion too.......