Who is exempt from the tourist card when entering the Dominican Republic?

The offer of sun, beach and sand to vacation, rest or simply take the opportunity to “change of scenery” are enough reasons for many foreigners to come, at some point, to the Dominican Republic. It is a destination that has put the beauty of its nature and the hospitality of its people for the enjoyment of those who visit it, with increasingly diversified tourism proposals to attract all types of public and thus keep one of the most important economic segments of the country energized.

Once you have made a travel plan, booked your tickets and packed your bags, if you wish to enter the Dominican Republic without a visa, it is advisable to check whether you will need a tourist card to do so. According to the General Directorate of Internal Taxes (DGII), this is a tax rate that the authorities will charge to those passengers who wish to enter the national territory for tourism purposes and without the need of a consular visa.

The tourist card can be obtained at the DGII points of sale designated at airports and ports. It costs US$10 (RD$573 according to the current exchange rate), its use is limited to a single entry and authorizes the stay in the Dominican Republic for 30 days.

If, after this time, tourists wish to extend their stay, the General Directorate of Migration has a procedure to extend the validity of the card, which costs RD$2,500 if they apply for 30 to 90 more days and RD$4,000 for those who wish to stay from 90 to 120 more days in the country. This can be done at any of the migratory points designated by this entity or online, through its web portal.

Payment
How to know if you are exempt from paying for this card? This document is not required for Dominican citizens, foreigners currently residing in the country or non-resident visitors who already have a visa to enter.

The current regulations also exclude from the payment of this fee foreign diplomatic and consular officials accredited in the country who enter for official missions and during the time they are performing their duties, visitors using non-commercial private aviation -as long as the reason for their entry is for sports, recreational, tourism and business purposes and the aircraft in which they are traveling has a maximum capacity of 12 passengers- and foreigners with a border inhabitant card.

If you buy an air ticket from the Dominican Republic, or if you enter as a transit passenger and your final destination is in fact another country, you will not have to pay this tax either.

Some foreign nationals are allowed to enter the Dominican Republic only with a visa. This will be the case of visitors arriving to the country from places of residence such as Cuba, China, Haiti, Venezuela or India. The complete list of countries is published in the Internal Revenue website.

Income to the State
The tourist card is a document that seeks to facilitate the entry of foreign visitors who want to visit the Dominican Republic as a tourist destination without necessarily having to apply for a consular visa.

For the State, this tax is a way to generate important fiscal contributions from tourism.

According to the Central Bank, the country collected RD$1,557,633,040 through this tax during the first semester of 2021, representing 38.95% of the tourism fiscal income – among which taxes paid by non-resident foreigners at the exit of airports and ports and by land – and which during that period totaled RD$3,998,810,561.

The monetary entity projects an arrival of more than five million tourists by the end of this year, so a significant increase in these figures is expected during the second half of the year, in line with the increase in passenger arrivals to the country, a trend that Dominican authorities expect to increase even more during 2022.

 

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