The British yacht Tenareze visited Barahona in the west of the Dominican Republic on the night of the 16th April 2009.
We anchored about 200 meters off the Club Nautico. There were no services.
On the morning of the 17th April, a young man came on board from “Immigration” and said we could not leave without paying $43 (forty-three U.S. dollars). “Immigration” was described as “Otros” (other) on the receipt.
We pointed out we had already paid $43 in Casa de Campo on entering the country on April 1st. He insisted we pay again even though the regulations state clearly that this fee is only to be paid once. It is valid for 3 months.
The official was unpleasant in manner and offered no further explanation.
Richard Lewis
Owner
Frank Virgintino, author of the Dominican Republic Cruising Guide, responded to this report.
I have forwarded a copy of the receipt you were given in Barahona for the extra immigration charge of $43.00 with a covering letter to El Director General de Migraciónes el Mayor General de la Policía NacionalJosé Aníbal Sanz Jiminián. This man is in charge of all immigration for the Dominican Republic. I explained in the letter that you had to pay this fee albeit that you had already paid when you cleared it.
I have also sent your receipt with a copy of the letter to Mr. Jiminian to the office of Tourism for the country with a CC to the office of the President, Sr. Leonel Fernandez.
I would like to thank you for your report and for a copy of the receipt. I am sure that as these situations come to light and continue to be reported, the necessary reforms and controls will be put into place.
Regards,
Frank Virgintino
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This comment posted on behalf of Frank Virigntino, Author of the Dominican Cruising Guide
The ONLY required payments for the DR is $43.00 for the cruising permit and $10.00 for each visa. To get a despacho, normally a tip of $15.00 is given to the Marina Guerra. If anyone asks you to pay something other than that, simply stay calm and refuse to pay. There is no reason to get rude or agitated.
When you refuse to pay, there is nothing that the official can do to you. In fact, they do not want an incident because if such developed, it would get to their superior and they would lose their job. Pay ONLY the fees indicated in the cruising guide, ie., $43.00 and $10.00 per visa.
Frank Virigntino
Author, Dominican Cruising Guide
On 2/13/2014 a similar occurrence happened in Barahona where the immigration officer named Ivan extorted $140.00 from the captain of our vessel. $100.00 was given to him when we were expected to get $30.00 in change back. We never saw the $30.00 change and we happened to end meeting up with the immigration officer and a few other bands of hoodlums including a man from the Dominican Navy who we were going to purchase diesel from.
We met him at a local bar with a middle-aged man called Fernando who helped us in town as a tour guide and interpreter. Fernando explained we had to pay $40.00 more dollars to receive our despacho to enter Boca Chico which was our next port of call. Capt Rob paid the man we were very tired and fed up with the thief’s from the Dominican Republic. To put the icing on the cake I had paid the Immigrations officer (I van) $230.00 to drive me to the airport in Santo Domingo.
I paid (Ivan) pronounced “evon” only to find out after talking to Capt Rob on the Sat phone today Ivan tried to say I did not pay him and Capt Rob was to pay him what I owed. Rob new better and told him to leave his boat. After an hour Ivan left the boat. What a bunch of crooks. Stay Away from the Dominican Republic the people there have no morals.
Cameron Dawson
I was asked for a 2,000 DOP “commission” by a local official by the name of Jesus Perez for the despacho in Boca Chica; when I refused to pay, he got a bit threatening and moody. We managed to get the document free of charge in the end.