The Caribbean - Dominican Republic Entry Requirements

Just a quickie - probably going to the Dominican Republic in Feb. next year to meet a cruise - I'll be flying from London on a charter flight (package deal) - However, I understand that in order to get into DR you need a tourist card - are these given out on the plane or obtainable at the destination airport or do I need to get them from the DR Embassy here in the UK? Anybody had any experience of this? I'm a UK resident and passport holder and my partner is also a UK resident but a US passport holder.

I've never been to the resort airports, but at at SDQ there is a counter to the right side of the immigration hall. You need to line up there to buy a tourist card for USD10. Please ask for a receipt as there is a suspicion that not all cash is being accounted for. It is essentially the reverse of a departure tax, except you pay when you enter the country. I understand most of the funds go to the airport authority and/or airport operator. Your card will be collected not 20m further when you get to the front of the immigration queue. There is almost always an awkward scene as certain PAX will make it to the front of the line without having purchased a card (due to poor signage in my opinion). Enjoy your trip.
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13F

Interesting question. I've been to DR twice (Punta Cana) in the past two years and have paid the tourist card fee. The second time I went was with my girlfriend who is a Resident of the US but a citizen of DR. She walked right by and they did not even hesitate to stop her to ask for the tourist card. I've heard that this is a scam and you do not reallly have to pay it. The people collecting the cards seem to have no affiliation to customs or immigration. I am going to Santo Domingo the first week in December and I'll look into this before I go. I'll post more info as I receive it. Enjoy your trip.

http://www.godominicanrepublic.com/main.asp?xmlpath=/DominicanRepublic/BeforeYouGo/EntryReq/entry_en.xml&Lang

This link might help. I've been proven wrong(we'll see officially when I go in December), but it says you are required to pay the tourist card fee.

UptownEastside: welcome to FT! My understanding is that the airport authority is collecting the fee, so you are correct that there is no affiliation with Customs or Immigration.
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13F

Thanks Seat13F. I'm traveling for my first time to SDQ (usually got to PUJ) on December 4th. I look forward to seeing how the process for the tourist card works there. The process at PUJ is a bit confusing and most people just generally try and walk past the people collecting them. I wonder why my girlfriend who has a Dominican passport but is a resident of the US can just walk right by them but I will get stopped. They don't check the passports of the people who hand them tourist cards so I don't know how they decipher between tourists and non-tourists. We'll see how SDQ handles this situation as most people traveling to PUJ are not citizens of DR.

@UptownEastside

I was wondering if you found out if you needed to pay the fee for the tourist card? I'm going to be traveling to SDQ soon, and was wondering what you found out. Thanks.