Posted 2009-11-22

A sailor who arrived here in Luperon, DR today (11/20/09) was charged as follows:

Navy (three persons) – no guns, no charges, polite suggestion for a tip to support their effort to guard the harbor.

Ashore at Immigration: $US10 + $US43 for visa(?) and ?

Ashore at Port Authority: $US10 for arrival and the first week of port use

Ashore at Agriculture: $US10 (suggested) for protection of the habitats and agriculture of the island?

The sailor said he did not feel coerced or threatened in any way over the charges and he considered them less than he’d feared. So – please add this to the accumulating data about current circumstances?

We have been here for four months and were charged US$10 for arrival by the port authority, and have been charged US$20 per month subsequently for anchoring. We also paid 800 pesos – a little more than US$20 – for a “three-month extension” of our immigration visa (which as it turns out, was the specified EXIT tax for up to a three-month stay). Since then, we have not had further contact with immigration, since we did not have any passport stamp change when we paid last time – still only have an entry stamp. Since we have been here for more than three months now, we anticipate that we will have to pay an additional 200 pesos to cover the full exit tax of 1000 pesos per person for visits of 3 – 9 months. However, we also have heard of some being charged 800 pesos for the 1-3 month stay PLUS 1000 pesos for the 4-9 month stay.

We think the immigration fee schedule is separate from the other fees that are sometimes discussed in relation to the “old” and “new” laws. The “new” law was Decreto (Decree) 280-09 effective in April 2009 and abolished in October 2009 – both by order of the current president.

OK, hope this made some sense!

LOL Thanks for your website!

Cade Johnson

s.v. SAND DOLLAR

Apollo Beach, FL

(underway since April 2001)

USCG 1029205

Received 2009-11-24

Subject: Charges for agriculture and health

Message:

Agriculture and Animal Health: This charge is to take care of food coming from foreign countries and of animal entry procedures, not for the agriculture of our country.

I am Dominican and I am the SSCA Cruising Station at Zarpar Marina, Boca Chica.

If some sailors need help they can contact “Tony Torres” at telephone: 809 886 8697 or mail me at [email protected] or [email protected]

Tony Torres