Traveling In & Out of the Dominican Republic – My Experience

The Dominican Republic was one of those islands that I had not had the pleasure of visiting until the last few years. It’s a lovely destination with amazingly welcoming and wonderful people. When we traveled there in 2019 with some of my family, we learned that locals were passionate about us being able to say that we were ‘Excellentè’ or they weren’t doing their jobs. It’s a wonderful place and honestly you should be able to say that you are Excellentè in the Dominican Republic because it’s a wonderful destination.

I’ve traveled to Punta Cana twice since everything has opened back up and the pandemic has begun to taper. There’s a new protocol to complete online prior to arriving in the Dominican Republic (DR). The government now requires an eTicket to be completed before arriving at the airport. This same link needs to be completed to depart the airport heading home. Once you complete the form you will receive a QR code as verification.

They do have QR code signs for those that wait until they get there and are going through immigrations and then customs. If you fill it out before you leave the U.S., you won’t have extra phone charges for having your phone available to complete the form once in the DR. You also won’t run the risk of having security interact with you for using a phone in the immigrations line, which they post warnings about. They also advise those restrictions before you even disembark the airplane. I’ve seen some instances where security enforces it, but it sure doesn’t stop many people from ignoring the warnings.

Now the trick is to be ready. The first time I traveled with this process I was scanned at customs and prior to arriving to my gate to depart. This most recent time, I was not scanned at all. I guess the bottom line is that the country does have record of you completing the form whether you get scanned or not.

The last tidbit of my experience is the process after security. You must scan your passport and then step forward and allow your face to be scanned for the gate to open to the airport. The trick is if you have a roller bag it will likely not allow your face to be scanned and the gate to be lifted. You’ll need to wait for security to assist you through that process. What tips and experiences do you have in and out of the DR?