Travel ban talk worries Dominicans in NYC: report

New York.- Deep unrest has spread among the Dominican community in New York City from insistent talk that people won’t be able to travel to their native country if their passport’s expiry date is within six months, because US Immigration will start turning them back starting next year.

Eldia.com.do reports that the concern has gripped countless Dominicans in Upper Manhattan.

The situation has led officials of the Dominican consulate in NY, who asked not to reveal their names, to decline interviews, because they cannot comment on immigration measures of host countries.

The Dominican Republic will implement, as of 2018, the electronic passport, a document that incorporates a security chip with the data of its owner, as reported by the General Directorate of Passports (DGP) in the DR.

In the last five years the Passports Office has issued over 2.2 million passports, a 63% jump, which reveals the Dominicans’ wanderlust, even if travel visas are hard to come by.