Following the announcement on Monday, November first of the Dominican government’s measure of the indefinite suspension of student visas for Haitian students, ,the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified the scope of this decision in order to put an end to uncertainties and speculation.
And we quote:
“Haitian students currently pursuing university degrees in the Dominican Republic are not affected by the government measure that indefinitely suspends the visa program for Haitian students which is free of charge and granted to Haitian students studying in DR. The renewal and reapplication of these student visas will be suspended.
In summary, this student visa will not be available for future new Haitian students until further notice. those who currently have it will not get it renewed neither until further notice.
To provide more clarity on the process most Haitian students come to the Dominican Republic with tourist visas, then they register at university and with this document, they go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and apply for a student visa. Later, they go to the Directorate General of Migration (DGM) and receive a card that accredits them as students absolutely free and they don’t need to pay for the tourist visa until they’re done with their studies.
According to statistics from the Dominican Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology until 2019, 9,208 foreigners were studying in Dominican universities, the largest group of which 6,023 (65%) are Haitian followed by Americans (1,558); and Venezuelans (548) in third place of this ranking.
What is your opinion about this measure? Do you think it’s fair to punish an entire group of people for a tweet?
