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New
Immigration Bill sent to Congress
President
Mejía sent to Congress a new Immigration Bill
that overhauls the current immigration statutes dating
from 1939. The following innovations in the bill should
be of interest to the foreign community:
a)The
waiting period for definite residencies is extended
from one to ten years.
b)
Applications for permanent residency are allowed under
four categories: immigrant workers, investors, retirees
and relatives of existing residents with different
requirements for each category.
c)
Due process is required before deportation can be
effected. The deportation order must be justified
and is subject to appeal to the courts.
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Extradition
Treaty with France
The
Chamber of Deputy approved the Extradition Treaty between
France and the Dominican Republic which had been signed
on March 7, 2000. The Treaty had previously passed the
Senate. The Treaty provides for the authorities in each
country to deliver to the other any person who has committed
a crime in that other country punishable by imprisonment.
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| Talking
on Cellular Phones prohibited while driving
The
Senate converted into law a bill prohibiting the use
of cellular or mobile phones while driving. Violations
will be punished with a fine of 25% of the minimum
salary (approximately US$50 at the current minimum
salary level). According to the Police Department,
many accidents have been caused because of the usage
of cellular phones while driving.
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| General
Heath Code Passed
After
passing the Senate last February, President Mejía
signed into law the General Health Code, which had
been under discussion in Congress for the last ten
years. The new Code substitutes the old Trujillo Health
Code dating from 1956. Its stated objective is to
make viable the right of all Dominicans to health
care as manifested in the Constitution.
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| Unjustified
Exit Restrictions on Travelers
Law
#200 of 1964 governs the procedure for establishing
exit restrictions on travelers abroad. Restrictions
should only be applicable to persons subject to criminal
investigations. However, because of many factors, including
corruption and inadequate administration, many residents,
Dominicans and foreigners, have exit restrictions in
place. According to the Department of Immigration, there
are actually more than 22,000 persons who cannot legally
leave the country due to exit restrictions, most of
them being drivers involved in traffic accidents. It
is estimated that in more than 40% of the cases the
exit restrictions are unjustified. Affected individual
should visit the Office of the Attorney General in Santo
Domingo and obtain an order lifting the restrictions
to be shown to the immigration officer upon leaving
the country.
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| U.S.
Grants Citizenship to Children Adopted in the D.R.
The
Child Citizenship Act of 2000 which became effective
February 27, 2001, amends the Immigration and Nationality
Act to permit foreign-born adopted children, currently
residing in the U.S. to acquire citizenship automatically,
provided they are under eighteen and at least one
parent or legal guardian is an American citizen. The
law also allows citizen parents to petition for the
naturalization of certain non citizen children who
do not reside in the U.S. The new law replaces one
in which to naturalize children adopted from abroad,
the immigration service required extensive paperwork
on parents and children.
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| Civil
Code Provision vs. Women Struck Down as Unconstitutional
In
a landmark decision dated Nov. 29, 2000, the Supreme
Court struck down as unconstitutional Article 1463
of the Civil Code which had penalized divorced women
with the loss of their assets in the matrimonial community
unless they made a declaration in court, accepting
the community, within 130 days of the publication
of the divorce. The Supreme Court decision was based
on an interpretation of Article 8-5 of the Dominican
Constitution that establishes the equality of all
Dominicans under the Law.
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| Duty
on Imports Lowered
Beginning January 2001, duty on goods imported into
the Dominican Republic will range from 0% to a maximum
of 20%, a considerable change from the former scale
which had a maximum of 35%. Law #146-00, amending
Law #14-93, was signed by President Mejía on
December 27, 2000 and paves the way for ratification
of free trade agreements reached between the Dominican
Republic and countries of Central America and the
Caribbean trade grouping Caricom. In addition to customs
duty, imports are subject to a 12% tax, the so-called
"ITBIS" (Industrialized Goods and Services
Transfer Tax).
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| No
Duty on Computers and the Household Goods of Immigrants
Article 13 of Law #146-00 expressly exempted from
any duty, among other items, the following:
- The
importation of the personal effects and household
goods of foreigners immigrating into the Dominican
Republic and of Dominicans coming back home to live
permanently after residing abroad for more than
two consecutive years.
- The
importation of personal computers, its components,
software and other accessories.
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| Legal
Services Taxed 12%
Also beginning January 2001, all legal services will
be subject to a 12% service tax, payable monthly.
The "ITBIS" tax, previously 8% and applicable
mostly to the sale of goods, was raised to 12% and
extended to most services. Education, health and transportation
are among the few services exempted. Law #147-00,
amending many provisions of the Dominican Tax Code,
was signed by President Mejía on December 27,
2000 with the stated objective of raising revenue
to compensate for the revenue lost by the lowering
of tariffs.
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| Withholding
on Interest Payments Abroad Lowered to 5%
A major criticism of the 1992 Tax Code was that all
interest payments to financial institutions outside
the Dominican Republic were subject to 15% withholding
(Article 306 of the Tax Code). It was considered that
this levy hindered the flow of much needed capital
into the country. Law #147-00 lowered the withholding
to only 5%. Interest payments to creditors abroad
who are not financial institutions are still subject
to 25% withholding (Article 305 of the Tax Code).
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