Hi all,
I’ve been staying in Santo Domingo for the past week and flying out this upcoming weekend. To re-enter the USA, I need a negative Covid 19 test within 72 hours of departure.
Does anybody know a place to get the test done (preferably just the nasal swab) quickly and cheaply?
I’m in Zona Colonial but can just as easily Uber to wherever I need to be.
Thanks!
Got H1b Stamping done last week and got the passport within a day. Thanks a lot to this community for guidance. Internet can be amazingly helpful.
AMA if you need more info. But TCN stampings are no longer allowed for new appointments. If you have an older appointment scheduled, I'd recommend go for it!
Hola todos, mi amigo y yo vamos visitar DR por 3 días por Año Nuevo. Queremos conocer la RD auténtica, y no queremos ir a muchas lugares turísticas. Alguien tiene recomendaciones de que para hacer y donde para ver en la RD? Yo hablo español (espero que es mejor que yo escribo), pero mi amigo no habla. Gracias !
BACKGROUND:
- Indian citizen with the initial H1B stamping done in Ottawa, Canada in March 2020. The original H1B expired in June 2021.
- Old company filed for renewal before the June 2021 expiry - renewal petition approved until June 2024.
- I switched jobs, the new H1B petition approved until September 2024. No response on spouse's H4 petition.
- Hold Canadian visitor visa on the basis of which we entered DR.
- I booked the dates on October 22 for Biometrics on November 16 and interview on November 18.
- We stayed at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Santo Domingo for a week and would recommend 10/10. The rooms are nice and spacious, food is decent, the service is exemplary. It is a nice 5 minute drive to the VAC and 15 minute drive to the consulate.
- We DID NOT rent a car, recommend you do not rent one either. People drive like idiots so don't risk it.
- We took Uber/Taxi everywhere we needed to go. Some Uber drivers will ask for extra money on top of the Uber fare, so be aware of that.
- If you are interested in a Taxi, the Embassy Suites has a taxi service which is very reliable. Ask for Jordan - he was amazing. He chauffeured us around for 4 days and would recommend him 10/10.
- As I write this, we have been staying at the Hyatt Zilara in Punta Cana for over a week now - flying back home tomorrow (11/28).
BIOMETRICS (11/16):
- As others have mentioned, biometrics is at the VAC located in Galeria360 mall. There are lockers just outside the VAC where you can put your stuff for 300 DOP.
- Very quick turnaround time for biometrics - in/out in 15 minutes.
INTERVIEW (11/18):
- The interview was, obviously, at the US consulate. They do not have lockers where you can leave your stuff. Fortunately for us, we had our trustworthy chauffeur (thanks Jordan) with us so we left all our stuff in the car.
- The line for non-immigrant visa was short, about 10 people ahead of us.
- I was asked 4 questions: Where do you live? How long have you been working in the US? What is your salary? How long have you been married?
- The spouse wasn't asked a single question - presumably the duration of marriage question was for determining H4 eligibility.
- Approved our visa and passports were ready for pickup on Monday (our interview was on a Thursday). Recommend scheduling pickup from Galeria360 VAC since that's fastest, presumably.
AMA.
Travelling down to Santo Domingo this weekend but I haven't done much research. I have an AirBNB booked Dec 5 to Dec 20th in Zona Colonial -- so I'm just planning to work remote and do bits of adventuring on my own throughout the trip.
Are most restaurants / coffee shops open? Is the general population good / responsible about wearing masks? Any idea how much of the population is vaccinated?
I haven't been to Santo Domingo since 2018 so I'm excited to spend some time there while also getting out of the cold here in Boston.
Background: F1 to H1B switch this year and this is my first time stamping.
Got to the embassy and here’s how it went
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Visa officer asked for my passport and i797. He looked at both for like 30 seconds and returned the i797
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He asked for my job title and the city where I work. He didn’t ask me about my role or anything.
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He asked if I had travelled to any covid hotspots in the last 14 days. I said no and he said visa was approved. Whole process took less than 2 minutes
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he gave me a note to pick up my passport in 3 days but I said I was traveling tomorrow. So he asked me to wait in the lobby.
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20 minutes later visa was stamped in the passport and collected.
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spent total 30 minutes in the embassy from interview to stamping and passport collection.
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You can AMA if you have any questions.
I’ve contacted Dominico & Academia Europa but damn they take forever to reply. I’m looking for an English school for my husband. He is a beginner (pre A1). Anyway, do anyone know how much these schools cost and the duration?
Hey r/h1b, thought I might share my nervous experience of getting an H1-B visa in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. A dual citizen of Russia and Grenada, applying for cap-exempt H1-B for the first time.
I was visiting family in Cape Town, South Africa from Oct - Dec and managed to leave (escape, really) Cape Town in the middle of the Omicron spike in time for my visa appointment in DR, after getting 4 of my flights canceled and re-routed. Flew from Cape Town to Moscow, Moscow to Punta Cana...
VAC biometrics on Dec 7 at Galleria 360, as mentioned by other Redditors. Uneventful and done in 10 minutes.
H1-B visa interview at the US Embassy Dec 8. The lines were massive. My appointment was at 8:30, but did not get to speak to the actual interviewer until 10:00. A very standard set of questions - tell me about your job, can I see I-129, can I see the letter of employment - until, he hits me with "What countries did you visit in the last 14 days?". My heart sunk and for a second I contemplated about just BSing and not mentioning South Africa. See at that point the Biden Admin introduced the "14-day" proclamation (to be revoked New Year Eve, as far as I know) not allowing people to enter the US after spending time in southern African countries.
I told the truth and the officer 221g-ed (white slip) me, saying that they cannot get started on my visa until 14 days elapse from my arrival to DR. It ended up being far longer than 14 days due to how busy the embassy was + Christmas holidays.
CEAC status timeline from there:
Dec 8 - Refused
Dec 27 - Admin Processing
Dec 29 - Issued
Hopefully collecting the passport tomorrow and off to DC this weekend. AMA, in case I can be helpful (especially good places to eat around Santo Domingo, as I've tried it all by now...).
I hold an Indian passport, and my H1B expired in August so I was looking for stamping opportunities with a short turnaround time. Based on various redditors' experiences that I read here, I decided to get my stamping done in Santo Domingo. I got a biometrics appointment for Monday 11/8 and the embassy interview for Tuesday 11/9.
As many posters said here, the biometrics is at a VAC center in Galeria 360 mall and there are lockers just outside to put your phone away. Near the embassy, I couldn't find any such setup so I asked my gf to hold on to my stuff and wait outside.
The interview was quick (most of the applicants are there for immigrant visas). There were only 3 other non-immigrant visa interviewees in front of me - a French woman, another Indian dude and a third man whose passport I couldn't read. I was in and out in 20 minutes, and my passport was ready for pickup the next day.
I did have a minor hiccup getting to the DR however. Indians need a valid US, Canadian, UK or Euro visa to enter the DR and I had none of them. So a week before the trip, I walked into the Dominican Republic consulate in New York with a filled out tourist visa application and the H1B visa appointment confirmation and requested them to issue me a tourist visa. I got it within two hours and I was all set. If anyone is in a similar situation, I recommend this - just make sure you go nice and early.
Anyways now the gf and I are finally taking a long-due vacation in Punta Cana. I recommend this also.
Asking for my husband, is there a place where he can take a 2x2 picture for his visa application?
