Dominican Republic - The Dominican Ministry of Interior and Police has announced that over 100,000 applicants to the National Regularization Plan for Foreigners (PNRE) have so far received a document proving their legal immigration status. Some 130,000 more documents proving regular status have yet to be handed out.

Vice Minister Washington González thanked IOM for the purchase and printing of visa style labels, valid for two years, which are being given to people who applied with a passport. Other applicants receive a card for a period of one year.

To date, of the documents submitted, 36.5 per cent correspond to passport applicants; 29.65 per cent to applicants with national ID cards; and 32.95 per cent to applicants with a birth certificate. One third of the documents have been handed over to female applicants and 1.96 per cent to children. About 98 per cent of people registered are Haitian citizens, with a total of 105 nationalities.

"Since the beginning of the Regularization Plan, the IOM mission in DR has supported both the Ministry of Interior and Police for implementation and Dominican civil society organizations to help Haitian migrants to apply," says IOM Dominican Republic Chief of Mission Jorge Baca.

"In this closing period, we are continuing to provide support and have started with our regular partners, information campaigns in twelve provinces, with which we expect to reach over 10,000 people registered with the PNRE."

More than half a million migrants live in the Dominican Republic, according to the 2012 National Immigrant Survey. In an unprecedented effort of the Dominican Government, 288,466 people were registered in the PNRE in order to regularize their immigration status. The vast majority are citizens of neighboring Haiti.

IOM is working with the Government of the Dominican Republic, migrants and civil society to contribute to the protection and care of vulnerable migrants. Its programs include the regularization of irregular migrants and assisted voluntary return and reintegration in their country of origin.

For more information, please contact Alicia Sangro Blasco at IOM Santo Domingo, Email asangro@iom.int, Tel: +1 809 688 81 74.