Countries › Dominican Republic › Guide › 8. Immigration › Employing foreigners in the Dominican Republic: checks, reports and fines

Employing foreigners in the Dominican Republic: checks, reports and fines

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Changing

Employers must see a valid card before hiring, report irregularities within 48 hours and let inspectors in. Hiring someone without the right to work costs 5 to 30 minimum salaries, and the employer pays deportation costs. Wages remain due whatever the status.

USD figures use the Banco Central de la República Dominicana reference selling rate of RD$60.9007 per US dollar for 29 October 2026, as shown on its home page on the verification date, rounded to the cent.

Key facts

Maximum fine for illegal hiring	30 minimum salariesLey 285-04 art. 132, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Minimum fine for illegal hiring	5 minimum salariesLey 285-04 art. 132, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Time to report an irregularity	48 hoursLey 285-04 art. 106, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Foreigner's time to report change of activity	30 daysLey 285-04 art. 73, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Reference rate used for USD conversions	60.9007 DOP per USDBanco Central reference selling rate, as of 2026-10-29 · in force

The rule

1. Before hiring, an employer must check legal stay and the right to work, by seeing the permanent or temporary card, the foreigner's cédula, or the temporary worker carné.Ley 285-04, General de Migración, art. 102, 2004-08-15 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. Employers answer for continuity with foreigners whose stay becomes illegal during the job.Ley 285-04, General de Migración, art. 103, 2004-08-15 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. An employer who hires a foreigner not allowed to work pays deportation costs if deportation is ordered.Ley 285-04, General de Migración, art. 104, 2004-08-15 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. Migration breaches do not excuse paying wages or other pay.Ley 285-04, General de Migración, art. 105, 2004-08-15 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. Any irregularity found by an employer must be reported to the DGM within 48 hours.Ley 285-04, General de Migración, art. 106, 2004-08-15 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. The DGM may inspect workplaces, on top of the Ministry of Labor's checks.Ley 285-04, General de Migración, art. 107, 2004-08-15 official text · verified 2026-10-30

7. Fines are 5 to 30 minimum salaries for hiring or giving work to illegal foreigners or those not allowed to work.
Cost to do it: The article does not name a tariff.
Example: Using the large company tariff of RD$29,988: RD$149,940 to RD$899,640. / US$2,462.04 to US$14,772.24.Ley 285-04, General de Migración, art. 132, 2004-08-15 official text · verified 2026-10-30

8. Contractors of temporary workers who breach their duties pay 3 to 10 minimum salaries per breach, on top of labor sanctions.
Example: On the same tariff: RD$89,964 to RD$299,880. / US$1,477.22 to US$4,924.08.Ley 285-04, General de Migración, art. 131, 2004-08-15 official text · verified 2026-10-30

9. The DGM collects fines directly if the offender agrees, and otherwise before the competent court.Decreto 631-11, Reglamento de la Ley General de Migración, art. 142, 2011-10-19 official text · verified 2026-10-30

10. A person who helps bring in or hide a foreigner illegally faces criminal penalties, which for companies fall on their representatives.Ley 285-04, General de Migración, art. 128 and paragraph I, 2004-08-15 official text · verified 2026-10-30

11. Criminal penalties run alongside Ley 344-98 and Ley 137-03 on smuggling of migrants and trafficking.Decreto 631-11, Reglamento de la Ley General de Migración, art. 141, 2011-10-19 official text · verified 2026-10-30

12. The 80% test and the contract rules of the labor code apply to foreign workers.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 135 to art. 144, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

13. Only foreigners with a work visa, migration card or regularization card contribute to social security. A worker with only a passport has no cover.TSS questions page, Questions 21 and 22, 2026-10-30 official text · verified 2026-10-30

14. In March 2026 the DGM said employers who take on TT-1 holders with no contract with the hiring company can be fined.DGM note on Resolución DGM-001-2026, Note, as carried by press, 2026-03-25 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Worked example

A large company employing five workers with no status faces, on the top of the range, 5 × RD$899,640 = RD$4,498,200 (US$73,861.22) if each counts as a separate breach, plus any deportation costs and all wages owed. The article does not say whether fines count per worker.

Step by step

Keep a copy of each card with its expiry date.
Diary renewals 60 days ahead.
Check the 80% test each quarter.
Register contracts and enroll in TSS.
Report irregularities within 48 hours, in writing.
Name one person for inspections.

Common traps

Art. 132 does not say which minimum wage applies. The sum uses the 2026 private tariff for illustration only.
Ley 285-04 art. 103 means an expired card does not free the employer from obligations to the worker.
A worker's passport or visa is not enough: art. 102 lists the card, cédula or carné.
The public sector minimum salary used for carrier fines was not found.
In 2021 the government gave employers three months to regularize and tied Ministry checks to the 80% rule, so inspections are a live risk.

Sources

← Overstays, deportation and expulsion in the Dominican RepublicNaturalization in the Dominican Republic: terms, 2026 rules and the RD$29,200 fee →

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