Do You Need a Passport to Go to the Dominican Republic? Entry Rules, e-Ticket and Children

Yes. Every traveler to the Dominican Republic needs a valid passport, babies included, and neither a US passport card nor a REAL ID driver’s license will get you on a flight. Until 31 December 2026, citizens of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union need only a passport valid for the length of their stay; from 1 January 2027, unless the Dominican government extends that measure again, plan on six months of validity from the day you land. Add the free e-Ticket before you reach the airline counter; US citizens need no visa for a stay of up to 30 days. Once the paperwork is in order, the rest of the week is the house: our Dominican Republic villa rentals run from Cap Cana and Casa de Campo to the north coast.

Do you need a passport to go to the Dominican Republic? In 60 seconds

Checked in October 2026 against the Dominican immigration service (Dirección General de Migración), the Dominican tourism ministry and the US State Department. Entry rules change, and we check them again with every booking.

Six months, or the length of your stay?

This is where most travelers find conflicting answers, and both are correct on paper. The standing rule, still listed by the US State Department and the Dominican tourism ministry, is a passport valid for six months from arrival. In May 2024 the Dirección General de Migración relaxed it for tourists from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador, whose passports need only remain valid for the stay and the departure. In December 2025 it renewed the measure for one more year, from 1 December 2025 to 31 December 2026.

• Traveling before 31 December 2026: if you hold one of those passports, it only has to last until your flight home. Airlines check at the counter, and an agent working from the standing rule can still question a passport close to expiry, so keep the immigration service’s announcement on your phone.
• Traveling from 1 January 2027: plan on six months from arrival, unless the measure is renewed again; as of October 2026, no renewal has been announced. For a week in February 2027, that means a passport valid into August 2027.
• Christmas and New Year: a stay that begins in December 2026 and ends in January 2027 crosses the change. For these trips we treat six months as the rule.
• Other nationalities, household staff included: the six-month rule applies, and some nationalities also need a visa (see below).

Concierge note. When you book, send us every guest’s passport expiry date with the names, and our concierge checks them against your dates. It takes a minute, and it is the one detail that can stop a family at the check-in desk.

By air, by sea or by private jet

For a villa stay, almost every guest arrives on a commercial flight, and the nonstop routes from the United States are in our guide to direct flights to Punta Cana.

The e-Ticket: the one form every guest needs

The e-Ticket is the Dominican Republic’s electronic entry and exit form, run by the immigration service. It is free, it takes about five minutes, and it replaced the paper forms once handed out on the plane. Complete it at eticket.migracion.gob.do as soon as you have your flight details, even months ahead, and in any case before you reach the airline counter.

• Names and passports: each traveler’s name exactly as printed in the passport, with the passport number.
• Flights: the airline and flight number, in and out.
• Where you are staying: villa addresses are shared once a booking is confirmed, and we send yours with your arrival details.
• Customs: a short section completed by the adults only.

One form covers a family of up to seven traveling together, so a villa group fills in one per family. When you submit it you receive a QR code: save it or print it before you leave home. Use only the official address, because look-alike sites charge for a form that costs nothing. Passengers on private flights and cruise ships do not fill it in.

Visa, tourist card and staying longer than 30 days

US citizens need no visa for a tourist stay of up to 30 days. The tourist card that allows it is no longer bought at the airport: for flights booked outside the Dominican Republic its fee is included in the airline ticket, and so is the departure tax. Arrivals by sea buy the card on arrival.

A longer stay is possible: apply online to the Dirección General de Migración for an extension of up to 120 days, or pay a fee when you leave, which rises with the length of the stay. Leave on the same passport you arrived with, so if your dates may stretch, renew before the trip rather than during it.

Guests and household staff of other nationalities should check before flights are booked: some nationalities need a visa, and many are exempt when they hold a valid US, Canadian, UK or Schengen visa or residence permit. Send us the nationalities with the guest list and we check them with you.

Children, nannies and household staff

Every child needs their own passport, newborns included, and their own line on the family’s e-Ticket. For a child who is not Dominican, Dominican immigration asks for nothing more. The exceptions are children who are Dominican citizens or residents, or who have a parent living in the Dominican Republic: traveling without one or both parents, they can need a departure permit from the immigration service to leave the country.

Airlines and the border at home can still ask questions when a child travels with one parent, with grandparents or with a nanny, more so when surnames differ. A short letter of consent signed by the absent parent, with a copy of their passport, answers them and costs nothing to prepare.

A nanny, a driver or a family’s household staff travel on the same rules as everyone else: their own passport, valid for the stay or for six months depending on nationality and dates, and their own place on an e-Ticket. Some houses are built for them: at Villa Valentina in Las Terrenas, a separate guest house with its own kitchen is set aside for a nanny, a driver or house staff.

Where you land: villa regions and their airports

The passport rules are the same everywhere in the country. What changes with the region is the airport, and with it the length of the transfer, which we arrange with the villa.

Five houses, one for each kind of arrival. More are in our Punta Cana villa rentals, and our guide to La Romana or Punta Cana compares the two coasts.

Before you fly: a checklist for a villa group

• Passports: every expiry date checked against your flight home, and against six months from arrival if you travel in 2027.
• Names: tickets, e-Tickets and passports spelled the same way.
• e-Ticket: one form per family of up to seven, completed before check-in, the QR code saved.
• The villa address: from us, with your arrival details.
• Children: their own passports, and a consent letter if a parent is not traveling.
• Other nationalities: visa needs checked before flights are booked.
• The season: the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to November; our guide to hurricane season in Punta Cana has the month-by-month picture.
• Safety: the State Department rates the Dominican Republic Level 2, exercise increased caution; our Punta Cana safety guide covers villa stays.
• When to book: for Christmas, New Year and Easter, nine to twelve months ahead. Easter 2027 falls on 28 March, and our Casa de Campo or Punta Cana guide for Easter compares the addresses.

Passport and entry questions for the Dominican Republic