There are many Dominicans living abroad who have married Germans, Dutch, Italians and Canadians. It happens like this: a tourist visits the Dominican Republic , and at a disco or a restaurant or on the street the tourist meets a very pretty, charming girl or a handsome boy. Most Dominicans love fun , music and have not all the hang-ups and trappings of the First World, so many tourists readily fall in love. Beautiful brown smooth skin, flashing deep brown eyes, and a willingness to please make it easy to fall in love. Drinking, late night dancing and other things thrown into the mix make it even easier. A tourist may even decide to stay longer or want to live in the DR for some time. The tourist is then invited to meet the love's family in the Dominican's home. Poverty comes to mind as many Dominicans whom the tourists meet are from the poorer classes. Before long the tourist wants to send money to assist the family, so a method of sending money is set up through FED EX, or Western Union or post-dated American cheques. These payments are known as remittances or remesas in Spanish. These remittances account for a huge percentage of the GNP of the Dominican Republic through money coming in from Dominicans living abroad in Spain and New York.
American cheques clear through the Dominican banking system very quickly. American dollar cheques take about 7 days only. Western Union , the remitter of choice from around the world , can deliver money to a friend in the DR in about 10 minutes or less. However , the cost can be 10 to 15 percent of the money being sent if send by credit card. Money can also be sent directly from a bank in Germany ,Spain, New York, anywhere in the USA or Canada to a bank account in the Dominican Republic, providing the sender tells the sending bank the SWIFT CODE of the bank in the DR.
Gifts can be sent to a family in the DR as well, and usually this is done by UPS or FED EX. Most FED EX shipments go through Customs in the DR without a problem, however of late the DR customs people have been clamping down on shipments by FED EX , etc. so Customs can collect taxes.
So the advice is to think carefully before becoming involved with a family in the DR since once remittances by whatever means are started, it is mean and cruel to stop the payments. It is difficult for a Dominican family to get off what is really a welfare payment and go to work for what may be very low wages by our standards. That having been said ,any small payment will make a HUGE difference in the lives of not just the receiver, but other brothers and sisters, mother, father and grandparents as well, of that receiving family.
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