Grismairy Vanesa is one of the almost 20,000 Dominicans in Chile. She left her country hoping to make her dream come true, to have her own beauty center. “In the Dominican Republic, styling in those times was not something well paid. Then I went to work in another country. When I arrived in Chile, I was employed for two and a half years. And from there I became independent, I started to form my business called Las Dominicanas,” she told the Voice of America the 30 year old woman.
The Dominican community in Chile has experienced constant growth in recent years. According to data from the National Migration Service (SERMIG) and the National Institute of Statistics of Chile (INE), in 2018 there were around 17,848 Dominicans in the country.
By 2022, 19,632 Dominicans who habitually reside in Chile will be registered. Dominicans represent approximately 1.2% of the total population in Chile and constitute the ninth largest foreign group in the country. Dominicans in Chile have become one of the largest diasporas after the United States.
The dreams of Dominicans are achievable far from their country, a theory that supports the numbers that continue to increase. According to the CASEN 2022 survey, the majority of the Dominican community in Chile is made up of women, who represent 65.6%, while men make up 34.4%. The average age of this population is 32 years, indicating a predominantly young population.
Regarding the educational level, 25% of this population only achieved basic education; meanwhile, 34.8% reached secondary education and 9.3% have technical-professional education. It stands out that 20.9% of Dominicans residing in Chile are professionals with careers of four or more years.
Regarding employment, 69.8% of Dominicans indicated that they were engaged in the development of some economic activity in this country. However, it stands out that 4.6% of the general population is unemployed and 25.7% is inactive at work.
When exploring the work carried out by Dominicans who declared themselves busy, numerous job categories are identified, ranging from workers in the construction sector to specialized professionals, including roles in the gastronomy and customer service sectors, according to the National Service. of Migrations.
Dominican immigration trends in the United States
Dominican migrants, the fourth largest Hispanic group in the United States, have increased significantly in number since 2010. In 2019, their population reached nearly 1.2 million, representing approximately 3% of all immigrants in the US, numbering 44.9 million .
This migratory growth began 60 years ago due to political and economic turmoil after the assassination of Rafael Trujillo in 1961. In the 1960s, many dissidents, students and professors emigrated to the United States. The US embassy facilitated this movement by issuing visas. Over time, more Dominican immigrants, especially low-income women, escaped the economic crisis in Latin America. Over the decades, the number of Dominican immigrants has continued to grow.
The majority of Dominican immigrants come to the United States through family sponsorships, with 99% obtaining family-sponsored visas, compared to 69% of all immigrants.
Additionally, most Dominican immigrants have limited English proficiency and less higher education compared to other immigrants.
The US is the main destination for Dominicans living abroad, representing approximately 75% of all emigrants from the Dominican Republic. Spain has the second largest population of Dominicans, followed by Puerto Rico, Italy and Venezuela.
Within the US, 60% of Dominican immigrants reside in New York and New Jersey.
Furthermore, according to World Bank estimates, global remittances to the Dominican Republic have more than doubled in the last decade, reaching almost $8 billion in 2020. These remittances represented around 10% of the country’s GDP in that year. .
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