A push has been made for the immigration status of expatriates in the British Virgin Islands to be formalised
Premier Andrew Fahie has set out the methods by which qualified expatriate professionals in the British Virgin Islands may have their immigration status regularised through the implementation of a 14 day amnesty period during which they may apply for permanent resident or Belonger status.
To be entitled to register a person must, among other things, have lived in the British Virgin Islands for a minimum of 15 years (abridging the previous 20 year requirement), have a clean criminal record, submit two references, a birth certificate, certified copies of any professional academic qualifications, a bank statement, trade licences and landholding licences (if relevant) and a marriage licence (if relevant). The cost of an application for permanent residency or Belonger status will be $810 respectively or $1,500 for those requiring both. Previously the application fee for Belonger status was $125 but the increase has been justified as necessary to cover the cost of the extra employees who will be hired to make the process more efficient and to deal with both the backlog and new applications.
An injustice righted
Previous efforts to deal with the issue of the rights of long-term residents have included setting a residency requirement of 20 consecutive years and, from 2006 onward, limiting the number of persons who were granted residency to no more than 25 people per year. In general however, the biggest hurdle facing those who sought to apply has been a delay in having their applications processed to the extent that at one point it was formally recommended that an applicant who had been forced to wait 30 years to obtain residency receive a formal apology for the injustice the delay caused. Many persons who had lived in the territory more than 20 years and whose applications had been denied were not given reasons for the denial or the chance to argue their case before the Immigration Board.
Attempts have been made by the government to justify the politically-sensitive move by noting that those who will benefit from the change in policy are already resident in the territory, and that as well as being a boon to national security, the new proposal is morally just, economically sound and in keeping with the territory’s constitution.
Time is of the essence
Applicants will have until May 31 to apply for the so-called “fast-track programme” although this will not be their only chance to apply. The expedited process that we be implemented during this brief period has been designed to deal with addressing the large backlog of existing applications and the processing of new ones. Once the two-week window closes, the application process will return to the regular pace but new policies for dealing with applications will be put in place with the aim of eliminating previous backlogs.
Information sessions are scheduled to be held on each of the major islands that make up the territory to educate applicants on how to complete the application process. The new immigration law will be debated in the islands’ House of Assembly on May 17 and will take the form of an amendment to the existing Immigration and Passport Act.
