Vincent Wheatley, the minister responsible for immigration in the British Virgin Islands, has assured the local population that the government’s expatriate regularisation initiative will not cause a dramatic increase in the territory’s population
Addressing concerns that the territory’s population would rise by between 10,000 to 15,000 people due to the implementation of the programme, Minister Wheatley noted that most persons who are eligible to take advantage of the regularisation initiative are already living in the territory.
According to the government, the regularisation initiative is a step towards creating a more inclusive country with the aim of helping persons who have lived in the British Virgin Islands for a long time to be formally granted citizenship status. A similar regularisation initiative had been taken by the British Virgin Islands government in 2004. Minister Wheatley, noted that, if left ignored and unattended, the issue of the rights of long-term residents in the British Virgin Islands could create greater problems in the future.
