GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Undocumented Guyanese living in Barbados, and who have not reached the criteria to regularise their stay under a new immigration policy announced earlier this year by the Barbadian government, are preparing to pack up and return home, according to Guyana’s honorary consul to Barbados Norman Faria.
The Barbados government in June announced that all undocumented Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nationals living on the island for five years or more can regularise their stay there, while those who were not qualified should leave the island by November 30 of this year.
Faria, during visits here, said Guyanese who qualify under the amnesty were complying by regularising their immigration status, as his consul office saw a mass increase in request for immigration services and is doing its best in assisting nationals to meet the deadline.
“I made some inquiry at the immigration department and, while the deadline has passed, they were apparently still accepting the applications, so right now the Guyanese undocumented in Barbados are now considering their options whether to leave at the end of the year, and I think most would do they have to do and return home (Guyana),” Faria said
Faria added that, through the Guyana ministry of foreign affairs, his office is trying to assist those persons who have been living in Barbados for over four years to be given a waiver on import duties to ship their belongings here, including certain types of vehicles, so that the tax will not be heavy on them.
Meanwhile, the diplomat has dismissed the highly publicised claims of ill-treatment of Guyanese nationals in Barbados.
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