'Belonger status must be given upon marriage!' - Maduro
Speaking on the EGM show aired on May 1, 2014 on ZROD 103.7 FM, Maduro told listeners that the constitution of the Virgin Islands says that persons who are married to Virgin Islanders should be considered Belongers once they have applied to the Immigration Department under the appropriate section to acquire their certificate.
“That does not give the Immigration Department the right to withhold these people’s Belonger Status,” Maduro stated, “from the moment they’re married they can get it.”
“I know a person who has been living in the British Virgin Islands with a gentleman for about 30 years and she [a British lady] has been married to him for over five years and she still cannot get her Belonger status. Is that lady a dog?” he questioned.
He questioned the leadership in the Territory and added that his daughter-in-law was in a similar situation after being married to his son for a similar five year period.
Maduro said the constitution and law are clear on this, wherein if someone has been granted a certificate of Belonger status as a result of their marriage to a Virgin Islander and become divorced or separated before five years have elapsed, then the status is lost.
The commentator alleged that persons seeking Belonger status are instead being asked to continue to seek extensions of stay, acquire work permits or seek exemption from work permits even after they become married to locals.
“This is the kind of abuse that our people are taking, that our people are experiencing,” he said while declaring his intention to write authorities on the issue.
Maduro said leadership is not an easy road and urged that they become familiar with the law in order to adequately represent the people of the Virgin Islands.
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36 Responses to “'Belonger status must be given upon marriage!' - Maduro”
I guess the BVI is only for expatriates now.
Who on earth has a child where they themselves do not have rights? Even a cat know to seek a safe shelter when time to give birth. That means a cat is a better mother than these.
Strupes.
It has a lot of locals right in here don't like down the island people...but as long as you got what I want, then.....
Real Hypocrites.
I do not need anyone to tell me I am a Tortolian! I am one and I am betrayed by my speach! When I go abroad I use my BVI passport and the immigration see a BV Islander.
We as a people are living in a vacuum and will be looked at as strange in this global village. If a person spends more than 90% of their life in a country they are from there and if you refuse to accept them as such you are a hopeless human being.
One Love.