Draft Immigration policy proposes 10 yrs for Residency & 20 yrs for Belongership eligibility
The draft ‘Belonger Status and Permanent Residence Policy for the Virgin Islands’ was published on January 29, 2024, and the Government of the Virgin Islands is inviting feedback from the public.
According to the draft policy, applicants must be ordinarily resident in the Territory for at least 10 years before becoming eligible to apply for permanent residence. To become eligible to apply for Belonger Status, an applicant must be ordinarily a resident in the Territory for at least 20 years.
The proposal is a carbon copy of the policy that the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) had flagged as being unlawful, as the Government policy only allowed persons to apply for Belonger status after living in the VI for more than 20 years; however, the current law stipulates that persons can apply for this status after residing in the Territory for more than 10 years.
Draft policy is built on ‘balance’- Premier
According to Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7), the policy's foundation is built on balance—balancing economic growth with cultural integration and social stability.
“It recognises the invaluable contributions of immigrants to our community, while also safeguarding the interests and heritage of Virgin Islanders,” Dr Wheatley said.
The policy is now accessible on the Government’s website and persons are encouraged to submit feedback to mtcsd@gov.vg by Friday, February 2, 2024.
See HERE to access Draft Policy
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46 Responses to “Draft Immigration policy proposes 10 yrs for Residency & 20 yrs for Belongership eligibility”
As long as we don’t take the discretion out of the ministers rights they will keep dragging our territory down.
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In reference to the Topic Issue, has any person or persons been granted resident status before 10 years? In addition, has any person or persons been granted or belongers status less than 20 years. What does our record will revealed?
Suggestions: residency 09 years.
. Belongers 18 years
it needs to be made very clear that if applicante submit false statemenets then there risk jail time..same with those who write reference letters for individuals...if they are not truthful then those people need to be prosecuted.
when the fast track happened there were so many individuals who just applied and said they had lived here full time for X number of years..when they had actually departed the territory years ago and just maintained a work.permit. that is wrong.
i fully support those who live here..commit to the territory ...help build us up..but to automatically be granted is wrong.
be very careful with this bill...... think carefully...........
ince you receive residency you still need to reside herr...ince you receive belongership.....what stops you from leaving and just taking advantages from afar of what this gives you.....property rights wtc...how do these individuals show that they arent just going to leave and never return once they have this statuss. maybe they must show that there continue to li e here for minimum 6 months per year.????
A true statement which is meant to pander to ppl who don't think clearly. Question: In the 20 years it takes a person to become eligible to apply for belongership, do they not continually live in the BVI? So if there is mixing and mingling whether you're a belonger or not for 20 years, how would the social landscape not have undergone change (held suspended) as regards to safeguarding "interests and heritage" if belongership were to be granted sooner? Except in the case where "interests and heritage" means to be suceptible to exploitation, then I don't see any difference, granting belongership sooner than 20 years.
Nevertheless, the real crux here is that this bill again takes the laziest approach "number of years". wasn't there a recommendation by the esteemed Malone for a robust points based system? We have to stop paying these consultancies and then going back to doing business as usual.
How about persons who have invested in land or setting up a business, employing ppl. Do they also wait just the same as a construction labourer? How about police, nurses and other emergency and civil service workers? Is it 20 years just the same? There must be a more comprehensive approach to this.
Why change this?
Caribbean or West Indies expat no longer come to stay they come to visit after they realize that their money got th same power.one US dollar is equal to 2.75EC$ and most of them have their own house or houses, plant their own food and build their country. Why do you think they will leave a less stress place to come to a more stress place? So,it could be 40 years most do not care, for they see the hands of the local, trying to protect something they don’t have. One nurse told me her retirement soon come and she will return to her country. Who is there to fill that gap? No local nurse.
Human rights is not something anyone should have to beg for.