Antigua: Amnesty for Non-Nationals

Posted on 2018-01-09

 The Government has announced plans to have another amnesty period that would allow legally resident non-nationals, who have been in the country for at least seven years, to apply for citizenship.

Following Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, a statement indicated that the government has agreed to adopt the necessary legislation to give effect to the amnesty.

In 2015, the Government passed the Immigration and Passport (Amendment) Act 2015 under which illegal immigrants could seek amnesty to have their time extended – that amnesty period ran until the end of the year.

The Antigua Observer reported that Prime Minister Gaston Browne had raised the possibility of another amnesty just over three weeks ago after reportedly receiving a number of complaints from non-nationals at a Labour Party event.

“Too many innocent young people, mostly students who accompanied their parents to Antigua and Barbuda, have found themselves excluded from the early version of the amnesty.

The statement said the Cabinet agreed to provide an opportunity for this class and others to make use of this amnesty offering.

The Citizenship Act requires that a person seeking citizenship be ordinarily resident in Antigua and Barbuda for no less than seven years, of which not less than five years in total must have been spent in the country.

In considering whether an application for amnesty should be granted, the Cabinet would look at whether the applicant has any criminal convictions, their family ties in the country where applicable, and any other information it deems relevant to the application.

Source: ST Lucia News Online