After returning from a closed-door committee session last Thursday, House of Assembly members passed a bill designed to clarify the path to belongership and correct the “unintended ramifications” of an act they passed last May. The Immigration and Passport (Amendment) Bill, 2025, passed with amendments last Thursday, and it now awaits the assent of Governor Daniel Pruce before being Gazetted and made public.
During an approximately four-hour debate on the bill on April 22, Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley read the bill’s objects and reasons and shared his thoughts on it.
“This bill builds on the progress we made in 2024 and addresses several key areas that require attention,” Mr. Wheatley explained. “For example, we are clarifying the definition of ‘ordinarily resident’ to ensure that it is applied consistently throughout the Immigration and Passport Act. We are also clarifying recently introduced requirements for attaining belonger status, which will help to ensure that those who seek to become a part of our territory are truly committed to the territory and its people. Additional consequential amendments have also been made to tidy areas of the act that would have been unintended ramifications.”
Belongership
One proposed change would amend section 16 of the 2024 act, which had the “unintended consequence of lengthening the period of being ordinarily resident in the territory for belonger status to an effective 30 years,” according to the “objects and reasons” section of the bill, which was Gazetted on April 15.
Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn described this change as the “crux” of the proposed bill. He also spoke in support of an amendment that aims to give immigration officers medical care at the government’s expense — as well as funeral allowances if an officer dies while in the service of the department. He added, however, that these benefits should be given uniformly to other law-enforcement officers as well, perhaps through a separate bill.
Other speakers
Opposition members Stacy Mather, Mitch Turnbull and Marlon Penn also spoke during the debate.
On the government side, Deputy Speaker Julian Fraser, Tourism and Culture Junior Minister Luce Hodge-Smith, Health and Social Development Minister Vincent Wheatley, Deputy Speaker Karl Dawson, Financial Services and Economic Development Junior Minister Lorna Smith, and Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer contributed as well.
Next meeting
The HOA is scheduled to return on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
British Caribbean News