Govt Commits to Fixing Residency Travel Restrictions as Spanish Community Complains

The government is committing itself to addressing a serious concern among the Dominican community regarding travel rights for permanent residents, with concerned members stating that members have been unable to leave and return to Antigua despite holding valid residency status.

During Thursday night’s town hall meeting in St. John’s Rural South, one resident explained that people with residency stamps were being required to obtain visas by immigration officials when attempting to return to Antigua after traveling abroad.

“Why does the community cannot travel to come back to Antigua with their residency [stamps]?” the resident asked, explaining that many permanent residents fear visiting their home country because their residency status provides no guarantee of re-entry.

Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin acknowledged the issue as a flaw in the law that would be corrected, confirming that the cabinet would establish a policy on the matter at next week Wednesday’s meeting, adding that many Dominican residents have been affected by the restriction.

“A lot of persons my friends from the DR are afraid to go home because for them that means nothing,” he said. “So, we shall do the right thing once you have acquired residency status. You can work. You should be able to move as well.”

Prime Minister Gaston Browne also remarked on the complaint, proposing that permanent residents be issued residency ID cards to facilitate easier verification of their legal status and travel rights, later indicating that residency ID cards would be available within a few weeks.

The announcement came alongside other immigration policy changes, including an amnesty program set to begin in March 2025 that will run for six to eight weeks initially.

Browne explained that the amnesty aims to formalize undocumented workers currently in the informal sector, addressing labour shortages in key sectors including construction and security.

“The cabinet recently decided that based on the fact that we have a shortage of workers in certain sectors which I indicated earlier and the fact too that we have had to literally import workers from abroad, we’ve decided that we’ll have an amnesty,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister noted that National Housing has had to import several dozen workers from the Dominican Republic to help with home construction.