The proposed new laws to enshrine the fair and transparent process for becoming a Turks and Caicos Islander in law were provided to members of the Consultative Forum and Advisory Council yesterday, 19 June 2012.
And the opinions of Belongers themselves have shaped the draft legislation following one of the country’s most comprehensive public consultations.
Led by the Consultative Forum, this saw more than 140 submissions made, including one from ‘The Men of Grand Turk’ featuring 387 signatures, with hundreds of people attending more than a dozen public meetings between November 2011 and February 2012.
Provisions in the draft Immigration (Amendment) Ordinance and Regulations reflect the concerns and feedback provided to the Consultative Forum, were welcomed by the Advisory Council at its last meeting on 31st May and include:
- Belonger status should be limited to those who acquire it by birth, descent, adoption or marriage to a Belonger for at least ten years. There will be no provision for discretionary grant of Belonger status.
- Routes to PRC should be standardised and simplified, with the minimum qualifying period for Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC) generally being increased to at least ten years, and with a new requirement that applicants for PRC should have a sound knowledge of the English language and of the Islands
- PRCs should be available to those on unskilled work permits only where they have already held a work permit for at least ten years, when the legislation commences. The majority view in the consultation was that migrant workers filling unskilled jobs should not be able to qualify for PRC in future
Other provisions responding to the messages in the consultation include:
- The introduction of a National Turks and Caicos Islander Status Card which will be sole evidence of Belonger status. These cards will be issued from July following the voter/Belonger registration process currently underway and which concludes on 29 June
- To meet concerns about young people who were born on the Islands and have spent all their lives here, there should be no route to Turks and Caicos Islander status, but provision for British Overseas Territories Citizens, by virtue of a connection with the Islands, to live and work in the Islands
- For investors, no immediate route to PRC, but a new long term investors’ residence permit, up to ten years and renewable, for people who have bought a property, without a mortgage, or have invested in a business, to the value of $500,000 or more in Providenciales, or $250,000 or more in Grand Turk, North Caicos, Middle Caicos, South Caicos or Salt Cay
- A new criminal offence, of entering into a marriage to of benefit from or avoid the provisions of the Immigration Ordinance, or enable someone else to do so
- Removal of the provision under which Belonger status can be granted to the spouse, where the Belonger dies, on the assumption that the marriage would otherwise have lasted for the required period. But there is a new provision for a PRC to be granted in these tragic circumstances, where the marriage has lasted five years or more
- A new definition of “dependent child”, removing stepchildren from the provisions of the Ordinance except where they are formally adopted
- Provision for revocation of Belonger status, where it was bestowed under existing Section 3(4) of the Immigration Ordinance or its precursors, if the Belonger is not ordinarily resident in the Islands and has been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a period of imprisonment of 12 months or more
Both the Advisory Council and Consultative Forum are now being given a further opportunity to consider the draft legislation before it is enacted in the next few weeks.
“The Ministry of Border Control and Labour is determined that the new provisions be set out clearly in published rules and guidance for everyone to understand,” said Clara Gardiner, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Border Control and Labour. “This is what the people told the Forum that they wanted during the public consultation.
“All decisions on immigration status in the Turks and Caicos Islands will in future be made fairly, objectively, consistently and with no improper interference.
“The Ministry looks forward to extensive engagement with the community to improve service delivery, and to increase compliance with the law.”
