{"id":255519,"date":"2025-10-27T07:14:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T11:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=255519"},"modified":"2025-10-27T07:14:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T11:14:39","slug":"antigua-immigration-hosts-first-bilingual-forum-with-dominican-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-immigration-hosts-first-bilingual-forum-with-dominican-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Antigua Immigration Hosts First Bilingual Forum with Dominican Community"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s Immigration Department has taken a landmark step toward greater transparency by holding its first bilingual forum with the Dominican community, aimed at clarifying residency and citizenship procedures.<\/p>

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Friday\u2019s event, \u201cAudience with Immigration: Residency and Citizenship Procedures,\u201d<\/em> featured Attorney General Sir Steadroy \u201cCutie\u201d Benjamin, Dominican Republic Ambassador Yolanda Alexandra Victoria, and Consul General Joaquin Diaz-Lopez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Immigration Officer Katrina Yearwood described the forum as an effort to combat misinformation caused by language barriers, noting that Dominicans form one of the four largest non-national communities in the country.<\/p>

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Senior officers detailed the processes for residency, citizenship, and e-visas, explaining documentation requirements and addressing misconceptions that often delay applications.<\/p>

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During a heated Q&A session, participants raised concerns about long delays and poor communication, with one woman sharing that her husband had waited more than a year for an update after paying thousands for permits and filing for citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benjamin said he would raise the issue of amnesty for residents with irregular status at Cabinet but made no commitments. Officials encouraged affected individuals to contact the department directly rather than rely on intermediaries.<\/p>

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The forum, held with real-time translation, underscored the government\u2019s new focus on accessibility and inclusion. It also highlighted the Dominican community\u2019s vital role in Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s economy \u2014 and their growing demand for fairness and clarity in immigration policy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s Immigration Department has taken a landmark step toward greater transparency by holding its first bilingual forum with the Dominican community, aimed at clarifying residency and citizenship procedures. Friday\u2019s event, \u201cAudience with Immigration: Residency and Citizenship Procedures,\u201d featured Attorney General Sir Steadroy \u201cCutie\u201d Benjamin, Dominican Republic Ambassador Yolanda Alexandra Victoria, and Consul General […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":255511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-255519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAntigua Immigration Hosts First Bilingual Forum with Dominican Community - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-immigration-hosts-first-bilingual-forum-with-dominican-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Antigua Immigration Hosts First Bilingual Forum with Dominican Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s Immigration Department has taken a landmark step toward greater transparency by holding its first bilingual forum with the Dominican community, aimed at clarifying residency and citizenship procedures. Friday\u2019s event, \u201cAudience with Immigration: Residency and Citizenship Procedures,\u201d featured Attorney General Sir Steadroy \u201cCutie\u201d Benjamin, Dominican Republic Ambassador Yolanda Alexandra Victoria, and Consul General […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-immigration-hosts-first-bilingual-forum-with-dominican-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-27T11:14:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-27T11:14:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_8083.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1206\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"702\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-immigration-hosts-first-bilingual-forum-with-dominican-community\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-immigration-hosts-first-bilingual-forum-with-dominican-community\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Antigua Immigration Hosts First Bilingual Forum with Dominican Community\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-27T11:14:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-27T11:14:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-immigration-hosts-first-bilingual-forum-with-dominican-community\/\"},\"wordCount\":237,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-immigration-hosts-first-bilingual-forum-with-dominican-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1206\/h:702\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_8083.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-immigration-hosts-first-bilingual-forum-with-dominican-community\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-immigration-hosts-first-bilingual-forum-with-dominican-community\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/antigua-immigration-hosts-first-bilingual-forum-with-dominican-community\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua Immigration Hosts First Bilingual Forum with Dominican Community - 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