Antiguans will soon have to travel to Trinidad for Canadian visa

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Justin Trudeau and Sir Ron

Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to Canada Sir Ron Sanders has announced that citizens will no longer be allowed to process Canadian visa applications remotely.

Come December, the application process will require residents to present themselves physically.

Presently, the documents are shipped to Trinidad and Tobago for processing.

The high-ranking diplomat says “I have raised with the Canadian authorities the additional costs that Antigua and Barbuda citizens will face.  (I can only speak for Antigua and Barbuda, although all OECS nationals face the same situation).”

“In this connection, I am traveling to Ottawa in July to discuss other creative ways in which the biometric data for visas could be secured without nationals having to incur the cost of traveling to Trinidad,” he added.

“Citizens of All CARICOM countries, except Bahamas and Barbados, who want to enter Canada have to get a Visa.  In the case of all the OECS countries, they will have to travel to Trinidad which is the closest location at which Canada has a visa-issuing agency,” Sir Ron said in an email to Antigua Newsroom.

He said the reason for this is as part of its beefed-up security processes, Canada now requires all persons, from all over the world who need visas to provide biometric data.  This includes fingerprints and photo information. Therefore, he said the visa applicants from all OECS countries have to go Trinidad to physically provide the data from December.
For many other non Caribbean countries, the requirement comes into effect on July 1st.
“However, it is important to note that the Visa with the biometric data lasts for 10 years,” the diplomat said.

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22 COMMENTS

  1. thank you gaston and your band of creative enrichers

    look a wah antigua come to
    say wah you want bout UPP but we never had passport and visa problem when dem in power
    antigua gone a gwasa we just like jamaica now

  3. Good thing I am NOT interested in going to Canada. Even if I were, I’d think twice about contributing to the economy of a country that retracted visa-free travel for my people. I’ll take “Trump country” if I have to.

    • I’m currently in process of getting my british student visa, soon there will be visas required for genrl visits too , no doubt..sigh

  5. AH YOU FUH GAT DIS YAH:
    Prime Minister Gaston Browne has told Pointe FM that the decision of Canada to impose visa restrictions on Antigua and Barbuda is a good thing.

    “I know there are some people who are upset about Canada imposing their visa requirements on us, as far as I am concerned it a good thing because they must be responsible for whoever is entering their country,” the prime minister told radio listeners.

    He made the point was speaking on security concerns regarding the Citizenship by Investment Programme.

    “So I don’t know why some of our people so caught up about it,” Browne added.

    He also questioned, “how many Antiguans go to Canada to shop?”

  6. Look At the bright side My Antiguan Peeps … we now enjoy visa-free access to 149 destinations improving from our previous 140 destinations. Which includes San Marino, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Senegal and Benin. After all them sweet Options i just mention .. Canada should be a thing of the past… Lord Jesus give us strength and patience to deal with this government of ours .. wait its 150 now ,, didn’t they just add Ukraine the other day … well well well .. me go buy wan ticket go Ukraine .. tec that in are u nen nen Canada .. me no need no visa for that … (bawling my eyes and heart out deeply disturb in my soul but been strong here)… Jesus take the wheel .. me cant drive no mo…Vatican City here i come 🙁 but me really want go back a canada 🙁 .. stay strong stay strong we dont need canada ..:-(

  7. I would have thought that some other way can be found. Of all places… Trinidad. Not even Barbados so we can get both Visas in the same trip.

  8. Not a great move… come to germany, we play better football, built very good cars and you will get a Visafree stay for 3 months lol

  9. The Antiguan people voted in Gaston and now the rest have to suffer. Most of those voters don’t have the means to travel so this doesn’t have any impact on them.

    A government always has the advantage when it keeps the people uneducated. What’s more unfortunate is blatant bribery for votes has gone on for decades but Antiguans don’t see this as illegal.

  11. Am no a fan of political affairs, but I don’t see anything wrong with this whole scenario, it not like it Antiguan has to go to Trinidad st Kitts also, Canada as a requirements so follow..take it or leave it…dem nuh beg you to come a you waah go, so follow protocol…. Antigua has its requirements also

  12. Who needs Canada anyway..leave them big shots alone.. one day they gon beg fuh we and we gon say noooo

  13. All the complaints and bickering and we have no choice but to do it if we want it. Why bother to complain. No one is listening. Just take it or leave it.

  15. The St. Kitts & Nevis Gov’t has already discussed creative ways that will benefit the OECS. Why does Saunders need to travel to Ottawa? To take the credit for other people’s ideas?
    “Our argument is that it is really pricing the visa out of the reach of most of us and that would mean that effectively Canada is taken off the table insofar as people from St. Kitts and Nevis are concerned. I think the Canadian government is very sensitive to that. We have discussed a number of options with them including having a mobile unit that will come to the various territories to seek to collect the biometrics here, and one other option they are considering is they can set up a biometric centre in some place closer than Trinidad.” Mark Brantley

  16. CRIME-LADEN Trinidad?? Neargah just might get shot or kidnapped and never get to use the visa to go to Canada. Trinidad crime rate higher than their cost of living. Gimme a break. Ain’t nothing to see in Canada but LGBT Pride. Good luck.

    • Thank you for that. A lot of people who makinf noise to go Canada say them anti LGBT1IA and Cannda where th3y want to go is one of the biggest supports of that community.

  17. The Canadian government is not going to change their policy to suite Antigua & Barbuda. If they say we have to fly to Trinidad then that is what it would be. We either fly or swim to get there.

  18. Chups…. some of u sound so sickening now. All good things must come to an end. Antiguans and other Non-Antiguans have long abuse this visa free access to get asylum and Canadian citizenship. Just a few years ago a certain young woman ran to Canada and had a podcast claming she was being vitimized because she was a supposed lesbien. The part that hurt is when people like this young lady use lies and tricks to get asylum the just go back to them old ways of making trouble and downright being a nusence to Canada. Plenty aru nah ga lik fu hear this but Canada right. If aru want fu go dey get a damn visa and to properly screenned an vetted. If aru nah have nothing fu hide wha aru bex for. Aru go through the same s*** when aru want America visa.

  19. I’d like to know is it going to be like Barbados where the parents of under age kids travel for the visa or the kids would have to accompany their parents to Trinidad?

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