Immigrant fears that work-permit exemption for amnesty-seekers could be a gimmick to induce non-national voters

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Residents during immigration amnesty announcement March 2022

The recipient of an amnesty certificate fears the immigrant community is being conned by the Browne Administration in the matter of work-permit requirements. CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP FOR NEWS UPDATES.

According to the man, he was given a three-month extension by the Immigration Department, along with a one-year window in which to apply for citizenship. He says he was also advised that, within that year, he is to seek an extension every three months to preserve his regularized status.

The man says, however, that he is aware of a decision by the Cabinet which exempts applicants for amnesty from applying for work permits while they are being processed.

That notice was published on June 23, 2022.

However, the man reports that when he advised the Immigration Department of this exemption, officers there said they were unaware of the provision, and so they directed him to the Labour Department.

The man says that officers at that department acknowledged they had heard of the exemption via the media, but said they had received no official word or instruction on the amnesty applicants being relieved of the work-permit requirement.

In the absence of an official exemption, the man points out, no employer is going to take the word of an immigrant worker that he or she does not need a permit during the processing period.

He is further concerned that the citizenship-application fees, which used to be just over $1,000, have been doubled. If an immigrant cannot get a job without a work permit, he asks, then how can they afford to spend more than $2,000 to apply for citizenship.

Accordingly, the man says he fears the exemption notice is merely a political gimmick that is designed to trap the immigrant community into voting for the Antigua Labour Party in the upcoming elections. — REAL News

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5 COMMENTS

  1. Maybe you don’t see the right person if you did they would copy your past port and your amnesty certificate and keep it they they know about it I take my son there and they copy his documents people trying to say thing s to scared people smh black people not easy and those that hungry for power

  2. But it is.
    If it walks like a duck 🦆
    Quack like a duck 🦆
    God damnit it got to be a duck 🦆

  3. These foreign scamps have gall. This illegal get amnesty and still complaining to newspaper? Go back home den nah jack! You’re not wanted!

  4. ONE SINGLE PERSON????? ok “Observer” you just amped up your “credibility”. First, you are OWNED BY SERPENT UPP CANDIDATE. Now you are STALKING IMMIGRANTS in a DESPERATE SHAMEFUL ATTEMPT.

    No wonder Mickel Brann said Observer is no longer the Observer she knew.

Comments are closed.