By Gemma Handy
Concerns are being raised that some Caricom and Dominican Republic nationals are still being asked to pay for work permits despite a recently implemented government waiver.
The move was announced shortly before the January 18 general election and was said at the time to take immediate effect.
Its implementation was later delayed until May 1 due to questions raised over labour market implications and border security. It is also yet to be officially passed by Parliament.
The vacillation appears to have caused confusion not just for those directly affected but between the various government departments too with a number of anecdotal reports of Caricom citizens still being made to pay for permits.
Yesterday, Labour Minister Steadroy Benjamin told Observer the waivers took effect on January 1 – which contradicts the Labour Day May 1 implementation date given by Cabinet in March.
Nonetheless, anyone with a Caricom or Dominican Republic passport is now free to work in Antigua and Barbuda without paying for the privilege.
Benjamin said the forthcoming legislation – which he said would go before Parliament in around three weeks – would be retroactive.
“Any Caricom national or national of the Dominican Republic who was here in January and was gainfully employed is not required to pay for a work permit,” he clarified.
They will however have to go through the usual application process to enable the department to keep accurate records of those living and working in the twin island nation, Benjamin added.
For now, there are no plans to roll out the waivers to Caricom passport-holders who arrived after January – or who come here in the future – Benjamin confirmed.
“What we agreed to was that any citizen of the Caricom and of the Dominican Republic who was present in Antigua in January when the elections took place, then you are eligible. There are those who have come after – they are not eligible,” the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Lionel Hurst told reporters when asked about the issue at Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing.
He conceded that there had been instances when intervention had been required to ensure the Labour Department was acting within the confines of the new policy.
“We’ve written to the Labour Commissioner indicating from time to time that such and such a person is eligible because that person was here for a long time,” Hurst explained.
“And any Caricom citizen or Dominican Republic citizen who encounters that kind of difficulty at the Department of Labour can indeed try to secure from the Minister of Labour a letter which would verify that they have in fact been in Antigua for a long time.”
He added, “Some civil servants act against the expectation and directives of the Cabinet and sometimes we have to remind them that Cabinet is the decision maker and not the civil servant.”
Hurst said it was important for people to ensure their immigration status was sound.
When asked what recourse might be available for those who have forked out for work permits unnecessarily, Hurst advised them to approach the ombudsman for guidance.
Reforms to the immigration system were also a key manifesto pledge of the opposition UPP party which last December pledged to eliminate work permit fees for Caricom people if successful at the election. Other plans included speeding up citizenship processing times and establishing an immigrant affairs desk to ensure the wellbeing of migrants.
Antigua and Barbuda formally waived the need for work permits for OECS nationals in 2014. The country was the last member nation to do so, along with granting indefinite stays for OECS citizens.
