PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Four Caribbean nations are making it easier for their citizens to pack up and move to neighboring countries to start a new life without the need for visas or work permits.
Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines signed a free movement agreement that went into effect on Wednesday.
Officials said that when citizens from any of the four participating countries travel to another participating country, their passports will be stamped or a digital record will be made, indicating indefinite stay is allowed.
Measures for incoming travelers to officially register for education, health care and other services also are in place, according to Caricom, a regional 15-member trade bloc spearheading the initiative.
With crime a major problem in several Caribbean countries, authorities in Barbados said proper guardrails and vetting systems are in place to keep criminals out.
“Any government may refuse entry to a person who poses a genuine threat to national security,” Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a national address on Tuesday night.
Previously, nationals of Caribbean countries that are members of Caricom were only allowed free movement for economic purposes, which include skilled workers obtaining jobs without need for a work permit. If nationals from a certain country weren’t traveling for the specified economic purposes, they were authorized to stay for up to six months, but without permission to work.
While the previous arrangement remains in place for other Caricom countries that aren’t part of the new deal, nationals of Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines can now relocate for leisure.
“If you can move for work, but your spouse or children cannot access education or health care, the right is hollow,” St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said Monday.
Caricom and regional leaders have long sought unrestricted movement across the Caribbean.
In March 2022, a protocol was adopted that made the new deal possible, allowing three or more Caricom countries to “deepen cooperation” even if there isn’t consensus. Jamaica has said it is committed to implementing free movement, but it hasn’t set a date.
A similar free movement arrangement exists for citizens of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States — an intergovernmental organization made up of certain Caribbean countries, including Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. However, it’s a first for Caricom countries Belize and Barbados.
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By ANSELM GIBBS
Associated Press
