Amnesty programme progresses
By Kisean Joseph kisean.joseph@antiguaobserver.com Antigua and Barbuda’s amnesty programme is progressing as expected, with roughly 40 applicants processed daily under a new number system, Chief Immigration Officer Katrina Yearwood said. Yearwood gave the update days after the programme opened, noting that turnout matched projections. Each day, registration commences just before 2 p.m. and handled on […]
Black News 
By Kisean Joseph
kisean.joseph@antiguaobserver.com
Antigua and Barbuda’s amnesty programme is progressing as expected, with roughly 40 applicants processed daily under a new number system, Chief Immigration Officer Katrina Yearwood said.
Yearwood gave the update days after the programme opened, noting that turnout matched projections.
Each day, registration commences just before 2 p.m. and handled on a first-come, first-served basis between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., in keeping with the official Public Service Announcement (PSA). On opening day, some applicants arrived earlier than the scheduled hours, and more than 100 people could not be accommodated that morning.
Officials brief applicants on required documents before they are seen. Anyone missing paperwork is asked to return the next day, better prepared.
Applicants must present a completed form, a passport-sized photograph and a police record. Fourteen days after lodging an application, they return for an endorsement appointment, where their status is either extended or an appointment for residency or citizenship is scheduled.
Amnesty is open to anyone who has lived in the country without proper immigration status for more than four years. Yearwood said the process is designed to “perfect the gaps” in an applicant’s record, clearing the way for a residency or citizenship application depending on length of stay. Someone who has overstayed by exactly four years, for example, would proceed to a residency application once amnesty is granted.
Yearwood attributed the early disorder to some applicants not seeing the PSA in advance.
“Yes, a few teething problems in the beginning,” she said. “A lot of people didn’t read the PSA, or maybe it wasn’t presented to them in a timely manner. We were seeing applicants come down in drones, but there is some resemblance of order now as we catch our bearings.”
She said it remains too early to draw firm conclusions, as the programme has not yet run a full week, but the groups coming forward match what officials expected.
