fp Turks and Caicos

The government issued the following press release Nov. 3 explaining the indefinite suspension of travel letters on Oct. 28.

“The Ministry of Border Control and Labour wishes to inform the public that travel letters have been suspended because of serious concerns about fraud, forgery and abuse, which threatened the good order and security of the islands.

“Under TCI laws, no one needs a travel letter to enter the islands. People from countries which do not need a visa, and who are seeking to work or reside in the TCI, simply need a work permit or resident permit. People from countries which need a visa should obtain a visa, either from the Immigration Department or from a British Embassy or High Commission overseas. The list of countries which do not need a visa is on www.immigration.tc under Permits, Requirements, Forms, “Visa Requirements.”

“Please note that visas have not been suspended. Immigration Department staff and  the airlines were instructed on Sunday, Oct. 31, that employment visas which had been issued in the form of a letter prior to the suspension should be honoured, and the person concerned allowed to enter the islands. Visas should now be issued in the form of endorsements in passports.

“There has also been a practice of obtaining a travel letter when someone has to travel while their work permit application is pending. This was introduced at a time when work permits were taking an extremely long time to process. This is no longer generally the case. The Immigration Board meets twice a month and, once Labour Clearance has been obtained and an application with all the necessary documents has been lodged, it will normally be considered by the Board within the following month.

“Our strong advice to employers is to ensure that applications are lodged at least three months before the worker is needed, or three months before expiry of an existing permit.

“If there is a genuine need for urgent consideration of a work permit application, this can be drawn to the Board Secretary’s attention so that the Board’s consideration can be expedited; or in exceptional circumstances a Temporary Work Permit can be issued under Section 11 of the Immigration Ordinance by the Director of Immigration.

“The Ministry is also looking urgently at an alternative, secure format for a document to confirm that an application is pending, for people who genuinely have an urgent and unavoidable need to travel while their application is under consideration. In the meantime, the instruction which was issued on Sunday, Oct. 31, confirmed that travel letters issued for this purpose before the suspension should also be honoured.

“The Ministry is committed to wholesale reform to ensure that the TCI’s immigration system works effectively in the interests of the travelling public, the economic well-being of the islands, the good order and security of the islands, and global security. We welcome all feedback and constructive comments from across the community to help us with this.”