Ministry of Immigration grants foreigners who have not been able to extend their visitors permit, amnesty period to regularize legal status

Published by [email protected] at September 28, 2021

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Posted: Tuesday, September 28, 2021. 5:15 pm CST.

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: In view of COVID-19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, and Immigration is giving foreigners who have not updated their legal status, an amnesty period of three months to get their papers regularized and calls on them to visit the nearest Immigration Office.

“In an attempt to address the situation of migrants thrust into an irregular situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in keeping with the United Nations Global Compact for a safe, orderly, and regular migration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, and Immigration (MFA), through the Department of Border Management and Immigration Services, invites migrants who now seek to remedy their situation to visit the nearest Immigration Office in the respective district towns or cities to seek assistance during this period,” said the MFA in a press release on Tuesday.

The MFA said that migrants who entered Belize legally but have not been able to extend their Visitors Permits between April 2020 and September 2021 to remain in Belize legally, will be regularized during a Special Regularization Period from October 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021.

Migrants will have to pay a Regularization Fee of BZ$100 upon application.

Visitors Permit extension fees for the period March 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021, will be waived, but migrants will have to pay outstanding fees prior to March 1, 2020. According to Statutory Instrument No. 42 of 2005, that’s at a rate of BZ$50 per month for the first six months, thereafter BZ$100.

“Migrants who seek to regularize themselves may utilize this period of regularization as a pre-requisite to apply for Permanent Residence if they so desire,” said the MFA. “This regularization process will run alongside the current fee structure as per Statutory Instrument No. 42 of 2020 (BZ$200 per month) for all other migrants.”

Migrants may find details on the new website: immigration.gov.bz.

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