VISA FI DEM TUH- das all

Jamaicans Now Need Visa To Visit St Maarten
Published: Thursday | April 14, 201158 Comments
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter

THE TINY Dutch dependency of St Maarten has become the latest regional state to impose visa requirements for Jamaicans.

Up to late yesterday, there was no official communication with the Government of Jamaica about the change, but reports out of St Maarten quoted the Minister of Justice Roland Duncan as making the announcement.

“We are still checking because, like you, we heard about it from a website, so we have asked our consulate in Trinidad, which deals with St Maarten, to check,” an official of Jamaica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade told The Gleaner yesterday.

But The Gleaner has seen documents out of St Maarten stating that effective Monday, April 11, 2011, Guyanese and Jamaicans will have to obtain a visa before they are allowed to enter the country with a population of approximately 40,000 persons.

Under the new regulations, Jamaicans going to St Maarten on business must show a confirmed copy of their hotel bookings and between US$100 and US$200 per day to cover their expenses.

They must also show travel medical insurance of US$15,000.

According to the reports out of St Maarten, in announcing the new measure, Duncan said it was based on a decision taken earlier this year by his ministry, with the support of the council of ministers.

growing crime problem

Duncan did not provide details of what sparked the decision, but reports suggest that it was based on the increasing number of Jamaicans overstaying their time in the country.

The reports further claimed that officials in the country were concerned about a growing crime problem.

Only last week, a Jamaican man who visited St Maarten for two weeks but returned two months later, told The Gleaner that he landed in Kingston on a flight which contained approximately 20 deportees from that country.

He said during his trip, it was a regular occurrence to see immigration officials rounding up Jamaicans on the beach.

In the meantime, St Maarten’s justice minister has claimed that the Consulate of the Netherlands has issued communiqués to stakeholders informing them of this new development.

According to Duncan, Jamaicans and Guyanese should request visas in their country of residence, while a formal written request must be submitted to the Immigration Department by the person inviting them to visit the country.

The advisory announcing the change was released on Tuesday, 24 hours after the visa requirement was implemented, but there was no indication if there was any grace period for Jamaicans who might have already booked their flights.

Scores of Jamaicans and Guyanese travel to St Maarten daily using the regional airline, LIAT, while Caribbean Airlines operates a twice-a-week service to the country.

The Cayman Islands and the Dominican Republic are the other regional states which have imposed visa requirements for Jamaicans.

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