In a day and age when the British Virgin Islands is poised to bridge the upending division, the Government of Virgin Islands was unable to bridge that divide by making an amendment to Section 10 of the Immigration and Passport Bill. At present the Bill requires children born in the Virgin Islands to expat parents to apply for residency.
The Bill sat in committee stage on Thursday May 23rd after being debated in the House of Assembly on Tuesday May 21st, 2024 but lawmakers failed to make the amendment that would allow children born to expat parents to be granted residency upon birth. 284 Media understands, that legislators opted to create a provision in the Bill that would allow these children to be exempted from immigration control. Legislators stopped short of conferring residency which still leaves children born to expat parents in the BVI stateless, a criticism that the BVI continues to receive in the local, regional and international communities.
Sources close to the deliberations in the House of Assembly stated that the Government side sought to make the amendments but lacked Opposition members full support to make it a reality. At the time of the committee stage the Government did not have a full complement of members present. It is unclear why all of the opposition members who were present did not support and lobby for this amendment.
Many legislators have chosen to hide behind the British Nationality Act however, the British Nationality Act does not prohibit the local Government from conferring residency on children born to expat parents in the BVI. 284 Media has been following this Bill very closely from its first reading and we were able to confirm this fact during our research on the topic.
Some members absent from committee stage included Deputy Premier Hon. Lorna Smith OBE, Education Minister Hon. Sherie Decastro and Sixth District Representative Hon. Myron Walwyn.
Our newsroom reached out to the leader of Government Business Dr. Hon. Natalio Whealtey who was unavailable for a comment at time of publication.