PM Condemns JPs Selling Recommendation Letters to Passport Applicants

Getting a passport in Belize just got easier. As of September first, you no longer need a recommender to vouch for you on the application form. The Ministry of Immigration says this move is all about cutting red tape and reducing the chances of fraud and corruption. Prime Minister John Briceño explains why they decided to drop this extra step and what it means for you.

 

Prime Minster John Briceño

“It is a big thing because as a citizen of this country, you have a right to get a passport. You have your birth certificate and you have all of the [necessary documents], nobody need to recommend you to get a passport. And then what has happened after that? You have a lot of JPs standing over by the passport office and you come from Orange Walk and they say oops, I need to sign. I don’t know nobody, I can go out there and say, Hey, I da JP, I sign and they charge you a fee which you shouldn’t do. It is unnecessary. There’s certain things that we have to move from immigration. For instance, when people apply for a permanent residency or they apply for nationality, they can’t leave the country for more than a year. Those are things that were put in place fifty, sixty, maybe a hundred years ago. Today, people have to travel. Once you can show that you’re living in Belize and you may need to do for bus, go to business in United States or Mexico or wherever it is, you should be allowed to. Or if you go to visit a family that’s sick or whatever, that should not prevent you. From getting your PR or your nationality. So we have to be modernizing these laws with them in immigration and to make it more transparent and easier for those that are applying and those that need the services from the immigration department.”