Senator Fred Mitchell.
By RICARDO WELLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
rwells@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMIANS with plans to travel to Canada will soon need an electronic travel authorisation (eTA) document, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell said.
According to Mr Mitchell, the government has already been notified that come March 15, 2016, any Bahamian attempting to travel to Canada would be asked to apply for the document prior to their trip.
He indicated that the new policy will be mandatory as Canada works to better filter persons travelling within its borders.
“As of March of next year Bahamians will no longer be able to fly to Canada at will,” said Mr Mitchell at a Rotary Club of West Nassau meeting, held at Poop Deck West.
“You will have to apply in advance, get approval and you will only be able to board the plane and enter Canada if you have that approval reference number on you.”
Earlier this year, Canada introduced the new policy, which made changes to the visa exempt procedure the country had with more than 30 countries around the world.
Beyond the Bahamas, other Caribbean nations such as Jamaica, Anguilla, Cayman Islands and Barbados will all now fall under the new ruling.
The new policy as presently structured would affect in-transit travel, but not student visas.
Therefore, persons planning on travelling to Canada through the United States would still require eTAs.
Meanwhile, Mr Mitchell said the government remains in communication with Canadian officials, working to clarify the parameters surrounding potential approval statuses.
He indicated that has it stands, eTA refusals could only be made by “actual officers” and that persons who may be refused would be those with criminal records who were known by Canadian authorities.
“This is a matter that we are still talking to the Canadians about, but the short answer is if he or she has a criminal record then there appears to be a refusal on the face of it.
“The question is, what are the appeals procedures and what is the fall back procedures if someone needs to go and that is what we need to get to the bottom of.
“I can’t imagine Canada being as sophisticated of a place as it is that there is not an appeals process; number one. Number two, there is a fall back procedure as you apply for a visa which, unfortunately for us means Jamaica because the Canadians have no consular presence here in Nassau. But that will be the alternative,” added Mr Mitchell.
There is a consular office here in the Bahamas, but according to Mr Mitchell, the office lacks power with all major decisions being made at the Canadian office in Jamaica.
He said officials hope to travel to Jamaica in mid-August to address questions on the change.
This announcement comes as the government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, continues to strengthen it border management system.
Mr Mitchell indicated that the government is intending to roll out the new system over the next 18 months.
The reforms are expected to cost $18 million.
Elaborating on the details of the new system yesterday, Mr Mitchell stated that it would include upgrades to the airports and various seaports across the country.
“New passports are coming, new exchange is available in information databases for visa applications, work permits, border entry and the hope and expectation is police, defence force, customs, immigration will all be able to talk to each other across their databases so that these various checks can be done,” he added.
Comments
sheeprunner12 9 years, 5 months ago
The noose is tightening ................ the writing is on the wall .......... we are paying now for decades of diplomatic, institutional and criminal slackness .......... not even a Canadian embassy here ................... and their banks run our domestic banking??????.................... Suckers
B_I_D___ 9 years, 5 months ago
http://www.bahamaslocal.com/showlisting…
Shirley Street Plaza
sansoucireader 9 years, 5 months ago
Yes, a presence but not much else. Only 2-3 people on staff. Everything is in Jamaica (just like the UK office; British High Commissoner?)
TheMadHatter 9 years, 5 months ago
Ya beast !!!!
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 5 months ago
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
Gen 9 years, 5 months ago
This has less to with the Bahamas and its political parties - PLP and FNM. This has a lot to do with Canada filtering its Borders against terrorism. Please read more educational information on the internet, this will help you understand what is going on in the world around us. Not just PLP, FNM and DNA.
Gen
Baha10 9 years, 5 months ago
Wow, this is a "clear" message being sent to The Bahamas, and Others! Notice also, no possibility of appeal, merely "clarification"! Things looking "dead" bad, versus good!!!
akbar 9 years, 5 months ago
According to their site you can apply online for it. This has less to do with us but more to do with terrorism. Canadians tightening up their borders. I really can't see how this get the PLP fault this Bin Laden fault the Canadians where slack with their borders for a bit now they experiencing terrorists acts on their soil. My God people does everything in the world has something to do with Bahamian politics. British citizens even need one. Jeez people use the internet for more than facebook and porn.
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 4 months ago
Hi Mitchell.
akbar 9 years, 5 months ago
Yall need to let politics go
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 4 months ago
You of all people should know that the connections between organised crime and movements of their proceeds of crime to and from terrorist groups in connection with the funding of the activities of the latter are well-known and well-established.
banker 9 years, 5 months ago
So Pindling era drug dealers cannot go to Canada, nor people who cannot go to the US now.
Tarzan 9 years, 5 months ago
Welcome to Fred, the Mugabe of the New World. Xenophobia has a price.
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 5 months ago
WELL WORTH REPEATING: What most Bahamians do not understand is that other governments around the world, like the U.S., Canada and the U.K., are very carefully observing the out-of-control nature of our passport issuance procedures. Already Canada has put the Bahamas on a list with 30 other countries whereby a Bahamian passport alone will not be sufficient to gain entry into Canada, even though Canada and the Bahamas are both Commonwealth countries. The Canadian government now plans to do its own due diligence and vetting of Bahamians to determine for themselves which of us can have travel privileges to Canada. The Canadian government simply believes it can no longer trust the chaos in the Bahamian passport office under Fred Mitchell's portfolio to issue passports to bona fide Bahamians who do not present a security risk to Canada. This is what happens when Christie appoints a an incompetent bungling idiot like Fred Mitchell to oversee the proper management of the affairs of our passport office....our passport office has imploded into absolute chaos under his watch...and we the Bahamian people suffer by having our travel wings clipped, not only by the chaotic processing delays within our imploded passport office, but also by other countries like Canada that are rightfully very fearful of the security risks the mismanagement and resulting chaos presents for them. Fred Mitchell should hang his head in shame and resign from the cabinet. He is now nothing a serious national embarrassment for all Bahamians. His recent comments about deporting Sarkis Izmirlian are but one example of his scornful, belligerent attitude; his lack of diplomacy and airs of superiority are traits that this wannabe intellectual will never be able to overcome and are very much ill-suited to his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs. The reputation of our nation in the eyes of others has been seriously damaged by his shameful conduct on so many occasions. Many of our foreign friends find him utterly disgusting and repulsive in so many ways. How much longer are we Bahamians going to be made to continue to suffer as a result of Christie's tolerance of this grossly incompetent and disgraceful buffoon?
Reality_Check 9 years, 5 months ago
Canada's concerns also extend to the Christie-led PLP government's failure to effectively clamp down on illegal immigration and human-smuggling, and the very cosy relationship that certain of our senior politicians, like Christie, Wilchcombe, Davis, Maynard-Gibson et al., enjoy with the racketeering mobsters behind the cross-border criminal activities associated with the online gaming web shops run by the likes of Flowers and Bastian. The U.S., Canadian and U.K. governments all have grave concerns about the extent to which corrupt politicians are allowing the proceeds of crime to influence the decisions of our government and the resulting heightened security risks this presents for their own countries by individuals travelling on a Bahamian passport who purport to be a legitimate or bona fide Bahamian with no serious criminal record.
Observer 9 years, 4 months ago
This has NOTHING to do with Christie or the BAHAMAS. The Canadians are simply protecting their things. We should follow suit, irrespective of TOURISM, because sooner than later, the TERRORISTS will infiltrate in greater numbers. They are here now in sleeper groups. You had better beware; the SNAKE is in the GREEN GRASS.
sheeprunner12 9 years, 4 months ago
That is why we are in the state we are in now with Highshuns and Yardies and Chings............... slack border control ........ we need to follow suit with certain countries who have large numbers of illegals here
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 4 months ago
Ya mean ta tell ma we is gat snakes here dat does bite worser den Franky Wilson! My God, we mussey be in big trouble!!
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 4 months ago
The connections between organised crime and movements of their proceeds of crime to and from terrorist groups in connection with the funding of the activities of the latter are well-known and well-established.
Cobalt 9 years, 4 months ago
Man listen......
Bahamian people paying fa dey own stupidity!! Bahamians were never, ever, ever, ever suppose to vote for the PLP. Now..... the country is a complete mess and the innocent must suffer with the guilty.
So...... I ask the question again........ where y'all gold and blue PLP flag is nah???? How come y'all een gat yinna PLP flag hangin in ya car window no more??? I tot y'all say da PLP was da only ting ya want!
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