The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder said the passport office has received an influx of applications following the recent Privy Council ruling granting citizenship to children born out of wedlock to Bahamian men.

Last month, Immigration Minister Keith Bell said about 1,500 applications for Bahamian citizenship at the Department of Immigration would have been affected by the Privy Council ruling.

Officials have struggled to determine how many people now expect to be recognised as citizens because their unwed father is a Bahamian and their mother is a foreigner.

However, yesterday Mr Pinder said those applications would have been to the passport office pursuant to the recent ruling.

“That number is probably higher now because I think that was a few weeks ago that that report was given and applications continuously roll in,” the attorney general said yesterday.

“I had an opportunity to speak to the chief passport officer today and we have drafted and prepared amendments to the passport rules, amendments to the Naturalisation Act and amendments to the Registrar General framework in order to be able to put the institution required to be able to attend to these applications.

“Cabinet has heard the recommendations of the Office of the Attorney General on how to approach the issue and we should be rolling that out in very short order.”

He noted that the drafted documents are before the Minister of Immigration for review and comments, which will have led to public consultation.

The landmark ruling paves the way for the Davis administration to amend the Bahamas Nationality Act to further equalise access to citizenship, an objective it said it would pursue once the Privy Council rendered its judgement on the narrower citizenship issue.