Georgetown, GINA, November 3, 2015 - Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix, in a recent interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA) related that all passengers arriving in Guyana, whether by air, land or sea, are required to present themselves to the Immigration Officer at the port of entry.
This procedure, Minister Felix indicated, can be found in the Immigration Act Chapter 14:02, which outlines what ideally is the requirement.
He added that those who are not CARICOM nationals, and travelling from a country in which they require a Guyana visa to enter, must have that in their possession, a return ticket and adequate means of support whilst in the country.
“Internationally, all countries you go to, once you arrive there with a visa, you must have a return ticket…it is also a requirement that passengers or immigrants who arrive in foreign countries must show that they have adequate means of support whilst in the country…those are the main areas which persons are judged when they arrive in a country, as to their suitability to be landed as immigrants,” Minister Felix explained.
The Immigration Act empowers every immigration officer to assess the above-mentioned means, based on the circumstances presented, as different passengers will have varying circumstances attending their arrival.
“The immigration officer would have to exercise his initiative in arriving at a decision, as to whether or not to land an immigrant; for example, when passengers arrive as visitors, and they can point to a location where they would stay and that location is accessible by phone, you can check… the person may even have someone waiting for them outside… this is a simple one to address,” Minister Felix explained.
The more complex situations are those where passengers may be staying at a hotel, and in such a case, the office will have to make a judgment based on the amount of cash they have, as against the period of time they intend on staying in the country.