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Gov't moves to abolish outgoing immigration
Published: Sunday | February 20, 2011 0 Comments
Bartlett
Passengers in the departure lounge of the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay. The Government is making moves to facilitate smoother travel. - File
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Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
[COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]JAMAICA[/COLOR][/COLOR] HAS plans to abolish outgoing immigration as the country moves towards a comprehensive review of the process to enable hassle-free access for incoming and outgoing [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]airline[/COLOR][/COLOR] passengers.
Addressing homeowners of the Tryall Club, several visitors here for the annual Sugar Cane Ball, the local business community, and dignitaries last Friday night, Minister of [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]Tourism[/COLOR][/COLOR] Edmund Bartlett made the announcement.
"We are looking at simplifying immigration with the greater use of technology. The immigration forms will also be simplified to make them more user-friendly," said Bartlett.
And even as he spoke, Liz Brewer, the [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]United [COLOR=blue ! important]Kingdom's[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] renowned etiquette expert, related her experience on arrival into the [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]island[/COLOR][/COLOR] last Thursday night, owing to the fact "I was carrying a new passport".
Lengthy interrogation
Brewer, who for the last two months has been guest commentator on networks such as NBC and BBC on the upcoming royal wedding, said: "I was interrogated for three quarters of an hour because the officer said they had details of my old passport. I don't know if they thought I was in the business of selling passports," she told The Sunday Gleaner.
Bartlett, explaining the proposed changes, says the technology, as it now exists, allows for the airlines, immigration, and Customs to be able to talk to each other.
"When I go to the US, for example, they have all my details, all biometrics are there. To get on an airline, you have to satisfy them, so if Interpol is looking for you, all that information is at immigration," he said.
He added that technology today allows for the dissemination of information on persons long before they arrive at the various ports.
As a result of the changes taking place, countries such as the United States and the UK do not have outgoing immigration.
An advocate of immigration reform throughout the region, president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), and managing director of the Round Hill Hotel and Villas, Josef Forstmayr, was elated at the announcement.
Forstmayr asserts that outgoing immigration is irrelevant as the airlines are already checking all travellers to ensure their documents are in order.
Like Minister Bartlett, the CHTA president believes that making it easier for people to come here is pivotal, while ensuring there is no neglecting of the security and surveillance networks which are available, but are sometimes unseen.
Currently, cruise-ship passengers don't go through outgoing immigration, admits head of the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency, Jennifer McDonald.
"When cruise-ship passengers come in, they are processed on a group basis, and that is the same thing that is done when they are leaving," she said.
Published: Sunday | February 20, 2011 0 Comments
Bartlett
Passengers in the departure lounge of the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay. The Government is making moves to facilitate smoother travel. - File
1 2 >
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
[COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]JAMAICA[/COLOR][/COLOR] HAS plans to abolish outgoing immigration as the country moves towards a comprehensive review of the process to enable hassle-free access for incoming and outgoing [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]airline[/COLOR][/COLOR] passengers.
Addressing homeowners of the Tryall Club, several visitors here for the annual Sugar Cane Ball, the local business community, and dignitaries last Friday night, Minister of [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]Tourism[/COLOR][/COLOR] Edmund Bartlett made the announcement.
"We are looking at simplifying immigration with the greater use of technology. The immigration forms will also be simplified to make them more user-friendly," said Bartlett.
And even as he spoke, Liz Brewer, the [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]United [COLOR=blue ! important]Kingdom's[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] renowned etiquette expert, related her experience on arrival into the [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]island[/COLOR][/COLOR] last Thursday night, owing to the fact "I was carrying a new passport".
Lengthy interrogation
Brewer, who for the last two months has been guest commentator on networks such as NBC and BBC on the upcoming royal wedding, said: "I was interrogated for three quarters of an hour because the officer said they had details of my old passport. I don't know if they thought I was in the business of selling passports," she told The Sunday Gleaner.
Bartlett, explaining the proposed changes, says the technology, as it now exists, allows for the airlines, immigration, and Customs to be able to talk to each other.
"When I go to the US, for example, they have all my details, all biometrics are there. To get on an airline, you have to satisfy them, so if Interpol is looking for you, all that information is at immigration," he said.
He added that technology today allows for the dissemination of information on persons long before they arrive at the various ports.
As a result of the changes taking place, countries such as the United States and the UK do not have outgoing immigration.
An advocate of immigration reform throughout the region, president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), and managing director of the Round Hill Hotel and Villas, Josef Forstmayr, was elated at the announcement.
Forstmayr asserts that outgoing immigration is irrelevant as the airlines are already checking all travellers to ensure their documents are in order.
Like Minister Bartlett, the CHTA president believes that making it easier for people to come here is pivotal, while ensuring there is no neglecting of the security and surveillance networks which are available, but are sometimes unseen.
Currently, cruise-ship passengers don't go through outgoing immigration, admits head of the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency, Jennifer McDonald.
"When cruise-ship passengers come in, they are processed on a group basis, and that is the same thing that is done when they are leaving," she said.
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