Guyana removes Haiti from the Visa-Free nation list

The automatic 6-month stay of Haitians on arrival in Guyana has been withdrawn by President of Guyana Dr Irfaan Ali. Now the Haitians should carry their passport while travelling to Guyana.

This order has been issued and that has been signed by President Dr Ali on the same day. June 22. Now the Haitians can not enter Guyana without a passport.

In a letter dated June 23, 2021, to Minister of Aviation Juan Edghill, Attorney General Anil Nandlall said only Haitian diplomats would not require visas to enter Guyana.

The effect of the cancellation has that Schedule I to the Immigration Act has been changed by deleting ‘Haiti’ from the list of countries whose nationals have been entitled to an automatic six months stay in Guyana.

Mr. Nandlaall said that according to the new rules, the Haitians now should have a visa for travelling to Guyana, and they would not be allowed to live for 6 months in Guyana without Visa. Only Haitian diplomats can enter Guyana without a visa.

Attorney General had also announced a week ago that the government has been imposing visa requirement on Haitians after the government came into action and also taking action as a concern by the government that 10 thousand Haitians had arrived in Guyana legally. Still, their locations from where they belong were not known.

Mr. Nandlall said that by observation for the last several months, the thing has been now cleared that the Haitians were being smuggled through a well organised human smuggling chain while this smuggling the Haitians were brought to Guyana. According to the officials, many Haitians who were being smuggled end up in French Guiana via Suriname and Brazil.

Mr. Nandlall said that currently, 10 youths, who had been spotted in a room at a hotel of Corentyne, Berbice, have been held at the Hugo Chavez Centre for the purpose of Rehabilitation, Onverwagt, West Berbice, as police had continued their search to find those who had taken away their travel documents, money and other documents on their arrival from Suriname.