This decision was made on October 25 during a Cabinet meeting.

In a report on that meeting on Tuesday, November 12, the government said Cabinet, “reviewed and approved the grant of Certificates of Residence and Belonger Status to 400 applicants who have met the legal requirements of Section 2 (4) and Section 3 of the Immigration and Passport Amendment Act, 2019”.

The move is part of the VIP government’s regularization initiative that grants Belongership and permanent residency to select expatriate residents.

Figure doubles that of NDP

That 400 figure doubles the approximate 200 that the previous National Democratic Party (NDP) government had granted in the last two years of their administration.

In a May 2019 sitting of the House of Assembly, Premier Andrew Fahie reported that 75 Belongerships were issued between January 1, 2017, and February 10, 2018, under the NDP’s governance.

He said a total of 115 were found to be issued between January 1, 2018, and to February 10, 2019.