Marriages of convenience are on the radar of the Department of Immigration in St. Kitts and Nevis.
According to the St Kitts and Nevis Information Service, on Tuesday’s edition of Leadership Matters, Chief Immigration Officer Merclyn Hughes noted that the practice is one of the areas that will be addressed through legislation. “These are one of the things that we are looking at in terms of the Immigration Act to be reviewed and for amendments …,” Hughes stated. “Those are some of the recommendations that we want to make so that when these situations occur, we will have teeth, we will have the [legal] grounds to stand on to investigate.” The Enforcement Unit of the Immigration Department will help to probe these matters once the amendments are passed in the National Assembly.
The Chief Immigration Officer said that members in the Enforcement Unit are conducting regular checks to “manage the large number of persons” who overstayed their time in the country or who are working without the relevant approvals. Members of the public are encouraged to share information with the department on suspicious activities, particularly illegal entry into the country.
