Visa requirement for Guyanese and Jamaicans to enter St. Maarten takes effect
POSTED: 04/13/11 12:23 PMSt. Maarten – New regulations requiring Guyanese and Jamaicans to obtain a visa to enter St. Maarten took effect on Monday. This was confirmed in a statement by Justice Minister Roland Duncan on Tuesday. The move is based on a request by Justice Minister that was supported by the Council of Ministers.
In his statement Duncan states that communiqués have been sent to various stakeholders informing them of the regulation taking effect and advising people that visas must be sought in their home countries. The person or agency who invites someone from Jamaica or Guyana to St. Maarten should also submit a written request to the Immigration Department for approval.
In order to obtain a visa the applicant will have to present a color, passport size photo, a passport that will valid for three months after the persons visit to St. Maarten, a job letter, company registration or school letter, a bank letter, a copy of their travel itinerary, a copy of their passport, and travel medical insurance of at least $15, 000 dollars.
People who have been invited will also have to show a copy of the inviter’s passport and proof that the inviter is residing here legally. If the person will be staying in a hotel they will have to show a copy of their confirmed booking and between $100 dollars and $200 dollars per day.
The request for a visa can only be made within the three months before the travel date and people should anticipate that it will take two to three weeks for the request to be handled. Further information on how to apply and the requirements are posted on the website of the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry: www.minbuza.nl.
“It is of utmost importance that all persons traveling to St. Maarten who are of Guyanese and Jamaican nationality, be aware and informed that all border controls are in place to ensure that this new policy is enforced,” Duncan stated in his release.
Comments (43)
What about jamacoians living in tortola who. Come in on shop to go home
What about we who live in tortoa who going jamaica always stop make a little shopping then go next day because for me I don’t buy anything tortola all my shopping. I do yearly is st.maarten I would appreciate. Your consideration on that matter
The rule still apply regardless of where you live.
I hope the same applies to all St. Maarten folks visiting Guyana and Jamaica. They should also be required to obtain a visa and $15,000.00 insurance. What goes for one, should go for all.
This is not a one sided deal.
Who wants to visit guyana? Got to be kidding right?
I find it necessary for a country to protect its citizen and borders as needed, as Jamaican I understand such needs which are NOT being attended to by our representative. We cannot control the behaviour of all Jamaicans abroad, and for this reason We continue to suffer, be disrespected and demoralized by countries of “status”. We as a nation needs to put an end to this embarrassment of the Jamaican people.
If our Parliament does not take a stand on this matter, soon our tourist product will say to the world Jamaica;”an island of thugs” no one wants to be around thugs, except thugs, what then? On the other hand clean up the nation and the marketing budget for the tourist product will be far less. The point is stop pointing fingers, it’s our fault, respect should not be bought, sold or otherwise, it should be earned!
I AGREE WITH YOU , WHO WANTS TO GO GUYANA LOOK AT WHAT THEY DID TO TRINIDAD THEY GO THERE GET PAPERS TO PROVE THEY BORN THERE THEN SQUAT ON LAND FOR SOME YEARS THAT’S NOT THEIRS AND THEN CLAIM IT UNDER THE SQUATTERS RIGHTS AND THE PERSON WHO OWNS THE LAND HAS NO RIGHTS . THEY ARE THE MOST RACIST SECT OF PEOPLE LIVING IN TRINIDAD NOW, THEY ARE THE MOST CORRUPT BUNCH OF THIEVES I HAVE EVER SEEN, TAKE MY ADVICE AND KEEP THEM OUT OF YOUR COUNTRY THEY WILL SPOIL IT
wow, i know this comment was made over a year ago. But who give you the right to judge any body, and get your facts straight before you go about stereotyping every Guyanese person. We may have our faults but were good and decent people, and so you know Guyana is one of the most beautiful countries on this side of the world, we have things that other countries wished they had, y’all behave as if only Guyanese and Jamaicans have issues. We all have issues because were all human beings, it just that some of us are better off than others.
So before you judge check yourself and see if your without faults. Then and only then can you judge us, but i don’t blame you people who make such foolish comments i blame the leaders of these two wonderful countries had they made the necessary provisions the citizens would not have to venture into other unknown territories to be insulted all in the name of fighting for betterment. Its truly sad to see how humans treat each other.
my white a– dangerous to my life. Was a housepainter from Guyanna hat tried to kill me with a firebomb here on Nevis and am now criooled for life. yz, I worked hard to up this large hydroponic operation on Westnury Rd. all contacts and experience acquired in Saba snd now cant go back s need a VISA.
i should add was a nice young lady also from Guyanna that saved my life and lucky to know her. and is also a good friend of my family in Canada. another comment saw here. yes WASPS in Toronto in the minority. Was like that at Imperial Oil from where am retired. Livens the city .up. And certainly hav3e no problem with the locals here in Nevis, a new government but the Ministry of Justice for SKN non existant.
Who wants to there?
Ayo lord me don’t want to go neither to Guyana or Jamaica rather go some place less violent.
Thumbs up atleast this govt did something good.
the thing is that ST.Maarten folks go to shop and just that,not go to hide away and overstay
they go to shop with yall own money tht they thief……its better to over stay , hideaway and work hard…than to take bread out of my own ppl mouth…yall youths too lazy to work..but they want money to buy weed and sit on the block thinkin on which one of yall house they will rob later on…smh yall talks too much..empty barrel make the most noise..
Lol! Look her burning because her folks can’t come here anymore!
leaving little ST.Maarten over crowded
when decisions like these are made it affects all of us,
some emotionally, and others financially.
I agree that no country wants nationalities that will bring terror to their shores , the guyana goverment definitely need to g et their act together and really manage guyana so that guyanese would stay home , so all of us would not be branded as criminals, air travel now, as it is,is daunting, now to have to apply for a visa, another daunting task.
for the past five years i have been visiting st maarteen in september with my husband ,last year we were on a cruise that was supposed to visit there but because of the bad weather the ship went to st thomas twice and i was mad that i did not get to visit, the whole world now is online so just maybe the authorities should think about online visas.
Because they will surely lose some.some may come to be a nuisance, but others that i am sure would be in the majority come to spend hard cash. just like any other tourist from around the world.
I think if I were Guyanese or Jamaican, I would spend my money on either a American, British or Canadian visa…why spend it to come to a small island and still be descrimiated, just because I come to visit. The people in St. Maarten are small minded just like the island small….don’t worry soon the economy gonna drop like that of Jamaica and Guyana…..they better NEVER go independant cause if that happens well……..the people will understand what bad government can cause.
Thank Sense for your support who wants to go to maarten that dirty place with backwards people just as the island small so is the people thinkings. i was there in december an its nothing to talk bout that place have nothing going on
Tch! Tch! U are not accepted here!
Have read all your comments, and you seem not to like Guyanese or Jamaican people but were the under dogs, were already great in our own way. and have a lot going for us, its people like you that motivate us to strive harder and prove ourselves, such ignorance cannot stop or hold a Guyanese or Jamaican down because were larger than life itself. Were fighters hun and any area we touch we conquer it, and that is why y’all don’t like us…
Such small thinking and so much hatred, so sad so sad.
As the daughter of SXM i dont understand why my rights my heritage was sold for votes to many people from the caribbean. Why is it today that my Dutch education has been devaluated like an out dated currency .
Why my grandparents have to bar there windows and doors spoiling the beauty of a ST Maarteners home.
Take notes from Anguillia never selling out there people there land to people who island may be bigger then SXM but stricken with so much poverty and social Misfits. A lady paid me a compliment asking me where i was from she was suprised i was from SXM born to SXM parents schooled in MPC still speaks Dutch and English.
Im saying get OUTTT GO HOME!!!!!!! I love my SXM song as it is .I HATE THE CRIME !!!i never grew up seeing it funerals was of those over 50 0r someone sick never someone who was butcher.My grandfather toiled SXM god bless and rest him which man will pass at his age these days i dont know. Where is it so many foreign nationals are securties guards REALLY NOW !!!!! I WANT MY DUTCH PASSPORT BACK GIVE IT BACK IF U BOUGHT IT I WANT IT BACK go back to where ur parents are from SXM deserves to be clean again and beautiful so many of SOCIAL MISFITS RUNNING LOOSE DRIVING CARS PUTTING GUNS IN UR FACE.I use to be able to walk town and see the beautiful clothes or jewelry on front street these are things i wanted to work hard and earn on my own now what is there left to enjoy ??????? what is my children legacy an island that is filled with crime raw sewage running Dutch no longer in Dutch schools and Gyanese Jamaicans Dominicans and those from the Dominica Republic who tell me there from here and cant even read a document that comes from the Goverment because its in Dutch ………….I cant see why they was given rights for a vote why they was left to have there offsprings here ???? Some places send u back home to give birth that was once in our law why isnt it reinstated!
Young girls being murder it dont matter where there from but someone did it why arent they punished ohh yea our law is too SOFT… crime is a special on SXM. How can SXM be any better when those who continue to get power are the ones who sold SOLD SOLD my rights they too need to be band from SXM . I shall cry TEARS OF BLOOD for those who was murder i shall spite words of fact until the roads STOP BLEED BLOOD i know i shall be buried in a pot HOLE .
I have soo much respect for the French police know they do there jobs they sand in the sun when ours hide from it .
The Dutch officers (from Holland ) love u guys i wish they could lock up everyone who wasnt from here one by one .
My Queen love her lots im proud to be Dutch but SXM isnt ready for the power certainly not when those who are in power now continue to BLEED BLEED SXM DRY .
I HATE THOSE WHO DONT WORK AND GET PAY WHAT HAPPEN TO AN HONEST DAYS WORK FOR A HONEST DAY PAY ??????
GO HOME cant u see SXM wont even give ur children Dutch rights when they are born here OK so u cant read the Dutch its means GET THE HELL OUT AND GO HOME
Daughter OF SXM
You do not sound educated at all. Your grammar is absolutely atrocious and it makes you sound like a high school drop out. Perhaps you should learn to write properly before posting in public forums and offering judgment on others.
“Daughter of St. Maarten,” I think your comments are very ignorant and misguided. Who are you trying to fool? St. Maarten’s national language is ENGLISH, not DUTCH. The Dutch own SXM, but SXM is not truly Dutch. It’s 2011, and Black people are still seeing themselves in the image of their colonizer??! How pathetic! Get over yourself, you are not Dutch, no matter what it says on your passport. We are all one family in the Caribbean…. By the way, many of those immigrants from the Dominican Republic who you hate so much are in fact second and third generation St. Maarteners who migrated to DR in the 1940s.
Go to Holland right now and see if a real Dutch accept you as one of them… ha! SXM is a BLACK CARIBBEAN island, not a DUTCH island.
ALL THIS TALK ABOUT BLACK AND WHITE I RUBBISH , YES WE ARE ALL BLACK BUT LOOK AT WHO IS KILLING , ROBBING AND ALWAYS TRYING TO GET OVER ANOTHER BLACK MAN, YES, YOU GOT IT ANOTHER BLACK MAN. IT TIME WE BLACK PEOPLE WAKE UP AND START ACTING CIVILIZE . GUYANESE PEOPLE FROM MY EXPERIENCE ARE NASTY MINDED PEOPLE I WOULD NOT WANT THEM ANYWHERE I LIVE , THEY ALWAYS TRY TO GO INTO OTHER PEOPLES COUNTRY AND BEHAVE AS IF THEY HAVE MORE RIGHTS THAN THE PEOPLE THAT ARE BORN THERE
lmao….look wat these thing talkin about guyanese….when is they own st maarten folks doin the robbin and killin…u know is ayu own ppl killin yall rass and robbing ayu…bcuz ayu ppl dont like to work…never see some lazy ass ppl like yall..they dont like to get up and clean their own room or wash them clothes…but good to take other ppl sweat…yall need to start workin and stop puttin the blame on other ppl….i saw with my own eyes the young boys like to show off on their bikes…showing off but still snatching ppl purses along the road….plz admit it is you guys own ppl giving yall pain and sorrow
St. Maarten, Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad.. we all the same.. but the policies we set sometimes send the wrong message.. Smaller island with less resources must do what they can to protect their citizens (regardless of where they grandfather was born).. If not then the country ends up in a bad situation and hasty policies like these are then created that cause more harm than good.. maybe we need to think about how we can work together as a community as oppose to create strife. Less we end up like the Middle East or Darfur where we start resenting our own brothers and sisters because of the color of their passport..
Why does anyone want to go to Guyana or Jamaica anyway ???? Same with DR. Send em all back home.
Guyana is a beautiful place ,i was born and raise in Guyana ,my father in dutch my mother is Guyanese ,so tell me why did a dutch man leave his home land to live ,married and have children in Guyana ,you why ,because it is a beautiful Country ,in Guyana we have island in our river bigger than st marrten ,and if you go to Guyana ,you wouldn’t want to come back to st marrten and live ,and guyanese they all are good people ,i am dutch so tell me where should i go ,you’ll must think before you’ll talk ignorance ,you ppl full of too much of hate in your heart ,we all are human being.
Go back to Holland and your bloody discriminating first world will you. Stop coming to our nations and taking advantage of our resources.. then giving us hell to enter yours. A big “F you” to you and all countries like yours.
SXM has always welcome people who were willing to work, people who have respect for the island and it’s people. St.Maarten people are the only Caribbean people who have to constantly defend their heritage. I can’t understand why some people would want to immigrate to an island or country and then talk rubbish about the citizens of that territory. We are only so big, and we have the right to choose those who we believe will make a contribution to a better society and a healty economy. We do not want more shanty areas, people throwing their water on the roads and people who don’t want to Learn anything about the country and by the way the official languages are Dutch + English
I agree with you.
“Why does anyone want to come to Jamaica? ” you ask. Well that question may best be answered by the millions of tourists what visit us yearly. These are the people who come here for the beauty of our country and the hospitality of our people. I vacationed in SMX in 2001 for our wedding anniversary and stayed at Divi Little Bay. Nice relaxing time away from home. However even though I loved the architecture of the Dutch homes the shopping on front street the cuisine on the French side of the island, I was able to drive around the island in 2 hours and that is with stopping in Marrigot for lunch for an hour! There really is nothing there to see. A butterfly farm, a nude beach, shops and shops. Nothing else really. I understand some Jamaicans who are there have acted in the most disgraceful manner, you do not want them in your country. Truth be told neither do we. We the law abiding citizens and children of Jamaica land of beauty do not want to associate with kinds like those. You must understand that we are a proud people and do not take kindly to people who paint a blanket on all of us. I have been to 24 countries in the last 12 years alone and found that As with EVERY country, there are good and bad people. if your encounter with a few people from a certain race or country is negative you might be inclined to think all are the same. I guess I am guilty of it too as I was robbed by an Italian once and thought all Italians are thieves. We are not all the same!
I would never visit a small minded island Ike st Maarten.
i need to get a message to chef of po;ice of st martin tony sperin back home but not got long to live would like to no more about his live over thire this is his sister from england would like to knoe asap thank you cna u get him to phone me 01617972866 thank you lots of love
Just wondering… Would SXM be the place it is if many of the people from the other Caribbean territories were not supporting their economy? Just wondering… Would the people of SXM still enjoy the privileges that they do now if these same Caribbean people were to stop supporting their economy.
I have read the comments displayed here and would like to remind all that if you live in a glass house you shouldn’t throw stones. All Guyanese and Jamaicans should return to their place of birth? Sure. Why not? Just remember that if we do many of the small islands would fall into destitution as we help to keep many of the small islands going.
Then again, when you look around is the same Guyanese and Jamaicans who are some of the most skilled people around in trade and crafts. They are the ones who take on the menial tasks of cleaning some of your houses so that you can delude yourselves with thoughts of grandeur.
Growing up in Guyana I lived next to people from many of the small islands. They didn’t live better than I did and some were worse off. I wonder if some of you would still be so opinionated if the Guyanese government were to begin deporting all of them back to where they came from. TRust me when I say that you haven’t seen overcrowded yet. what will you do when your precious SMALL island is overcrowded with your own? Where will you send them then? When you say one, you should also say two, or SHUT THE HELL UP! THe same way there are Guyanese and Jamaicans in St. Maarten, there are many people from SXM and their descendants all over the world and many of them are criminals. Shall we return them?
JUst wondering
I have read most of these comments and with utmost understanding of some of the things that happens on the Island. i must point out that most of the criminal activities that takes place is done by islanders. I have visited Sxm on several occasion and i most point out that i was never so scared in my life. I wake up early in the morning to grab some grocery from a little grocery shop in middle region and to my surprise i saw over TEN young men ( From SXM) who sat at that Supermarket playing and talking all type of nonsense. I returned there in the afternoon only to see the same set of young men there. ( SXM)
As a social worker i have done my investigation and Jamaica is a paradise to SXM. Not only is the island it self a paradise but produce the most skilled workers, the most courteous, professional and smartest people. Every man is entitled to there own opinion but don’t stereotype the Jamaican nor the Guyanese but seek to improve the social and behavioral handicaps who are BORN SXMers.
Most caribbean people who are not Jamaicans will always hate Jamaicans because we are the talk of the town. Everyone knows us and some really want to visit us.
I never heard about St. Marteen and I am 22 years old. GET LOST and try find some recognition.
so much hate… thats why as a region we cant advance with the way we tear each other down. crime isnt specific to any one group of people and each island, whether small or large, has something to offer. all those who only have negative comments need to wake up… youre no better than the people you profess to hate
God is love. Thank You Jesus that You have the power to save man from all his sins. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Romans 10:9-10
(Rom 10:9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
(Rom 10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
(Rom 10:11) For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
you know…If only we had some good natural resources like oil and natural gas. more bauxite.. to accompany the tourism.. We could do like Brazil.. and SHUT OUR BORDERS TO SO CALLED “FIRST WORLD” NATIONS going through recession whose citizens come here and overstay and say ” i wanna stay here, and take your jobs, and women”. I say NO. JAMAICA CLOSE YOUR BORDERS TO THOSE WHO CLOSE THEIRS.
This is discriminatory….too bad for SXM’s tourism economy