Bar Association supports plan to change immigration policy

PHILIPSBURG--The St. Maarten Bar Association is supporting Minister of Justice Roland Duncan in his intention to change the existing admission and expulsion policy as early as August 1.

Minister Duncan outlined the policy changes in a session for his ministry and representatives of other government departments last week Friday.

"The Bar notices that the proposed changes are, importantly, more realistic and in accordance with international law than the policy that is in existence. An example is changing the 10-year period to a five-year period for obtaining permanent residency.

"Residents are eligible to apply for Dutch nationality after five years of residency, yet for permanent residency one needs to wait 10 years according to the current policy. Changing that period to five years makes perfect sense," St. Maarten Bar Association Dean Remco Stomp said in a press release issued on Thursday.

"Another example is the changes in family life-based residency. We are seeing mothers with permanent residency not being able to file for their babies' residency because they personally do not make enough money. They need to make at least NAf. 36,000 yearly to qualify for legalising their often locally-born babies.

"These mothers do not have the time for a fulltime job as they have to take care of their young ones, reason why many jurisdictions make an exception on that income requirement for at least the first, often three, years. The income of their partners does not count, for many mothers are not married, resulting in significant numbers of undocumented children. A highly undesired situation," Stomp said.

The St. Maarten Bar Association has not yet received details of the proposed policy and laws, but said it welcomed the suggested changes.

The Bar Association is also pleased that the training of personnel has become a priority.

"Proper knowledge of the rules and regulations will make the various civil servants more confident about their tasks, which will likely have a positive effect on the handling of cases and service to the public," said Stomp. "A combination of transparent and humane immigration rules with proper training will make enforcement of these same rules more understandable and legitimate."

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/29656-bar-association-supports-plan-to-change-immigration-policy-.html

Social networking War crimes World Cup 2018 Supermarkets Florida Banking