Roadtown, Tortola - The Governor’s Office held a weeklong Passport and Nationality training course in the Territory which included delegates from the United Kingdom Overseas Territories.
The course, which was held at the Treasure Isle Hotel from February 23-27, comprised officers from the Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Anguilla, Bermuda and the Territory’s Civil Registry and Passport Office.
The workshop was facilitated by three trainers from the United Kingdom’s Border Agency in Liverpool and two trainers from the Foreign and Commonwealth’s Office in London.
As a result of the workshop, participants are now able to apply the relevant nationality legislation to determine eligibility and automatic claims. Participants also learned ways to process applications for British Overseas Territories Citizenship (BOTC) more effectively and shared best practices with those from other Territories.
The first four days of the workshop focused on the nationality aspect of the training to enable delegates to effectively process applications for British Citizenship (BC) and BOTC under the British Nationality Act, 1981. Effective ways to identify and combat fraud were discussed at Friday’s session.
The Civil Registry and Passport Office is the government department responsible for issuing visas and passports, processing applications for naturalisation, and registering births, death and marriages in the Territory among other things. The Civil Registry is located upstairs the Burhym Building on Wickhams Cay I. The Passport Office is located on the ground floor of the Central Administration Complex.
British Virgin Islands News