BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Prime Minister Mia Mottley says Barbados will honour its commitment to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping as she outlined the conditions under which foreigners could obtain Barbadian citizenship.
“ My friends, let us be clear about who we are inviting home first. It is our Bajan family, our extended Bajan family. We will move from citizenship as a right for children of Bajans to citizenship as a right, down to great-grandchildren.
“Because the first claim on Barbados must be those whose roots run deepest in our soil, and a great-grandchild is as important to a great-grandparent as their child and their grandchild. It is immediate and close,” Mottley said in a radio and television broadcast on Sunday night.
“We will also honour our CARICOM family with preferential treatment in the acquisition of citizenship. Beyond family, we will welcome skills and investment that lift productivity, expand opportunity, and safeguard the Barbadian way of life,” she added.
Mottley said a few days ago, legislators began debating two companion measures: the immigration bill, 2025, and the citizenship bill, 2025, and then asked that those bills go to the parliamentary governance standing committee for wider consultation before final passage.
“These companion bills sweep away the old immigrant status, and that, of course, is captured in the current Act, which builds and does recognize skills and investment as a basis for persons to come.
“This will have and create, however, a clear, humane path to permanent residence instead of immigrant status. They put residence and residence at work on firm legal footings so that families are not left in limbo; that is the bills we are talking about. And they give spouses of Barbadians a straightforward route to settle and contribute with automatic permanent resident status. “
But Mottley made it clear that Barbados will not sell citizenship.
“Let me be extremely blunt…we will not sell citizenship. Our passport is respected among the strongest in our region and the world, for that matter, and carries the value of who we are. It is not a commodity to be traded; once you become a Barbadian, there are no first-class or second-class citizens, only equal rights and equal responsibilities. “
She said that in the year 2000, Barbados recorded 3642 live births and 2444 deaths, a natural increase of just over 1100 people. In 2024, births were 1995 while deaths were 3088, a natural decrease of 1100 persons.
“My friends, this is our stark reality. So, our path is one of sober planning, and it must be about fairness. Our aim will always be to train and upskill Bajans first. And where gaps remain, we will bring in additional hands on time-bound transfer of knowledge terms each one train one, so that Barbadians benefit first, last and always, even as we keep this country moving in the right direction,” she told the nation.
Several Caribbean countries have a Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme through which foreign investors are granted citizenship of these countries in return for making a substantial investment in their socio-economic development.
In addition, Barbados is a member of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allows for the free movement of skills, labour, services, goods, and capital.
Mottley stated that the bills are publicly available and will be widely distributed. She invites everyone to come forward and have their say, as the parliamentary committee does its work. We will listen to you.
“My friends, this is how we grow, welcoming those with a real stake in this country, while protecting what we have built for ultimately, it widens opportunity, strengthens security, stabilizes our Social Security, and keeps Barbados growing in the right direction. That is democracy”.
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