Parliament met on Wednesday, June 26th to amend the Citizenship Act to broaden the opportunities for the children and grandchildren of Saint Lucians living overseas.

This move, as the Minister highlighted, intends to capitalise on the potential of Saint Lucians who wish to contribute to the national development of the country.

“Saint Lucians in the diaspora have also achieved international acclaim for our country. And I'm sure we would readily recognise names like Sir Arthur Lewis, Nina Compton, Sir Derek Wolcott, Dr. Winston Paris. Can you imagine if the grandchildren of these individuals were born out of Saint Lucia?”

The amendment of Section 5 of the Act reads:  “A person born outside Saint Lucia after the commencement of this Act becomes a citizen at the date of his or her birth if, at that date, his or her father, mother, grandfather or grandmother is a citizen by birth.”

The amendments also scrapped part (d) of Section 5 to make the process of obtaining Saint Lucian citizenship easier. This subsection states that diaspora citizens have to obtain “a letter of clearance from the Inland Revenue Department” as part of the application process.

During the Committee Stage, the House decided to remove this subsection to avoid the hassle of obtaining a tax clearance from the IRD.

The Minister notes that numerous grandchildren of Saint Lucians overseas have long advocated for an easier process to become Saint Lucian nationals.

“With this amendment, the grandchildren of born Saint Lucians will be provided with a long-awaited avenue to regularise their status as naturalised Saint Lucians.”