Caricom and Foreign Affairs Minister Sean Sobers addressed the recent decision by the United Kingdom to impose visa requirements on Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) nationals, attributing it to a lack of political will by the previous administration. During a media briefing at the Red House in Port-of-Spain, Sobers explained that the visa restrictions were a consequence of the former government’s failure to amend crucial legislation that could have prevented the change.
On March 12, UK High Commissioner Jon Mark Dean announced the new visa policy, which requires all T&T citizens to obtain a visa before traveling to the UK, effectively ending decades of visa-free access. Sobers noted that the absence of legislation to notify the UK of travelers departing T&T was a key issue.
He remarked that the former government had been warned well before the March deadline about the need for legislative amendments. Discussions with the British High Commission are ongoing, with a virtual meeting planned for next week. However, Sobers cautioned that passing the necessary legislation would not automatically remove the visa requirements, indicating the complexity of the situation.
