Caribbean nationals may soon travel to USVI visa-free

Legislation permitting Caribbean nationals to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands without a visa was recently approved in the House Judiciary Committee. The measure must still be passed by the full House and Senate.

The Virgin Islands Visa Waiver Act (H.R. 5460) was put forward by Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett and would allow the Department of Homeland Security to consider approving non-immigrant visitor visa waivers for entry into the U.S. Virgin Islands for up to 45 days (primarily for residents of neighboring Caribbean countries). Ms. Plaskett said a similar non-immigrant visitor visa waiver program is already being utilised successfully in both Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands for nationals of other countries.

“This legislation would extend this same program to the U.S. Virgin Islands. This limited visa waiver program would better enable the Virgin Islands to compete economically with other islands and nations in the Caribbean community,” Ms. Plaskett said. The bill would apply solely to the U.S. Virgin Islands and would not allow entry into any other part of the United States.

Source:https://plaskett.house.gov