Dear Editor,
Many Guyanese living in the USA find themselves without a valid Guyana passport due to the fact that at the Guyana Embassy in Washington no passport books are available. As you are aware the government of the United States as of January this year has made it law that entry into the United States requires a valid passport along with your green card. This new law has removed the freedom we once enjoyed of travelling to Canada and Mexico with our green cards only.
In view of the above, I would like to suggest to the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs Mr Clement Rohee that since a large number of Guyanese living in the United States are in the process of completing the requirements for becoming United States citizens but need a valid passport in the event of an emergency, the Government of Guyana immediately authorize the embassy in Washington to renew our passports that are 15 years old and have usable pages for one to two years more.
This action would allow for our passports to be renewed immediately and we would not have to wait for new passport books to be made available. In addition it would save the Government a substantial sum of money as our passports would only be required up to the period of becoming American citizens.
I was deprived of coming home last Christmas due to the fact that I did not have a valid passport.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Marques
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee.