She expressed her concern at a town hall meeting on Immigration policies at Princess Margaret School on Thursday night.
“What we are concerned with is people who want to invest in Barbados; we are recommending that as it stands now that if it comes to our attention that they did not establish themselves, there is the possibility of revoking that status.
“We are suggesting two options here; one would be to grant the person immigrant status and in a three-year period, or in a five-year period, the person would come back and show that they are established.
“If at that time they are not established they might be given another chance to show that they are established but if they don’t establish themselves then clearly immigrant status can be revoked,” Griffith said. If all requirements are met, immigrant status would be granted fairly automatically, she said.
She also said a parent or grand- parent of a citizen could be granted immigrant status once they have no dependants or as long as the child or grandchild can take care of them.
“We are asking that that section of the legislation be amended so that the person can be granted a special entry permit,” she said. Griffith said special entry permits were not included in the legislation but were granted at the minister’s discretion. These, she said, are granted for a period of three to five years.
