GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — The Government of Guyana is making plans to introduce an Electronic Visa (E-Visa) and Work Visa System as part of the implementation and development of a modern visa issuance policy and system.

With help from the European Union (EU) and the United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the system will help in eliminating bogus immigration stamps as well as human trafficking.

On Wednesday, Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix said he was in receipt of the policy recommendations and guidelines for the new visa system.

Work to compile the report, conducted by the IOM, came about following a request made by the Department of Citizenship to the African, Caribbean-European Union (ACP-EU) Migration Action Programme in June 2015 for technical assistance on how to improve the country’s visa processing and issuance system and immigration services.

According to Felix, Guyana currently still issues its work and visitor visas via the use of rubber stamps, which has led to instances of forgery.  

“Every now and again we are encountering foreigners presenting their passports with bogus Guyana stamps… How long must we contend with a situation in which our immigration system is easily defrauded? And once we recognise fraud intervening into a legitimate system it is our duty to make sure that we protect it against fraud so that genuine travellers would understand what is available and be able to use it without fear of holding on to something that is bogus,” he said.

With the completion of the report, Felix says the Department of Citizenship will look at the recommendations, decide which are feasible and come up with a plan of action for the implementation of the E-Visa system.