Above: the Turks and Caicos House of Assembly

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Turks and Caicos has intensified discussions over a new pathway to citizenship in the territory, holding a series of country-wide community meetings aimed at creating a new framework on the issue.

“I want to strongly urge all citizens to participate in these discussions,” said Lillian Misick, who chaired a recent Consultative Forum. “This exercise gives us all a chance to help create the framework that will determine the future makeup of our society; the TCI we wish to pass on to future generations.”

The Ministry of Border Control and Labour has developed a consultation document on the issue, accompanied by a questionnaire.

The major issues include whether TCI should move to a “points system” for deciding TCI status, an approach recommended in 2004 by an Immigration Review Commission.

The points would come from a number of areas, including age, type of occupation, level of skill, level of income, country of origin, ethnicity and ability to speak and write English, according to the government.

Also under discussion are whether persons should qualify for citizenship purely by investment, as is the case in countries like St Kitts and Nevis, and what an adequate time period is for someone applying for citizenship.