Email

Print

123 new Belizean citizens were sworn in today at the George Price Center in Belmopan.  They were welcomed by CEO in the Ministry, Edmund Zuniga – who also gave them a caution:…

Edmund Zuniga - Director of Immigration
“Today we are swearing in 123 new Belizeans who come from 25 different countries of origin including Bangladesh, England, Burma, I think this is my first swearing in with somebody from Burma, who is the person from Burma? Good (waves), welcome. Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Philippines of course our neighbours from Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Nigeria and I have some special friends here from Nigeria; I see one over there; Pakistan, Paraguay, Russia, Salvador, Scotland, Slovakia, Venezuela and of course the great United States of America. The process for you to become Belizeans is even more open to scrutiny by the public at large. We take your applications at the immigration department; they are checked by the officers accepting the applications and further checked by senior officers who then submit them to the director of immigration who conducts her own check. Once she’s satisfied that the applicant meets the requirements the names, your names and you can check your names are published in the gazette for 3 weeks so that the members of the public, your neighbours, your friend, and your enemies can have an opportunity to say whether or not they think you should be a Belizean. And let me assure you that we hold these ceremonies in public so that we can publicly welcome you into our Belizean family.â€￾

Hon. Beverly Williams - Minister of State, Immigration
“I for me love the fact that we are able to share with our close neighbours and for those of you who are not so close to us a piece of what we cherish most, Belize as being the most peaceful country in Central America. To share that with you, to look at the wealth of resources that we have, our natural resources from the pristine forests to the high mountains to the Maya Ruins to just the beautiful people of which now you become a part.â€￾

Edmund Zuniga - Director of Immigration
“If it is found that after you receive your citizenship you reside outside of Belize for 5 consecutive years or if you’re convicted of an offence under the Belizean nationality act or if you’re convicted of a crime under the criminal code or if within 5 years of receiving your citizenship you are sentenced in any court to imprisonment for a term of 12 months or more you can lose your Belizean citizenship.â€￾

And for those who can’t access a copy of the Gazette where the names of new applicants for citizenship are published – you can find the list online at INS.GOV.BZ. or on Facebook at Belize Immigration & Nationality.