Venezuelans wait for work permit stickers

VENEZUELAN REFUGEES in Trinidad and Tobago who have had permits to work and live here legally since 2019 have been waiting for the 2025 stickers for four months.

On November 8, 2024, a press release from the Ministry of National Security announced the extension of work permits for Venezuelans until December 31 of this year.

The ministry said in the coming weeks, a list of approved permit numbers would be gradually published on its website and social media pages, indicating when those with these work permit numbers should visit the corresponding immigration office to pick up their new stickers and update their registration cards.

The delay in delivering these stickers with the new expiration date has put hundreds of Venezuelans in a difficult situation.

Many of them have lost their jobs because their cards are not updated.

Carmen Farias, a Venezuelan woman who has lived in Trinidad and Tobago for eight years, said she was fired from a restaurant the first week of February. Her former boss explained she needed to present a valid work permit.

“There is a press release from November 8. It explains there is a one-year extension, but the bosses don't want to have legal issues and prefer to fire their Venezuelan workers.”

Farias told Newsday she has renewed her documents annually with the Immigration Division. She managed to get another job at a supermarket in Chaguanas, where they only required a work ID.

These IDs currently have a sticker shows a validity of December 31, 2024.

This situation prevents the same Venezuelans from leaving Trinidad and Tobago and returning legally. They also cannot open bank accounts or complete other legal procedures at the same government institutions. Venezuelan social activist Yulmary Belle told Newsday one of the requirements Immigration itself requires for granting entry visas to Venezuelans is having an updated work card.

“These are procedures before the Immigration Division itself. It's been a four-month wait, and as the months pass, many Venezuelans can't leave Trinidad and Tobago to go to doctors, businesses, or even to visit their home country for fear of not being able to re-enter Trinidad and Tobago. They also can't obtain provisional driver's licences.”

Another difficulty Venezuelans have had is registering their children in local schools because they don't have a valid work permit. Several immigrants said the Ministry of Education is requiring them to provide the new sticker dated December 31, 2025.

Speaking to Newsday by phone on the afternoon of March 14, then-minister of national security Fitzgerald Hinds said there was good news for Venezuelans registered with the government in 2019.

“The new stickers are in our hands. Immigration officers will begin distributing them soon. This is good news for them because we've continued extending their work permits for the past five years.”

On Monday, Marvin Gonzales was named Minister of National Security and Hinds reassigned to the Office of the Prime Minister.

Newsday understands the Ministry of National Security will issue a press release in the coming days to inform them about the procedure for issuing the stickers.