Government calls for registered Venezuelans to collect permits

The Defence Ministry is calling on Venezuelans legally registered in TT to collect their work permit exemption extensions.

On June 9, the ministry issued a list of work permit exemption extensions under the Migrant Registration Framework to be collected on June 9, 10 and 11.

There are 120 permits to be collected on June 9, 120 on June 10 and 37 on June 11, for a total of 277.

The list can be found at https://nationalsecurity.gov.tt/services/workpermit-exemptionextension/

In March, the then Ministry of National Security announced that the first tranche of approved ministry’s permits could be collected between March 25-28, with 120 permits being collected on each day for a total of 480 permits.

While the latest announcement did not give a location, in March, the ministry had said issuing of the approved permits would be conducted from Monday to Friday 8 am-2 pm at the Enforcement Unit, 135 Henry Street, Port of Spain.

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

In 2023, then national security minister Fitzgerald Hinds said there were approximately 7,000 Venezuelans registered in TT, down from 9,000 in 2019.

The call for the collection of work permits comes days after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar called on Venezuelans in TT to voluntarily return home. She said the government would work on a new migrant plan in the upcoming months.

Attempts to contact Defence Minister Wayne Sturge for further clarification were unsuccessful up to press time.