The number of illegal immigrants could very well increase here in The Bahamas considering there is some $5 million outstanding in fees from people who have been issued letters approving their permits.

Minister of Immigration, Brent Symonette says, “If a person does not come in and pay for their permit, because usually they walk around for months with this in their hand, they will be considered an illegal immigrant and deported irrespective of how many times they have had a work permit.

“You get the letter, you pay your fees or you’re deemedto be an illegal immigrant, that will be strictly enforced,” said  Mr.Symonette.      

The Minister  explained that there is a life expectancy of 30 days on those letters.

As for the backlog in work permits,  he said  that  has been shaved down to six weeks.

“One third of them are being emailed to the applicants, the other two thirds obviously go through the mail, sowe’re pretty caught up on that. We’re working on permanent residency and citizenship now.