CARICOM to soon launch CARIPASS

TIMES INT'L

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will soon launch one of the world’s first automated multi-state travel documents (CARIPASS) for use within 10 participating countries of the community, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. The CARIPASS document became effective from November 2010. Specific launch dates in each participating state would be dependent on the passing of relevant legislation, the CARICOM Secretariat said in a release.

The CARIPASS allows CARICOM citizens and legal residents of the participating states who are over the age of 16 to access a safe and secure automated self-processing gate within selected airports.

Cardholders will benefit from the ease of expedited processing through immigration checkpoints when using the CARIPASS, which is the size of a credit card. Issued cards will be valid for a period of between one and three years, and will be issued by CARIPASS Enrollment Centres in each of the 10 states.

Under the coordination of the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), the CARIPASS is another step in the movement towards creating standardised border control facilities within CARICOM, including training, entry and exit procedures, and travel documents.

The CARIPASS will also assist the region in the global fight against identity theft and illegal migration, given that the document is matched to the cardholder using both biometric and biographic data captured upon enrollment.

 

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