Over 4,000 work visas issued to foreigners in last three years – Benn

Over 4,000 employment visas were issued to foreign nationals on arrival in Guyana in the last three years.

This is according to Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn who told the National Assembly on Monday, in a written response to a question from the opposition benches, that 4, 379 work visas were issued between the period September 2020 and June 2023.

These visas were mostly issued to Filipino and Chinese nationals with 957 and 690 such visas issued respectively.

The other high figure countries are Indonesia (252); Bangladesh (270); Colombia (120); Malaysia (126); Mexico (172); Croatia (166); Nigeria (112); Poland (118) and Venezuela (122).

Other countries include Angola (20); Argentina (40); Bulgaria (62); Cuba (38); UAE (41); Singapore (33); Russia (28); Romania (87); Korea (15); Ghana (32) and Dominican Republic (21).

There was a small number of visas granted to citizens of several other countries.

It should be noted that the 4, 379 visas were all issued on arrival.

For work visas, employers often times present the employee’s details to the Ministry of Home Affairs, prior to their arrival.

The approval for the issue of work permits and visas should be obtained by the employer and the immigration department.