Philipsburg:--- Persons who applied for the Brooks Tower Accord (BTA) permit extension and falls under category 1A would begin receiving their permits as early as Wednesday announced State Secretary for Justice Ernie Simmons. Simmons said at least 350 of the permits are already prepared and they are now awaiting signatures of the Minister of Justice or Lt. Governor.The State secretary further explained that the BTA team received some 721 applications for renewal a mere 16% of the total amount of permits that was issued during the introduction of the BTA permits.
Of the 721 applications, 561 are from persons who are employed. Simmons said the BTA project team is now encountering problems with the processing of persons who fall under category 1B simply because they are not able to confirm if the Executive Council of St. Maarten took a decision last week to amend the island regulation to allow the applicants to register as sole proprietorship at the Chamber of Commerce. Simmons said unless the island regulation is amended by the executive council the chamber of commerce cannot move over to the Salvation Army building to begin the registration. Simmons said based on the law sole proprietorship are for Dutch nationals or persons who have been residing on St. Maarten legally for more than 10 years. However, the persons who would fall under category 1B BTA are persons who have been residing on St. Maarten for more than 10 years illegally. Simmons said he has been trying to make contact with the acting Lt. Governor to see if the executive council took the decision last week, however, he was not able to reach the acting Lt. Governor. Simmons said the largest group which is about 2000 persons falls under this category and time is running out on them. He said the BTA recipients have until November 2 to extend their permits but the Minister of Justice and the BTA project team is aiming at finalizing the BTA process prior to October 10/10/10.
Registration for the extension of the BTA permits began on August 2 and it will end on September 18th said project coordinator Tiara Hasselhoef. Hasselhoef said so far they were able to accept applications from six persons who fall under the category 1B because those people had already registered at the Chamber of Commerce. Asked if the BTA team has been bending over backwards to accommodate these people Simmons said the reason they decided to have the persons who falls under BTA category 1B is for them to pay their dues to St. Maarten. "These people declared they are making enough monies doing odd jobs to survive on St. Maarten and if that is the case they too have to contribute by paying their taxes and having proper health insurance. This way immigration would have better control of the recipients of the BTA permits." Simmons further explained that anyone who is caught without the necessary requirements will be deported and their permit will be cancelled. He said these persons are supposed to have a valid insurance at all times and if they are found without an insurance that is ground to cancel the permits.
Persons whose extension applications have been denied would have to leave St. Maarten within the six week time stipulations since there would be no more grace periods offered. However, the percentage of denials is very slim Simmons said. "As long as the documents provided in the application is verified and can be substantiated the permits will be issued he said.
The BTA project team is now accepting application extensions from persons who do not have their crib number as yet. Hasselhoef said persons who have all their documents can proceed to the Salvation Army and submit their application and the BTA team will proceed to uplift their crib number since they are given preferential treatment at the tax department. She said since they started the project two weeks ago there are long lines at the tax office as people are requesting their crib numbers to finalize the list of requirements and this is slowing down the process. Hasselhoef said during the first week the procedure was moving slowly since the applicants did not have sufficient information however, they are now processing close to 100 persons per day.
Valid and Authentic Passports—Four caught with False Documents.
Hasselhoef urged the applicants to make sure they have a valid and authentic passport when going to submit their applications for the BTA extension. Persons whose passport has been expired will not be processed, while those persons caught with fraudulent passports will be arrested and deported immediately.
Already four persons have been detained and are pending deportation for being in possession of a false travel document Hasselhoef said. She further explained that there are Marechaussees and immigration personnel assisting with the processing of these passports.
