Cozier: Don’t send passports by mail or by hand

Undocumented Vincentians living in the United States of America are being advised not to have passports sent to them through the mail or courier, or hand delivered to them by someone traveling to the United States.{{more}}

Cosmos Cozier, Consul General of St Vincent and the Grenadines in the United States, told Searchlight earlier this week that he has been receiving calls from officials from the US Customs and Border Protection agency in the United States informing him that they have intercepted Federal Express packages with passports belonging to Vincentians. Cozier said, once it is found out that the person for whom the passport is intended is living in the United States illegally, when those persons go to collect the passports, they will be held and deported. “This spells serious trouble for Vincentians living here who are not legal in the country,” Cozier asserted.

Cozier, who said that the passport seizures have been going on for approximately one year, advised Vincentians to go through the Consulate in New York, if they would wish to obtain passports or forms, or address other passport issues. “Once you live in New York, you have to go through the Consulate to get your passports done. Even if you are not living in this state, you still have to come through the Consulate,” Cozier noted.

However, documented Vincentians living in the US, who come to St Vincent and the Grenadines on vacation may apply for passports while here. In the event that the passport is not ready in time for their return to the States, arrangements can be made with Immigration authorities here to include the passport in the official list when they are mailing other passports to the Consulate. “Once you deviate from that and you are not a citizen or posses a green card, this means bad news for you,” Cozier added.

Persons could also face serious consequences if they are caught carrying someone else’s passport. “I am urging Vincentians not to … ask anyone to bring (a passport) for you. It could be seen that you are dealing in passports,” Cozier exhorted.

Meanwhile, Assistant Chief Immigration Officer Zonell Williams Wilkinson told SEARCHLIGHT that there is no fixed policy or regulation that governs possessing someone else’s passport while traveling. “We can’t tell people what medium they should (use to) send their passports. We could only advise them what to do,” she said.

Wilkinson, however, said that about a year ago, someone tried to carry a passport for another person living in New York and that person was intercepted by authorities there. When that person was searched at Customs, they were found to be in possession of someone else’s passport. According to Wilkinson, given what has been going on with passport fraud, the authorities were skeptical about their find.

In cases where Vincentians live in countries where there are no Consulates, they are advised to write to the Chief Immigration Officer to request permission for someone else to apply for the passport on their behalf and collect it when finished. Wilkinson, however, noted that once Vincentians are based in the United States, they have to go through the Consulate to get their passports. “Once permission has been granted (for someone else to pick up the passport) and those passports are out of our hands, we have nothing else to do with it or how persons traveling with the passports will be dealt with by other authorities.”