You are digging a hole for yourselves, says Hamilton

Chief Immigration Officer, Stanford Hamilton wants Vincentians to understand the implications of their actions when they make fraudulent passport applications.{{more}}

“Citizens have to understand that they are digging a hole for themselves and making it harder for their own citizens to pass through the several borders hassle free…,” Hamilton told SEARCHLIGHT in an interview.

Hamilton’s comments came on the heels of the deportation of a man from Canada on May 9, after he falsely represented himself to be another person, and as a result, obtained an Identification card, passport and birth certificate.

For his actions, Mark John Dublin, 23, of Arnos Vale was on Tuesday, sentenced to 3 years imprisonment at the Serious Offences Court, after pleading guilty to four counts of fraud and deception.

“You don’t need a Visa to go to Canada or the UK and therefore, if people continue to do these sort of things, it means when the time comes for you to have legitimate entry, you are creating problems for yourself…,” he added.

Hamilton also beseeched individuals to desist from assisting persons who have no entitlement to a St Vincent and the Grenadines passport and knowing an individual is not who he says he is, in obtaining a birth certificate in order for them to apply for an SVG passport.

“One fraudulent application is one too many,” Hamilton added.