The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement MP Dr Andre Rollins has accused the Davis administration of trying to slip a major immigration change through Parliament during the budget debate, warning that a proposed amendment to the Bahamas Nationality Act could create a “dangerous loophole for exploitation”.

The Bahamas Nationality (Amendment) Bill, 2026 would allow the minister of immigration to grant permanent residency to people whose citizenship applications are rejected, once they pay a $500 fee.

The bill would amend section seven of the Bahamas Nationality Act, which sets out the circumstances under which people who are not entitled to Bahamian citizenship at birth may apply to become citizens. Those categories include women married to Bahamian citizens, people born in The Bahamas to non-Bahamian parents, and people born outside The Bahamas to Bahamian women married to non-Bahamian men.

Under a proposed new section 7A, “If the minister refuses an application under section 7, the minister may, upon payment by the applicant of the fee of $500, grant the applicant a certificate of permanent residence subject to such terms and conditions as the minister thinks fit.”

Dr Rollins, the Long Island MP and opposition shadow minister of foreign affairs and immigration, criticised what he described as an attempt to bury a significant change to immigration law inside the budget debate.

“We strongly advise the government against seeking to bury something as significant as the conferral of permanent residency at a cost even cheaper than that of an annual work permit - and its attendant consequences within a budget debate,” the statement read.

Dr Rollins said Opposition Leader Michael Pintard had previously urged the government to establish a select committee on immigration to address concerns about the country’s immigration system in a transparent way.

“Despite this recommendation, the government is attempting to use the upcoming budget debate exercise as an opportunity to introduce by stealth a significant amendment to our nation's immigration laws, which potentially will create a dangerous loophole for future exploitation,” Dr Rollins said.

The proposed amendment touches one of the country’s most sensitive and long-running citizenship controversies.

Under the current law, children born outside The Bahamas to Bahamian women married to non-Bahamian men are not entitled to Bahamian citizenship at birth. They may apply for citizenship after turning 18, but must do so before they turn 21.

The issue was put to voters in failed referendums in 2002 and 2016, both of which sought to address citizenship equality for married Bahamian women with non-Bahamian spouses.

People born in The Bahamas to non-Bahamian parents also are not automatically entitled to citizenship at birth. They may apply after turning 18, but have only a 12-month window to do so, a restriction that has long raised concerns about the risk of statelessness.

The existing law allows the minister to refuse citizenship applications on several grounds, including if an applicant was convicted in the previous five years and sentenced to death or more than one year in prison, is not of good behaviour, has engaged in conduct that could threaten public safety or law and order, was declared bankrupt, or lacks the means to support themselves and is likely to become a public charge.

It also allows refusal if, for reasons of public policy, the minister is satisfied that granting citizenship would not be conducive to the public good.

Dr Rollins said the FNM maintains that citizenship and permanent residency issues should be examined by a select committee rather than advanced through the budget debate.