Discussions underway for common South American passport
Nationals of South American States will possibly have the opportunity to travel freely around the continent now that discussions are underway to develop a plan for the establishment of a common South American passport.
While not privy to all the facts, State Minister Joseph Harmon disclosed that discussions among several countries have commenced on this initiative.
During a post-Cabinet news conference on Wednesday, Minister Harmon noted that Guyana would be participating in an upcoming South
Discussions are underway for a common South American passport
American Citizenship Conference from June 28 to 29 when the initiative would be further discussed and developed.
He reminded that nothing was yet concretized and therefore, he did not have much detail on how such an initiative would work in existing circumstances.
Guyana, also a member state of Caricom, already utilises a Caricom passport which allows for visa-free travel among member states.
“So it might very well be that not necessarily the issue of a new passport, but the fact that the passport which you have as a Caricom country might give you access to these other countries without the necessity for visas and so on. This is just my thinking on the matter;
these are just discussions taking place, discussions on citizenship,” he explained.
Harmon added that he did not believe that a decision would be arrived at anytime soon.
“I don’t anticipate that we will come out with a blueprint… say by 2017 we are going to have these passports,” he stated.
