Frustration high over long lines & 'short' working hours @ Immigration Dept
According to reports reaching this newsroom, tensions are high due to the long hours that visitors to the department have to wait for service, sometimes up to four hours, as the government office seems to be struggling with the backlog of applicants and the many persons that show up on a day to day basis.
As is the case with long lines and overcrowding, there are also reports of persons trying to get service ahead of others who show up at the department before them. This has been one of the main reasons why there continues to be “fights” among members of the public.
Many show up at the department at around 7:00 A.M., two hours before the department opens, in the hope of beating the long lines, but still end up having to wait for hours.
“They share out a certain amount of numbers and that’s it for the day, others have to come back another day. The problem with that though is they share out the numbers at random and persons who came early sometimes end up getting service long after persons who came after them. It’s not fair,” a member of the public complained to our news site, adding that they showed up at the department since 8:30 A.M. and only got through after 12:00 P.M.
There was one incident yesterday, November 21, 2017 where a man pointed out to a woman that she was unfairly trying to get ahead of others and was met with profanities. It is reported that the woman even “pushed” the man.
Added to the long wait, many persons reported to this news site that they stood outside of the Immigration building for close to three hours, only to be told they had to get a new letter from their employer showing they were still employed following the passage of hurricanes Irma and Maria two months ago. Others were told they needed other documents.
“They need to state certain things before so people don’t waste their time standing for hours. I already took time off from work and now I have to come back tomorrow to stand in another line again. This is madness. They need to have a more efficient system in place,” a visitor to the Immigration Department on November 21, 2017 told this news site.
Others said there needed to be consideration for senior citizens, who also are made to endure the long wait for service.
It has been reported; however, that consideration is made for persons from the sister islands.
Bear with us – Acting Chief Immigration Officer
Meanwhile, Acting Chief Immigration Officer, Geraldine Ritter-Freeman said there are many challenges facing the department but has urged the public to bear with it as it seeks to return to normal service in a timely manner.
“All things considered, the Immigration Department continues to face various challenges that can have an adverse impact on service delivery. These internal challenges are being discussed with hopes of getting the Department back on line and functioning to its optimum in a timely manner.
“However, in the interim the opening hours are 9:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. This allows us to process as many persons as we can manually and then to take care of the back end processes in the afternoon. We know that the hours aren't ideal but we are doing the best that we can under the circumstances. To this end, I crave the public's indulgence as we seek to deliver professional services to the public.”
Long lines have also been witnessed at the Moneygram location at Geneva Place in Road Town since, according to reports, not all of the money transfer services on the island are up and running.
There was one incident on Monday, November 20, 2017 where a Dominican woman was trying to unfairly get ahead of a Filipino woman and because the Filipino woman would have none of it she was met with profanities and racial abuse.
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25 Responses to “Frustration high over long lines & 'short' working hours @ Immigration Dept”
at 9:00 am talk that.
Just wait until you are served or try another immigration line.
What happened to the good customer serive ritter Freeman was to bring to the department?