COMMENTARY: Residents for life – citizenship is another matter
By Dickson Igwe, Contributor
The USA has decreased the number of migrants coming into the country by adopting a very aggressive deportation policy and stopping inward flows of people from many source countries. The two main methods are visa bans and strong border controls.
Europe is still debating the migration problem while migrants on boats from Eurasia, Asia, and Africa continue to wash up on its shores, many losing their lives in the process.
Migration is not something easily stopped.
People will always seek a better life for themselves and their families. However, rules, laws and policy can control migration.
One model for the Virgin Islands is Dubai that allows migrants to work in the country. However becoming a citizen is very difficult if not near impossible, with a wait of at least 30 years to qualify.
Creating barriers to citizenship – a sacred privilege – means the citizen of Dubai automatically possesses huge social and economic privileges.
Non-citizens can live and work in Dubai for as long as they want, but there are doors that they cannot go through, reserved for citizens of Dubai. The rest of the UAE possess similar citizenship criteria.
It is time to end automatic citizenship in the Virgin Islands as demographic differences between Virgin Islanders and aliens becomes unsustainable. The simplest way to do this is through legislation and government policy.
The last thing these Virgin Islands needs is the social and political pressures and upheavals seen on the streets of the UK and Europe, because of poorly managed migration policy. A word is sufficient for the wise.
Copyright 2026 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
Did this mad person get his status by marriage?
His statement that ‘many’ immigrants are losing their lives to get to Europe is complete and utter nonsense – every now and again somebody does die and it is front page news. Every such death is a tragedy, but suggesting it is ‘many’ is ludicrous.
He is hypocritically pulling up the ladder after securing the status in the BVI that he wanted.
Please go back to your 3rd Form economic theories and stop pontificating about matters which you do not understand.
If The People of This Territory Don’t Put an End to This VIP Government, The Territory will further Be Destroyed. They Shouldn’t have Been There to Begin With. There are Prominent Citizens Who Have Been Here for over Thirty Plus Years and Still Can’t get Their Rightful Status, Yet There are Others who are Here But Haven’t yet reached the satisfied Number of years But have already gotten Status. How can That be Fair? The BVI is Far Up Shit Street. Voters MUST Say NO To A VIP Government and NO To PLM Movement.
Enough Is Enough!!!
The Virgin Islands did not develop in isolation. The labour and skills of legal immigrants who have contributed for decades have greatly benefited the business, construction, tourism, healthcare and economic sectors. Many non-citizens have invested their lives, paid taxes, raised children and helped maintain the area.
However, it is reasonable for citizens to want policies that safeguard access to housing and services, cultural identity, local opportunities and political representation. Those valid concerns should not be disregarded.
But the foundation of a sound immigration policy should be fairness, transparency and long-term planning, not fear or hostility.
If the existing status system is unfair or inconsistent, it should be changed. Planning and capacity should be considered if the infrastructure cannot handle the rapid population growth. If more specific requirements are needed for citizenship pathways, create them in a fair and open way.
What should be rejected is the idea that social stability comes from making one group feel permanently excluded or unwelcome. A society becomes stronger not by turning people against each other, but by creating rules that are fair, enforceable, and respectful to everyone who calls the Virgin Islands home.
A NOTE TO THE CONTRIBUTOR: Defending BVI citizens does not require xenophobic, exclusionary, or racially coded wording, nor does it require demonising migrants.
Let us continue to raise concerns about immigration policy, citizenship rules, housing pressure, cultural preservation, political representation, and economic strain and place the blame where it belongs: on the government.
Thank you—this is exactly the kind of approach that is needed: a clear recognition of the problem, paired with calm, level-headed guidance toward actual solutions.
We have been begging E LIEONERD the great historian about the derogatory name we call our Caribbean brothers and sisters which is , (island people) but he has selective amnesia / so while you are hollering out about resident citizenship etc can you shed some light on THE ISLAND PEOPLE SAGA AND WHO- why and what was it for ? and aren’t we black people who share the the same African ancestry , and what we live on ? lets see if you got the balls / and are U being paid to tark shit ? If do then collect the dollars and do your ting – it seems to becoming a ” popular ” business these days now . hoLLER
As a former Dubai resident I can testify that their system works impressingly well, for educated and/or rich people. You get your resident status within a few hours. Everything is done online and super smooth process. NOTHING like the horrible process BVI has. BVI is not mature enough for that system to work here but the MOST important difference is the way Dubai look at the foreigners. They LOVE to have them, they want them to come and help them build their country and they will do anything they can to be an attractive country to come and work and live in. Can’t say that BVI share that view… Here you honestly get treated pretty badly which is a shame.
For President of the Virgin Philippine Islands!!!
On a serious note; we need quotas around here for the majority of the workforce primarily financial services & hospitality. You mean to tell me with 25+ years of having our own:
Community College
Financial services sector with competent qualified trained locals
Qualified captains and chefs (blue economy)
Though there are many areas to continuously improve and manage, you mean to tell me that the elite business class and their political lobbyists refuse to deal with immigration reform?!?
The way Mr. Igwe posits things, he’d be pleased (now that he has his status BTW) if only native born BVIslanders lived here. That would mean no longer going to USVI/PR to have children. It would also mean getting rid of all of those who don’t meet the criteria. So, who’s going to do all the work? Basically, the ethos seems to be we want the services of outsiders, we want the money from tourists but we’d like it to be without any effort or cost (economic or otherwise). In short, Mr Igwe wants to keep his cake while eating it at the same time.
The Trump administration addresses the agricultural labor shortage through a push to lower labor costs for foreign guest workers and speed up H-2A visa processing. At the same time, the administration has wavered on mass deportation raids inside the agricultural sector, causing widespread concern among farmers and undocumented. This is not a endorsement of Trump but me pointing out the need for immigrant in the US to do farm work.
Igwe speaks like the BVI is suffering from an illegal immigration issue – it isn’t! Almost all immigrants are here legally, the majority on work permits which are annually assessed and renewed. The majority of these work permit holders would also leave the Territory after 3-4 years. Leaving behind their unclaimed contributions to social security and pensions.
Citizenship in the BVI is not easy to get for the average work permit holder and requires a great deal of investment, if only in time – 20 years +. Many would also invest in the Territory, in business or property and also the success of the islands.