CARICOM to launch multi-state travel document

The CARIPASS will allow CARICOM citizens and legal residents of Participating States over the age of 16 years to access a safe and secure automated self-processing gate within selected airports.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will soon launch one of the world’s first automated multi-state travel documents (CARIPASS) for use within 10 member states that will not only make regional travel easier, but help crack down on identity theft and illegal migration.

Participating countries will include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Installation of the CARIPASS System began last month and specific launch dates in each participating country is now dependent on the passing of relevant legislation.

The CARIPASS will allow CARICOM citizens and legal residents of Participating States over the age of 16 years to access a safe and secure automated self-processing gate within selected airports. Cardholders will benefit from the ease of expedited processing through immigration checkpoints when using the CARIPASS, which is the size of a credit card.

“The CARIPASS will also assist the region in the global fight against identity theft and illegal migration, given that the document is matched to the cardholder using both biometric and biographic data captured upon enrolment,” a statement from the CARICOM Secretariat said.

Under the coordination of the Implementation Agency for Crime and Security, the CARIPASS is another step in the movement towards standardized border control facilities within CARICOM, including training, entry and exit procedures and travel documents.