On Monday March 15th registration will start of illegal Haitian nationals. Wednesday March 31, 2010 will be the last day to register.
The registration will take place from Monday through Friday from 8 in the morning non stop till 4 in the afternoon at the Conference Center of the Salvation Army on the Union Road #59 in Cole Bay.
The registration is only for the following groups of illegal Haitians who live in St. Maarten:
Those who as per the Brooks Tower Accord must have left St. Maarten already before March 1, 2010. This relates to Haitian nationals who entered the Antilles between January 1st 2006 and January 12th 2010. January 12, 2010 is the day the devastating earthquake took place in Haiti.
Those who applied via "Steering group" and who entered the Netherlands Antilles between January 1st 2006 and January 12th 2010. This is because they are not eligible to receive a permit via the "BTA" as they are not special cases.
Those who entered before January 1st 2006, but who did not register for category 1 or 2 of the "BTA". By not registering, they automatically become illegal equal to category 3 "BTA".
By registering the illegal groups 1 and 2, the right is obtained to continue living in St. Maarten till the 31st of December 2010. Those of category 3 will get the right to stay till August 31, 2010. The registration does not give the illegal no other rights.
All Haitians mentioned above will receive a copy of the registration form to have in their possession at all times. No photograph is on this form, only the signature of the illegal person who registered.
The illegal immigrant must show this form to the authorities during controls. This form indicates up to which day their stay is allowed on St. Maarten. Before said date they can always leave St. Maarten of their own will. After said date they will be deported.
Haitians who register for category 1 and 2 of the Brooks Tower do not need to register again.
The registration will not take more than 5 minutes, as long as the illegal immigrant brings his / her passport and a copy of this.
It also applies here that if the illegal immigrant supplies information that is not based on the truth or makes use of a false passport, he / she commits a crime and will be deported immediately.