Immigration department to phase out ‘E.D’ forms

The paper-based Embarkation/disembarkation forms which visitors and resident
are required to fill out and present to the Immigration Department upon entry into
Antigua and Barbuda is to be phased out.
That’s the word from Tourism Minister, Charles Max Fernandez. Speaking during
a ‘Questions and Answers’ session at Tuesday meeting of the American Society of
Travel Advisors (ASTA), Fernandez said the plan in to introduce this system
perhaps as early as the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) conference in
Antigua and Barbuda at the end of May this year. He was responding to a question
on steps the government hopes to take to speed-up the clearance of passengers at
the ports of entry, but mainly VC Bird International Airport.
The tourism minister acknowledged that the processing of visitors at the airport has
presented quite a challenge especially on Saturdays when the home-porting
operations are taking place as well as on Sundays.
In addition to eliminating the need to fill out a paper form prior to entry, he said
the department will also add additional stations with more immigration officers to
reduce occurrences of backlog on days when several flights are on the ground at
the same time.
Fernandez disclosed that the government is moving to the self-clearance system
utilizing kiosks. He said the intention is to work with Canadian Bank Notes, the
company that produces the Antigua and Barbuda passports and other sensitive
documents for the country.
However, there is an outstanding amount owed to the company which has to be
cleared off before work on the new paperless system proceeds. Fernandez is
promising that the outstanding amounts will be paid shortly.