Immigration law in Grenada

Grenada's main legal framework includes the Immigration Act, the Citizenship Act, the Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens (Employment) Act and the Citizenship by Investment Act. Online versions published by laws.gov.gd provide useful access, but the printed Official Text is authoritative. The Immigration & Passport Department of the Royal Grenada Police Force handles border control, ports of entry, visas, extensions of stay, work-permit endorsement, permanent residence and several citizenship-related matters. The Ministry of Labour deals with work permits. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs handles CARICOM Skills Certificates, while the Department of Home Affairs and the Office of the Prime Minister process citizenship and permanent-residence applications. The Citizenship by Investment Committee reviews investment applications and recommends decisions to the Minister, who gives the final approval or refusal. A foreign national may enter Grenada only through an approved port of entry and needs permission from an immigration officer. A passport or other accepted identity document is required, and visa requirements depend on nationality and the purpose of travel. The online ED Form can be completed up to 72 hours before arrival, with a digital or printed receipt. Embassy information states that cruise passengers staying less than 24 hours may enter without a visa. A single-entry visa costs XCD 100 and is valid for three months; a multiple-entry visa costs XCD 250 and is valid for one year. An extension of stay costs XCD 25 for each month or part of a month. Visitor and transit permission can last for up to 12 months. When a shorter period was granted, the Chief Immigration Officer may extend it, but the total period cannot exceed 12 months from entry. The visitor must appear personally before the permission expires. Overstaying can make the person a prohibited alien, and visitor permission does not authorize employment. Citizens of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, or OECS, benefit from the current OECS free-movement framework. An OECS citizen can generally remain indefinitely and live and work within the Economic Union unless the person is a prohibited alien or the permission has been revoked. This framework should not be treated as the general position for nationals of other countries. OECS citizens may also prove identity and nationality with a valid driver's licence or national identity card where the applicable rules allow it. A skilled national from a participating CARICOM state may use the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, or CSME, system with a Certificate of Recognition of CARICOM Skills Qualification. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Export Development issues or handles the certificate process, followed by immigration endorsement. Participating skilled nationals generally receive access without a work permit or visa under the relevant CSME rules. CARICOM nationals engaged in non-wage or self-employed activity may also rely on Rights of Establishment. The exact category and documents should be confirmed before travel. A national of a country outside these arrangements normally needs a work permit before starting employment. The employer applies for a permit tied to the named employer, person and occupation. A permit normally lasts one year and cannot be transferred to another employer; changing employer requires a new permit. The rules include local advertising and a local-training requirement, and a work permit cannot be issued to a person under 18. Typical documents include the application in duplicate, passport biodata and the latest entry or extension record, two photographs, an original police clearance issued within the last six months for the relevant place of residence, notarized qualifications, two references, proof of finances, incorporation documents, tax compliance, National Insurance Scheme compliance and any required professional registration. Documents that are not in English need an English translation and a translator's declaration. After approval, a work-permit holder must obtain the required endorsement at the Immigration Passport Office. Renewal should be requested at least three months before expiry, and late applications can attract a penalty. The published schedule lists an application fee of $100, permit fees of $1,000 for nationals of Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago or Cuba, $3,000 for Commonwealth countries, North America, the United Kingdom or the European Union, and $5,000 for other nationals. Replacement and late fees are listed as $100. OECS citizens do not need work permits under SRO 24/2015, while a CSME Skills Certificate must contain the conditions that authorize work. Permanent residence does not by itself remove the separate work-permit requirement under Labour guidance. Unauthorized work or an employer's breach can lead to fines and, in some cases, imprisonment. Grenada has no clearly established general student residence category in the researched official material. Students normally rely on immigration permission connected to their nationality and study purpose, together with support from the educational institution. St. George's University provides immigration assistance and may issue a university letter or student ID for entry, but those documents do not replace a visa when the traveller's nationality requires one. Visitor or student permission does not automatically authorize employment. Family-related legal options include registration as the spouse of a Grenadian person, registration of eligible minor children through a responsible parent or guardian, and separate Home Affairs forms for a child of a Grenadian, grandchild, spouse of a Grenadian, and eligible Commonwealth or CARICOM applicants. The researched official sources do not identify a general family-reunification residence permit. A permanent-residence permit may, however, endorse eligible dependants. Permanent residence is granted at the Minister's discretion under section 24 of the Immigration Act. The application must follow the prescribed form and show good character and an intention to reside permanently in Grenada. Practice documents include references, a bank statement after due diligence, police certificates from the country of origin, previous places of residence and Grenada issued within the last six months, four certified photographs, a birth certificate, and letters explaining arrival, purpose, activities and reasons for applying. A medical certificate may also be required. An embassy instruction dated 2013 lists an application charge of EC$275 plus EC$5.10 transaction cost, while the immigration fee schedule lists EC$1,000 for CARICOM or Cuban applicants and EC$5,000 for other applicants. These amounts should be confirmed before filing because older published instructions may not reflect the current charge. Permanent residence can be extended to dependants, but it can be revoked for at least three years of ordinary residence outside Grenada, imprisonment for at least one year, public-interest grounds or certain marriage dissolution or separation circumstances. The holder must receive written grounds and an opportunity to be heard before revocation. Citizenship by investment is a separate legal basis and does not merely grant permanent residence. Citizenship may arise through registration or naturalisation. Registration can cover eligible Commonwealth or Irish applicants, spouses of Grenadian citizens, minor children and other statutory categories. Requirements can include good character, adequate English, residence or government service, an intention to reside or serve, and an oath of allegiance. Naturalisation generally requires full age and capacity, good character, adequate English, continuous residence during the preceding 12 months, at least five years of residence or service accumulated during the preceding seven years, an intention to reside and an oath. The Minister has discretion, and special parliamentary provisions may apply. Published citizenship fees include $250 for Grenadian parentage, $2,000 for a spouse of a citizen by birth, $2,500 for a spouse of an acquired citizen, $3,000 for eligible CARICOM, Cuban, Commonwealth or British protected applicants, and $7,500 for an alien. Fraud, false representation, concealment, national-security grounds and certain convictions after naturalisation can support deprivation. Renunciation is also possible. Grenada officially permits dual citizenship in the citizenship-by-investment context. Citizenship by Investment, or CBI, is a formal citizenship process rather than a simple residence permit. The Citizenship by Investment Committee carries out due diligence and makes a recommendation, while the Minister gives the final decision. The programme offers a choice between a contribution to the National Transformation Fund and an approved real-estate project. The official CBI information lists a minimum contribution of USD 150,000 and processing of about three to four months. A spouse, dependent children and dependent parents may be included, but agent fees, due-diligence charges, project conditions and current programme rules must be checked separately through an authorised agent and the official programme information. Grenada does not have a clearly codified general asylum or refugee status in the researched domestic framework. Grenada is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, its 1967 Protocol, or the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions, and no dedicated domestic refugee-status or statelessness legislation was identified. Protection registration and interviews may occur on an ad hoc basis under general immigration practice, but no formalised appeal structure is established in the available material. The Citizenship Act contains a special-circumstances naturalisation possibility for a political refugee or stateless person of good character; that provision is not a replacement for a regular refugee-status procedure. Evidence requirements vary by legal basis. Passports, identity records, police clearances, character evidence, financial records, health documents and qualifications recur across applications. Work applications require English communication and translated foreign documents where applicable. Citizenship applications require adequate English. No general national integration test was identified. Grenada can refuse entry or treat a person as a prohibited alien for reasons including insufficient means or a public-charge risk, mental incapacity, a contagious or infectious disease, conviction or undesirability, prostitution-related grounds, government information, economic or lifestyle grounds, or being a dependant of a prohibited alien. A Minister may prohibit entry, and a permit may be revoked. A Magistrate can issue a removal order, detention can follow, and an Immigration Officer may postpone a determination for up to two months. Deportation grounds include conviction, undesirability, destitution and prohibited-alien status. Restriction or security orders can impose conditions on residence, employment, movement and reporting. Under the Act text, detention under an order can last up to 28 days, and related costs may be charged against the person or property. The Act provides notices in detention, restriction and arrest matters. An appeal to the nearest Magistrate's Court is limited to an identity question and requires notice within seven days. A Magistrate's decision can be taken to a High Court Judge in chambers within one week. Ministerial orders under sections 25 to 28 generally have no appeal except on identity. A temporary permit may be available while an appeal or inquiry is pending. A Magistrate may restore a permit unless it was revoked by the Minister or under a ministerial direction.