More than 300 nationals from around the region and internationally on Tuesday became citizens of Antigua and Barbuda, fulfilling a promise made by Prime Minister Gaston Browne.
An Antigua and Barbuda government statement said the new citizens had “legal status gaps within their time while living in Antigua and Barbuda over the past seven years and beyond.”
Browne, who spoke to a group of the new citizens during the ceremony, said that his party during the 2014 election campaign, promised to “correct the injustice facilitated” by the previous United Progressive Party of Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer administration.
Browne claimed that the Progressive Party had “deemed those gaps within their residency period of not being eligible to become citizens of Antigua and Barbuda even after living and making meaningful contributions to Antigua and Barbuda for over seven years and beyond.”
The Gaston Browne administration introduced citizenship amnesty legislation, Immigration and Passport (Amendment) Act 2015, to facilitate the granting of citizenship to those affected, the statement said.
