In my previous post, I told you guys how I was given a 1 month visa upon arrival in Barbados instead of 6 months by immigration at the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA), and also how I visited a lawyer and saw no hope of attaining citizenship. However, I was advised to apply for a visa extension with the Immigration Department in Bridgetown prior to the expiration of my valid visa. Based on this, I decided to go for a visa extension in my third week in Barbados and I ended up going there 3 times in total.
The first time, I went to the immigration office address I found online and there was a closed sign at the building. Upon inquiry with a local, I was told that the immigration department has moved and I was directed to the new cream and blue building on Princess Alice Highway, Bridgetown Barbados. I arrived the office at 11:40am and I was told that the “visa extension section” was closed for the day and that I should come back within a few days between 8:30am and 11:30am.
The second time, I showed up early to the immigration office to avoid being late, I went through the usual security check, joined the queue and when it was my turn to see an immigration officer, my passport and visa extension form was checked and I was told to wait in the waiting area to be interviewed by another immigration officer. I waited for about 40mins and I was called to the interview. The immigration officer asked to see my form and my return ticket which I gave to her and she shook her head saying “you cannot get a visa extension for these dates” being 148days extra, she went on to say “you have to change your ticket to a shorter time or you wouldn’t be granted an extension“. I found this a bit annoying as I had to buy new tickets out of Barbados, smh.
On my third visit to the immigration office, I was back again but this time with new tickets booked for an additional 2 months and the determination to get this over with once and for all. After I went through the usual checks it was time to be interviewed. The officer asked me questions like; “why are you extending your visa?” “what do you do?” she asked me about the visa stamps of other countries on my passport, all of which I answered to the best of my ability and then she took a few minutes to go talk to her supervisor.
When she got back, she said “my supervisor has refused to accept your visa extension because he feels you don’t have a good enough reason to be in the country” she continued “you have to leave Barbados in 7days” exactly one month after I got in. Shocked, I asked “when next am I allowed to visit Barbados?” and she replied “after 6 months“. Whatttt?!?
If you’ve been following my posts you’ll know that I came to Barbados with a plan to legally immigrate, and I was prepared to put in the time and effort required to one day attain citizenship. But just like anything in life, nothing goes as planned. During the first 3 weeks in Barbados and based on my observation, I sort of questioned if Barbados was the place for me after all (story for another day) but I had to try anyway. However, it didn’t matter now as I had to leave the Island with my entire life in a box thinking of plan B.
After my visa extension rejection, I realised a few mistakes I made and I saw this as a learning experience to be shared in my next post to help anyone looking to extend their tourist visa in Barbados 2020.
It sucks to be denied yet another visa but as a third country national it’s nothing new and with 8 visa rejections on my belt and a lot of lessons learned, i’m ready for the next path to my goal of attaining dual citizenship!
PS: The information provided on this page is based solely on my personal experiences and should not be considered as legal advice. Five foot nomad is not liable for any misrepresentation or misinterpretation of any and all posts on its website.
All images taken by Basilia Frankel.