Bahamas: Birth certificate enough for citizenship

BAHAMIANS born to unwed Bahamian men and foreign women will get a passport without facing unique requirements as long as their father is identified on their birth certificate, Attorney General Ryan Pinder said on Tuesday.

However, he said, those without a father on their birth certificate would have to produce genetic test results proving paternity to get a passport, which signifies Bahamian citizenship.

Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, responsible for the Passport Office, told The Tribune he would inform the permanent secretary in his ministry about the new rules, kick-starting the process by which people can get a passport if their father’s name is on their birth certificate.

“We’ve vetted those rules now with the Passport Office, the Minister of Immigration and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has portfolio responsibility of the Passport Office,” Mr Pinder told reporters before a Cabinet meeting.

“They have provided their comments and we revised those and circulated a revised draft to that group on Tuesday. Effectively, if you are born in The Bahamas to two unwed parents, so you’re illegitimate at the time of birth, and your father was Bahamian, and that’s reflected on your birth certificate, then the citizenship is naturally automatic because you presume paternity through the birth certificate.”

“The issue comes down to when you don’t have a father in that situation listed on the birth certificate, then how do you prove paternity and that the father was Bahamian? We’re looking at a protocol involving DNA evidence in those circumstances and we’re working with the Ministry of Health to properly define that protocol. As you can imagine, it has to be by way of certified laboratories and properly recognised DNA results and only down so many generations in these types of questions.”

Once that protocol is in place, then naturally we will be able to proceed on the DNA element of it when the father is not on the birth certificate. We look to finalise that in short order.”

Kingsley Smith, the chief passport officer, said his office would soon issue a notice indicating when it will begin accepting applications of people affected by the Privy Council’s ruling if their father is on the birth certificate.

He said his office must be satisfied that the father is a Bahamian.

“If the father born after 1973, then obviously we have to go as far back as the person born before ‘73 to show entitlement,” he said.

“That’s how our constitution works. When we ask sometimes for the grandmother or the great grandmother, that is because we’re going back to the first person to be born before ‘73.

“Then, we would need their birth certificate and, depending on the marriage situation, their marriage certificate.”

Mr Smith said accepting the applications of people affected by the Privy Council’s ruling in addition to the usual applications will be challenging.

He said his office is preparing to deal with the challenge.

He said officials are considering work shifts “that go into the night” to deal with the influx of applications.

“Those persons renewing an e-passport don’t have to come in,” he added. “If they are 15 or over, we would encourage those persons to use an online portal to make sure those perps who have to come in, there are slots available for them.”

Immigration Minister Keith Bell has said about 1,500 applications for Bahamian citizenship at the Department of Immigration are affected by Privy Council’s landmark ruling. (Tribune242)