The government has announced that beginning June 10, immigration consultancy agencies would require to have the appropriate business license to conduct business with The Customer Service Department.
In a press release, the government stated that the businesses operating outside of Category 289 Immigration Consultancy would require such license to do business with government.
The following is the statement:
The General Public is hereby advised that on 10th June 2022, all Agency-Type businesses operating with a business license under any category other than Category 289 “Immigration Consultancy” are prohibited from submitting applications to the Customer Service Department on behalf of clients.
This Policy Initiative is being implemented according to the Business Licensing Ordinance and Subsidiary Legislation, which mandates that persons must acquire the appropriate license authorizing them to carry on that business. As such, we must ensure that our systems are consistently reviewed and streamlined to facilitate and support compliance with the laws of the land.
As such, all businesses operating under Category 289 “Immigration Consultancy” business license are urged to immediately provide the Customer Service Department with a copy of their valid license, contact information for the company, and a valid government-issued identification of employees who will visit the customer service department on behalf of the business.
The Customer Service Department will not accept applications from any business or their representatives after the June 10thdeadline. Until this information is provided and the company is duly registered with the Department.
We appreciate that this is a source of income and livelihood for many Turks and Caicos Islanders, and as such, the Government will simultaneously temporarily lift the moratorium on the issuance of “Immigration Consultancy” business license, but limited only to Turks and Caicos Islanders who are currently operating and have a business license under the category (300) “secretarial & administrative services.”
To qualify and or maintain your good standing under Category 289 “Immigration Consultancy” business license, all current Immigration Consultancy license holders and Turks and Caicos Islanders holding licenses under “Secretarial & Administrative Services” are to register with the Customer Service Department using the attached form to access the training and examinations that must be completed before applying/renewing a license under Category 289 “Immigration Consultancy.”
Registration will close 7th June 2022 at 4:30 PM with training commencing June 8th- July 13th 2022. With an initial virtual training to be attended by all participants and hands on application training, in person, in groups, available up until 13th July 2022.
To all other businesses impacted by this Policy initiative, we encourage you to act in good faith and hand over responsibility for outstanding applications to your client or a duly licensed business.
The prescribed form is available within the Customer Service Department or may be requested by emailing customerservice@gov.tc