TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands – The Department of Immigration says it has ramped up its operations at the Terrance B Lettsome International Airport in an effort to facilitate the increase in the number of travelers.
According to Chief Immigration Officer Ian Penn, the recent increase in immigration services at the airport is part of the long-standing practice to ensure the facilitation and regulation of international travel are administered in a manner that supports overall socio-economic development.
“We had to change some procedures and operational changes in terms of our staffing complement, and the way in which we manage the schedule to allow for smoother processing,” Penn said.
These adjustments include the deployment of the full capacity of Immigration Officers on-site at the Terrance B Lettsome International Airport since the commencement of the direct American Airlines flights between the Virgin Islands and Miami on June 1.
Penn explained that similar procedures will be applied to all larger flights, and in instances when multiple flights are being processed simultaneously.
He added that discontinuing the issuance of embarkation/debarkation cards significantly contributed to streamlining the process, ultimately contributing to a faster and more effective system.
The discontinuation of the forms is directly related to the department’s progress towards digitization in efforts to improve its operational functions and services.
The improvements are being made as recently, American Airlines announced that it will be increasing the number of non-stop flights from Miami to the British Virgin Islands as traveler demand has increased.
