According to Senator Walton Brown, the Caribbean island of Bermuda is making steps forward on visa-free travel privileges to Europe. Brown has been working for 18 months just to secure Bermuda passport holders with visa-free travel privileges to Europe.

Under the previous EU policy, all citizens of Bermuda are required to obtain visa when entering countries within the bloc, except if the passport holder has a ‘right of adobe in the UK’ stamped on the document.

The senator is glad to inform that the people of Bermuda are now entitled to have the ‘right of adobe in the UK’ stamped on their passport. This was done through securing an acknowledgement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Senator Brown said that the restored right was a result of reinstating full British citizenship to Bermudians last 2003.

Currently, the process of obtaining the stamp is highly complicated, with applicants needing to apply at the UK New York office. Applicants moreover need to submit their passport together with several documents.

Senator Brown is now trying to convince the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to either release new Bermuda passports with the stamp already on it or to allow the Bermudian government to make their own procedure in handling out the stamp.

Last year, several Caribbean islands had signed a visa waiver agreement with the EU, Brown added. He hopes that Bermuda can do the same later on. The senator wishes that all Bermudians will soon have full British passports so they will no longer need a visa to enter the EU.