maggie45p

Hi, it's a long story so I wont bore you all with it, but I should be eternally grateful if someone could clear up the rules for long stay holidays in St Lucia. Our passports are stamped '6wks' but we are here for 17wks and keep being given conflicting advice from the powers-that-be.

Can anyone tell me why it is 6 weeks - can we ask for a free extension, as i have read on some forums that some people have as much as 99 days stamped in theirs. The immigration lady at the airport never spoke to us at all so we are at a loss. Do we have to pay for extra time or can we ask for our stamp to be extended?

many thanks , Maggie

kacw

Hi Maggie

Unless you have a passport from Caribbean eg you are a member of a Caricom island you will be granted only up to 6 weeks...about the 4/5th week of your stay you need to go to immigration which is in town, Castries...just above the Air Jamaica office on the main street, and request an extension for which you will have to pay....if you have a Caribbean passport you can stay up to 6 months without extending...I am surprised the travel agent even sold you a ticket for more than 6 weeks as they know the problems you have...Virgin will not give you a ticket for more than 6 weeks if you do not hold the appropriate passport

maggie45p

Thanks for that. Strangely, it was Virgin who we came with and they never mentioned anything about our length of stay.

The lady in the next apartment to us has had her passport stamped 99 days and is from the USA travelling on a US passport.

We shall go and sort it out at the office in Castries. Many thanks.

kacw

Thats very strange as Virgin refused me a number of times when I got to the airport and changed my tickets to within a 6 week date saying I had to sort it out in St Lucia and that immigration would only allow me up to 6 weeks...I got ticked off having to keep going to immigration so eventually got a Jamaican passport through my parents and don't have that prob now...even when I used to try and book my ticket through a regular travel agent they always used to refuse giving me a ticket for longer than 6 weeks...can't comment on the US lady as maybe they have different rules to Brits...best of luck in the immigration...find out what time they open and get there early as it's a long drawn out process and you need to have a couple of passport photos taken so you can leave with them so they have on file ok...

glitterycloud

Thanks for this thread as i was wondering how long I would initially be able to stay when I move over next year. Am going to use the 6 weeks then apply for citizenship via St Lucian spouse.

pgtips

17 weeks of sunshine, sounds like a good idea to me
I hope you enjoy your stay.

maggie45p

Thanks, we intend to enjoy it. we are taking stock of our life and lifestyle while we are here in the beautiful sunshine.
Just before we came, we sold our house and decided to live a bit! My husband has been very unfortunate with bad health overthe last few years and we decided we wanted to spend time together. hence this long trip.

We are now planning to buy a house in France when we get back in March. we have already seen a couple when we were over there in October and intend to put in an offer if they are still around in March.

back to the visa thing: I have emailed the British ambassador here in St Lucia for clarification but as yet no reply. Will post it when I hear from him.

One suggestion from our landlord is to go to Martinique for the day when the 6 weeks is up, then return to St Lucia, have the passports re-stamped for 6 more weeks.

We are off to castries today to see how much it would cost.

It really is a grey issue and does need to be more widely advertised. We still are not clear even after 1 month here, apart from you kind people putting us straight. No one hear has been able to tell us.

kacw

Yes indeed a trip off island does give you another extended time, without the long drawn out interview with immigration as to why you want an extension etc...and yes I do agree with you travel agents should make the situation clear....best of luck

kacw

Oh and don't hold your breath on getting a e mail back any time soon...I tried that one a couple of years ago before I saw the light and am still waiting for the reply!!!

Islander Girl

How did you get on at getting your stay extended at immigration? How much did it cost?

kacw

Hi

Cannot remember how much it cost but I know it was enough for me to make sure I got a Caricom passport so that I wouldn't have to bother for 6 months at a time with immigration! Plus after a while they want to know why you keep extending, and finding valid reasons was getting difficult, as the reason, I want to stay because I feel like it was not good enough!!! and they can refuse you, so it's best to get things sorted so you don't have the inconvenience

maggie45p

Hi, just to say that we went to immigration and it costs $200 EC each, every 30 days! Rip-off!
BUT... a lady from Germany has been told to report every 21 days and pay $200 EC. She is staying for 8 months so its a lot of money.

Everyone we have spoken to seems to have a different time limit stamped in the passport. No logical explanation - 3 britons: 1 had 42 days, the other 99days, the other 7 days!
The sergeant at the office is a real dragon - very rude and not at all friendly to tourists. Said if dont like the fee, then to get out of the country!!

Why cant it be arranged so that the payment is made at the airport on departure? it wastes far too much time going down to the office every month. (Just a thought..)

3aces

Don't know if this is true but I met someone in a bar last month while on holiday who said that if you went to Matinique and traveled back by boat you would get a six month visa (or did he mean six weeks?).

kacw

Hmm yes well as you see immigration are a law unto themselves BUT if you have a carribbean passport you will get a further 6 months and if you have not you may if lucky get a further 6 weeks if they got out of bed on the right side that morning...don't think it would be a good idea to pay immigtion charges at the airport on departure as they move slow enough as it is, and it would take them forever to work out the charges and probaly so much red tape would have to be done as well

Mr Redrose

Thank you all for this thread - it has been most useful.

Mr Redrose