Staying longer
 

I know we may have covered this before on this forum but could anyone just summarize the "staying longer in St Lucia" if you are visitor, rules please.

I know the normal is 42 days, but how long can this be extended for??

I have a visitor that has extended twice but wishes to stay longer whilst he looks for property to buy on the island, he wondered if there was any other options.

Thanks in advance

Sarah

Re: Staying longer
 

Hi Sarah,

The only two ways I've found to go about this is to extend for 6 weeks at an office in Castries or to go back and forth to Martinique on a boat etc. to get a new stamp :)

Re: Staying longer
 

Hi there and welcome to BE.

Could you please contact me regarding your username . It is not allowed and so will need to be changed to something else of your choosing.



edit....

All sorted now. Thanks for the prompt communication.

Re: Staying longer
 

Indeed, until I found out that actually owning and living in property allowed one to get 6 months on-Island (for free) after getting my passport stamped*, a combination of these two options was the 'way' I went about things (I flew to Barbados (when it was cheap to do so) and then back, unless off-island on normal trips which added 42 days). All this while I am married to a St Lucian.

I have found the Immigration folks in the Lamar Building in Castries pretty reasonable, though the wait and queuing is frustrating.

One time my flight was cancelled on the 42nd day and in a flap I told Immigration of my concerns that they would be after me and they just smiled and told me not to worry - Them Lucians!

If one can explain the reason for the extension and it be for legitimate reasons such as the one you describe Sarah, one could go on extending for a while but it does cost. BTW Just not extending and then facing the music at Immigration when departing is not advisable if you intend to return.

In passing, the Government has recently seen fit to ease the pressure on those who own property in St Lucia and who are visiting for longer than 42 days - they can now state the time that they need and pay up-front at arrivals rather than have to go to the Lamar Building to extend.

*you then renew this stamp every six months

Re: Staying longer
 

Hello all!

Pistolpete: this is exactly the info I do really Need and nobody is able to provide. We are purchasing right now a house in Castries and we want to stay here aprox 10-11 months every year - idealy without having to do visa runs.

Could you PLEASE give me more info concerning paying the fees directly up-front at arrivals? Did you do this personally? Do you know if there still is any Limit in Terms of Duration?

What I read was that you still are not allowed to stay more than 90 days within a period of 180 days (it Looks as if this was a bilateral Agreement between UE and St. Lucia in 2015). So even more confusing....

Somebody also told me that if you come to Lucia by boat, you get a 6 months visa. Is this true??

Re: Staying longer
 

The previous discussion on here really addressed your stay needs BEFORE you have completed your St Lucia home.

We left St Lucia in 2014 so the new 'facility' for visitors which came into effect in September 2015 (so I believe) was not in place but your intentions for 10-11 months stay mean that you can reside in St Lucia and would need your passport stamped every six months at no charge.

You need to go to the Immigration Office on the top floor of the Lamar Building (turn right) and lodge (in due course) a copy of your title deeds.

You might want to go there ahead of time to get the low-down. They are open from 9:00 am for this process but you can show-up early to beat the queues.

Poking around on St Lucia related websites I've gleaned that, as with much of what goes on in St Lucia, stay extensions are at the discretion of the Immigration Dept, so as long as you keep your nose clean you can get those extensions.

As a result, you are not going to find any hard and fast rules saying when they draw the line on extensions or even the six month stamps.

From what I can see - and I'm no expert on this at all - you get three months if you arrive by boat. Maybe six months is the maximum, with extensions???

I would think that you could call the Ministry of Home Affairs to discuss all of this with somebody, rather than attend in Castries in person.