Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn has questioned Government’s motives for an adjustment made to a section of the Remote Employment Bill, 2020, debated in the Senate Wednesday.
The bill details conditions for the granting of the 12-Month Welcome Stamp Visa through which visitors will be able to work remotely from Barbados for one year.
It is an initiative which has garnered widespread interest and support, but Franklyn expressed concern about the last-minute change of the term “spouse” to “partner” made to the visa application form, a feature which he contended was not in the original bill.
Originally, a spouse was defined as “the relationship that subsists between a man and a woman” who are legally married or are not married but have cohabited continuously for five years, including the years leading up to the application. This drew criticism from members of the local and international gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community when the application form was published online on Monday. (GC)
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