In anticipation of increased visitors to our shores this weekend, officials from various Government agencies (Customs, Immigration, Police, Treasury, and the BVI Ports Authority) are in high gear to provide extended services to facilitate their clearance.

Special operational hours for clearance services for international marine vessels (ferries and charters) at Dog Hole on Jost Van Dyke will be from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 midnight on Saturday, 31^st December. Additional officers will be deployed to facilitate processing of passengers and all agencies are putting additional measures in place to ensure an efficient processing of visitors to reduce wait times on arrival.

The West End ferry terminal will continue to provide late clearance services from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Marine vessel operators are reminded that they should arrive at the West End ferry dock by 8:00 p.m. to facilitate clearance. Arrivals after 8:00 p.m. should proceed to the Road Town ferry dock for clearance up to 9:00 p.m. Operators are being urged to adhere to the instructions of the dock master at each port of entry.

Premier and Minister of Finance, who is also the Minister responsible for tourism, Dr. the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley, convened a special meeting last evening to receive an update on plans to serve clients over the holiday weekend and for the remainder of the tourist season. Plans are being put in place to train additional officers to assist with clearance at the busier ports of entry. He expressed appreciation to the border control agencies and encouraged them to ensure a consistent level of courteous and professional service to residents and visitors.

The Premier said he is grateful that the borders are now open to facilitate easier travel for many visitors to our shores.  He is looking forward to the planned transformation measures to improve the efficiency of the services provided at the ports of entry in the first quarter of 2023 which include: the small vessel/aircraft clearance portal that will provide for advance passenger information to be submitted to facilitate pre-checks by the Immigration Department ahead of arrival;  the full implementation of the Advanced Passenger Information System which among other security measures, will allow for risk-based, data driven immigration processing, allowing pre-assessments of passengers to take place which facilitates faster and smoother processing for low-risk passengers upon arrival; and the introduction of the electronic entry/departure cards during the first quarter of next year to relieve residents and visitors of the burden of having to complete these forms manually. 

The Premier also noted that over the coming months the recently established Customer Service Unit of the Deputy Governor’s Office will be working closely with the border control agencies to ensure a consistent customer service experience for residents and visitors to our ports of entry.

To commend officers on their service or to report service improvements need please use rateus.gov.vg.