And as you just heard, while permanent residency can lead to getting citizenship, there's a five year wait time. Citizenship is accompanied with more rights and responsibilities - including being able to vote in elections. The Director of the Nationality and Passports Department explained more about the difference between the two.
Mario Arzu, Director, Nationality and Passports Department
"Permanent residence and citizenship are two permanent status but affords different privileges. The permanent residence under normal circumstances, you have to be living in Belize for a year, after acquiring permanent residence, five years later that person can apply for citizenship. What is afforded to you under a permanent residence status is that you can live, you could work, you could go to school, you don't necessarily need to keep extending your permit to remain, you can remain with that document permanently. As opposed to citizenship, you are entitled to get a Belize passport, that's number one, you can vote in general elections which means you can apply for a voter's ID, it affords you all privileges that a citizen of Belize can have."
So, to underscore again, the Amnesty program begins by April of 2022 - and there are an estimated 40 - 60,000 undocumented migrants.
