How To Fill Out A Jamaican Passport: Fill & Download for Free

The chain of events started when we arrived at the gate in Heathrow after an 8 hour red-eye from Boston in February of 2015.“Can I see your UK Visa?” we were asked after the customs agent looked at my wife’s Jamaican passport.“We don’t have one,” I replied.“I’m afraid I can’t let you in,” was the reply.Our worst fears were realized.As a US Passport holder this wasn’t an issue. I was good to go. For my wife, a Jamaican citizen and US Green Card holder, this was not to be. We had the Schengen Visa which had taken us on some late night, rapid fire trips to New York, Washington DC, Cleveland and Chicago to obtain. With the Schengen Visa arriving the Wednesday before our departure, we thought we were finally good to go.The following night while surfing the Web I found a site that mentioned the need for a UK Visa as the UK is not a part of the Schengen countries.Curiously, my wife overheard a conversation about the need for a UK Visa as she was filling out papers for the Schengen Visa while we were in Chicago as I drove around the block several dozen times waiting for her. One was not needed was the consensus on the subject.That was apparently not true. I had a meltdown. We were were flying out early that Saturday.I called my wife’s sister-in-law who is a British citizen who had worked for Customs twenty plus years ago when she lived there and she said that sometimes the agents have latitude as to who they’ll let in.With airline tickets, train tickets and a two-week itinerary planned canceling just didn’t seem like an option. With the feeble hope of her words we decided to brave it.We got through Boston without incident so thought maybe, just maybe, we’d be ok.At 7 a.m. in the morning (2 a.m. eastern US time) in Customs at Heathrow my wife was denied and escorted away. I went out to face my wife’s sister and her husband and tried to explain what had just unfolded.Several hours later, a canceled Euro Pass and the purchase of a pair of plane tickets to France (hundreds of dollars on such short notice) our stay was extended.We were able to experience the vacation of a lifetime through England, Wales, Belgium and northern France with her sister in Bristol and a good friend in Lille, France.On the last leg of the journey, a p.m. return trip from Charles de Gaulle to Heathrow after our two weeks were up, we were met with words that sounded very familiar when we presented our tickets to board:‘We can’t let you board,” said the gate agent.Denied again, this time at the gate. The transit visa through Heathrow expired at midnight on the day of travel, not 24 hours upon landing. The flight was held, our luggage removed. Add a hotel room to the bill.So very grateful for Isabella from Air France who booked the hotel for us and changed our flight times to the next morning or we would have had to book new tickets as well.After a whirlwind night, an early flight from CDG to Heathrow and a scramble and last minute decision to avoid having to go through security and missing a flight, we ditched our luggage at Heathrow and headed back overseas, elated at being free.Upon arrival in Boston, we were once again met with words that were becoming hauntingly familiar:“Please come with us,” my wife was told by two individuals who approached her at the booth where her passport and biometrics were scanned.I was left dumbfounded. She was, once again, detained. You’d think my wife was a universally wanted criminal.Hours later we learned that immigration law is different than US law and ‘did the crime, did the time’ does not apply. Petty crimes from thirty years ago in the moral purity of immigration law as it applies to those deemed worthy to be in the US are still relevant today and have the potential to make a green card holder inadmissible and, ultimately, removable.Four years and thousands of dollars later (and still accumulating) we are still dealing with the trip with an immigration court date looming in January of 2020.What have we learned? Aside from the particular ‘how not to travel' advice of that trip and more about immigration law than I can ever have imagined, we have felt at a deeper level than the media narrative at least one of the ways in which immigration law is broken.We met incredible people through this journey, from the initial customs agent to those customs agents at Heathrow we talked with, to Isabella at Air France at CDG, to all the people we met through our doing it wrong travels and through all the people we’ve met navigating immigration law.Though it is not easy, we have learned to find joy, hope and celebration in the midst of trials.Systems fail and bad decisions are often made but people remain awesome.P.S. Our luggage that we assumed was lost forever showed up at Pittsburgh the Tuesday after our return.

Well, expect that you’re probably going to have a layover in Florida. Every time I’ve flown to Jamaica my layover has always been in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (regardless of what airport I’ve flown out of.) When you board the plane from Florida to Jamaica it will probably be the tiniest plane you’ve ever been on. Usually you take a little “island hopper” plane that only has two seats in each row on the sides. The take-off is a little more exciting in a small plane.Before your plane lands in Jamaica they’re going to provide you with a “customs form.” You will have to fill out the form with your passport information, address, where you’ll be staying and anything you plan on bringing into the country.When you land in Montego Bay, Jamaica you’ll notice that the airport is small compared to most U.S. airports.You will stand in a LONG line before you reach customs. (On a good day you might get through in less than half an hour, on a bad day you might wait over an hour.) You will provide the person at the customs desk with your passport and customs form. They’ll ask you how long you’re staying, where you’ll be staying and they’ll give your passport a stamp. After you get your passport stamped you’ll have to follow some more hallways until you reach a declaration desk. (You will have to wait another 30 minutes to speak to the agent at the declaration desk.) They’ll ask you about your baggage and if there’s anything you’d like to declare before entering the country. After that, you’re in! You will follow the signs to the baggage claim area. (There are only a few baggage carousels by the way. Believe me when I tell you that the airport is SMALL!) Get your baggage off the baggage carousel. An airport employee is probably going to want to help you transport your luggage. Just let them help and tip them a couple dollars. (Believe me, they’ll be extremely grateful for it.)If you’re taking a tour bus expect that you might be waiting a while at the airport. In order to save on gas the tour bus will often wait at the airport until the bus fills complete up before they take off. One bus will stop at nearly every resort on the island between the airport and your destination.If there’s one thing you will learn while you’re in Jamaica it’s how to be patient. In America every thing happens in fast. In Jamaica it’s nothing like that. You’re on island time. Do not act impatient and question Jamaicans about how fast things are gonna happen or you’ll look like a hasty, entitled, stereotypical American.Except that when you’ll have a 50-mile bus ride to your resort. It might take a couple of hours to get there. So just take in the scenery and enjoy the bus ride. Most tour buses will stop at food places so you can get yourself a drink or something to eat. Do not be afraid of eating or drinking the local food. I’ve been to the island a million times and only once have I actually gotten sick. (I got sick from buffet food at the resort — not local food.)When you get to Negril expect that you’ll be spending your vacation in paradise. You’ll probably be within walking distance of a 7-mile long white sand beach.Vendors will come around selling lobster, tropical fruit juice and things like that. There’s no reason to worry about the local stuff being sold to drink or eat. Make sure the you go to Rick’s Cafe and see the cliff divers.You’ll be amazed at the crazy heights they jump from into the water. See what night Margaritaville is having a dance party. If you like to dance to hip-hip or reggae I can promise you’ll love it there.Lastly, do not leave island without eating a Jamaican beef patty, drinking some fresh soursop juice and also a “dirty banana!”Have a wonderful trip! I can’t even tell you how excited I was to explain everything about Negril to someone who has never been before!

Oh, yes it is. Since a 1967 Supreme Court decision, US citizens can have as many other citizenships as they want. I know a number of people who have triple citizenship. In Canada, multiple Canadian, French, and British citizenships are very common because of the bilingual bi-cultural nature of Canada. My wife is a dual British/Canadian citizen because she was born in London, although she moved to Canada at the age of 2.One woman I know has British citizenship through her father, French citizenship through her mother, and Canadian citizenship through naturalization. She could probably claim Jamaican citizenship as well, but she made the Canadian government take her Jamaican birth off her Canadian passport. You can do that in Canada because some people don’t want people to know where they were born.The current Leader of the Opposition is a dual US/Canadian citizen, and several other Opposition leaders have had dual French/Canadian citizenship. At least 22 Members of Parliament in Canada have dual or triple citizenship. They don’t actually have to disclose this so the numbers are approximate. The only requirements for being a Member of Parliament are to be a current Canadian citizen, at least 18 years of age, and not having served more than 2 years in prison.Several Australian MP’s were found to have Canadian citizenship, which is a problem because Australia does not permit dual citizens to run for Parliament. Dual New Zealand/Australian citizenship is also a problem for Australian MP’s. You can be a Canadian or New Zealand citizen without even knowing it. On the other hand, you don’t even have to be a British citizen to be a British PM. You could be Canadian, Australian, or any other country that recognizes Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State, or Irish.Other than the Australian Parliament, there is no real downside to Canadian citizenship, except that the US requires its citizens to a file a US tax return every year on the off chance you might owe them money.Boris Johnson, the PM of the UK used to be a US citizen because he was born in NYC, until recently when the Internal Revenue Service chased him for unpaid taxes they thought he owed. Andrew Scheer, Leader of the Canadian Opposition was a US citizen because his father was an American. He wasn’t able to explain how he managed to travel to the US on a Canadian passport since the US requires dual citizens to use a US passport. He also wasn’t able to explain how his status was better than that of former Liberal leader Stephane Dion and former NDP leader Tom Mulcair who held dual citizenship with France when they were running for PM, or better than that of Governor General Michaelle Jean’s dual French/Canadian citizenship.However, having American citizenship is like having leprosy or malaria, it is nearly impossible to get rid of. A friend of mine has been trying to revoke her son’s US citizenship for years, and they make it nearly impossible because he has schizophrenia and isn’t mentally capable of filling out the forms himself. They still think he should pay taxes to the US despite the fact he can’t work and the Canadian government is paying all his treatment bills.