Immigration Reform

DECREE-LAW

They start consultations on immigration reform

ELIANA GIL MORALES
Emorales@prensa.com

The Ministry of Government and Justice began the consultation period to reform the immigration legislation in the country.

Tayra Barsallo, deputy director of the Directorate of Immigration and Naturalization, explained that the decree law that President Martin Torrijos will discuss with his cabinet, by Feb. 29, was presented to the Panamanian Institute of Tourism, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development and the National Bar Association, last week.

Members of the guild had expressed concern about the possibility of waiving the services of lawyers, particularly for the processing of some visas.

In the coming days Immigration officials will meet with members of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives, the Association of Airlines of Panama and Justice and Peace, an organization that has expressed its concern over the status of the more than 2-thousand refugees living the country.

Here Barsallo explained that the migration reform proposal that does not develop the issue of refugees.

The draft of the initiative envisages that the National Directorate of Immigration, would be transformed into the National Immigration Service, an entity that will have autonomy and its own assets. This, in turn, will have two major directions, the Directorate of Migration Services and the Bureau of Immigration Security.

The law governing migration dates back to 1960 and there are more than twenty decrees and regulations on the subject.

Recently, the Assembly approved the Cabinet extraordinary powers to legislate on four themes on the condition that makes consultations