CARIPASS

CARIPASS is a voluntary travel card programme that will provide secure and simple border crossings for Caribbean Community (CARICOM) citizens and some legal residents of CARICOM nations. The CARIPASS initiative is coordinated by the Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS), and seeks to provide standardized border control facilities within participating Caribbean communities.

The CARIPASS will be accepted as a valid travel document within and between participating member states and will allow cardholders to access automated gate facilities at immigration checkpoints that will use biometric technology to verify the user.

The Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the Conference of the Caribbean Community of Heads of Government that took place in Antigua and Barbuda in July 2007 agreed to the introduction of a regional travel card. The card would be supported by security features and would facilitate "hassle free" movement of nationals and legal residents of CARICOM States. The Twenty-Ninth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in July 2008 agreed to the development and implementation of a voluntary, trusted traveller programme which would assist in the promotion of domestic tourism and would facilitate travellers.

In 2007, CARICOM hosted ICC Cricket World Cup during the period 13 March to 28 April 2007. In preparation for this surge of international visitors to the nine host countries, the Region introduced several standardized security measures to facilitate the ease of processing visitors. Dominica also agreed to implement the standardized security. Such features included the introduction of an Advance Passenger Information System, a standardized Embarkation/Disembarkation (E/D) Card and a Common CARICOM Visa.

Another significant feature was a standardized wristband that was applied to persons travelling via air or transiting to cruise ship vessels. This security band, which featured a different random colour for each day, allowed persons who had already entered one of the Participating nine countries or Dominica to be considered as domestic travelers. The wristband travelers were recognized by immigration as travelling within a virtual Single Domestic Space, and as such were not processed as international travelers. The wristband initiative was a collaborative effort between the Participating CARICOM Member States, the Joint Regional Communications Centre (JRCC) and the Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS).

The CARIPASS System was based on existing hardware and other infrastructure put in place for the Common CARICOM visa of 2007. Due to this decision by the Conference of Heads of CARICOM, the initial launch of CARIPASS System is initially limited to the ten Member States that participated in the Common Visa System.

In CARICOM, the introduction of any new system must be accompanied by relevant legislation. For CARIPASS, two pieces of legislation are required for the document to be recognized as a valid travel document, and to ensure the automatic gates are recognized as legitimate immigration checkpoints. These are the CARIPASS Treaty and CARIPASS national legislation.

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