Attorney General Sen. Hon. Ryan Pinder spoke to members of the media commenting on pending applications for citizenship subsequent to the Privy Council’s ruling which upheld an earlier ruling by Chief Justice Ian Winder that children born to single Bahamian fathers and foreign mothers being entitled to citizenship at birth.
Pinder said, “we’ve drafted and prepared amendments to the passport rules, amendments to the Naturalization Act and amendments to the Register General’s framework in order to be able to put the institution required to be able to attend to these applications. Cabinet has heard the recommendations of the Office of the Attorney General on how to approach the issue and we should be rolling that out in very short very short order.”
The Attorney General also spoke to the verification of paternity. He said, “we looking at a framework for DNA evidence to demonstrate in those situations where the father is not on the birth certificate and the child is born in The Bahamas out of wedlock, how do you prove the father. And so we’re looking at DNA evidence to support that. So the rules have been drafted they’re at the Chief Passport Officer for review, they’re with the Minister of Immigration for review and comment then we will certainly have a public consultation and explain the scope of what we are looking to do.”
