Guyana: Further Restrictions on Issuance of Permission to Land Permits

Based on verbal communications by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry has further restricted the issuance of Permission to Land permits (which allow foreign nationals to enter Guyana and work during the processing of their Work Permit application) to a maximum of one per foreign national, effective immediately. In December 2022, the Ministry restricted the issuance of Permission to Land permits to a maximum of two permits per foreign national due to the increase in the number of foreign nationals working in Guyana with multiple Permission to Land permits without proceeding to the Work Permit application stage, as required. Prior to that change, the Ministry used to grant unlimited Permissions to Land until a Work Permit was endorsed in the foreign national’s passport. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, once a Work Permit Approval Letter is issued, foreign nationals can only re-enter Guyana to work showing this letter one time. Affected foreign nationals should revise their travel plans due to this process change and avoid international travel until their Work Permit is endorsed in their passports. As a reminder, foreign nationals re-entering Guyana without a Permission to Land permit or a Work Permit Approval Letter (accepted only once between Work Permit approval and passport endorsement) are not authorized to work in Guyana.