2 weeks before our visa was up on the 27th December 2016, we informed Power Boats (the boatyard in which we are hauled out) of our intention to request for a visa extension. They gave us a form to fill up (mainly requiring information like our boat name, when we hauled out, date of entry, visa expiry date, length of extension and reason for extension request, etc). Based on the information we provided, Power Boats (PB) prepared a letter for us.
Next, we visited the Immigration office in Chaguaramas with our passports and the letter (from PB) to make an appointment at the office in Port of Spain. Once upon a time, visa extensions were issued at the Chaguaramas office, but not anymore. Our appointment in Port of Spain was set at 10am on 20th December.
Power Boats very kindly arranged transport to take us there. The process took approximately 2.5 hours. Most of it waiting time.. but we can't complain. Very glad we didn't have to spend an entire day (or two) to get it done (like in South Africa).
New visa expiry date: 19 March 2017!
Extension Fee: $100 TTD for 3 months per person.
Take note that the new extension period starts from the day you apply i.e. even though our visa expires on 27th December; because we applied on 20th December, our new visa expires on 19th March (3 months from 20th December, not from 27th December). Also, make sure you have enough cash with you because they do not accept debit/credit cards. Cash only.
2nd Visa Extension
By the end of February, we knew we would not be able to complete our jobs in time before our visa expires. The process for requesting for a 2nd extension was the same as the first. We obtained the letter from Power Boats requesting for an extension with a list of outstanding work to be done on the boat.
On 10th March, we went to the Immigration office in Chaguaramas to make an appointment with the Immigration office at Port of Spain. Our appointment this time was at 8am on 14th March.
We were worried that we would not get the extension as we have heard from several cruisers it's usually very difficult to get an extension the 2nd time around. I had already started to search for the cheapest flights out of Port of Spain (POS) in case we had to do a visa run. Let me say this, there aren't any cheap flights from POS.
On the day of our appointment, the Immigration officer attending to us was in a good mood. She read our letter from Power Boats aloud, told us she'd need to check this with her supervisor. In less than 5 minutes, she was back to inform us that our request had been approved. "You can stay another 3 months", she said.
"At the end of this visa, you'd have 9 months here. You better complete all your boat work by then because we cannot give you another extension", she continues.
We laughed a little and agreed. Trust us, we do not want to stay any longer. We were very glad and grateful for the extension though. The process this time took less than 2 hours.
New visa expiry: 13th June 2017.
Extension Fee: $100 TTD for 3 months per person.
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| Queue outside the Immigration office in Port of Spain - That's why it's good to make an appointment |
Now, it's back to work! 😅
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