Delay in Acquiring Belizean Nationality Certificate for Daughter Leaves Belizean Family Stuck in Taiwan
A Belizean couple living in Taiwan is tonight making a public plea for assistance after trying for almost two years to acquire their two-year-old daughter’s Belizean nationality certificate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belize. Jonathon Amaya travelled to the Republic of China, Taiwan, over five years ago on an I.C.D.F. Scholarship. One year into his studies, his wife Yadalie Bustillos moved to Taiwan to be with him. In late 2020, Bustillos gave birth to their daughter while in Taiwan. Ten months later, the parents applied for their child’s nationality certificate in Belize. Amaya says, over twenty months have elapsed and they have not made any progress. The family wants to travel back home to Belize, but Amaya says they are faced with numerous challenges, including the high-cost of travel in the absence of their child’s Belizean nationality certificate which would allow them to obtain a Belizean passport. He spoke with News Five.
Jonathon Amaya
Jonathon Amaya, Belizean Stuck in Taiwan
“It has been over two years now that we have applied for the baby’s nationality certificate. We have been getting these runarounds, runarounds that we need to get these types of documents. We have tried our best to get all these documents they are asking for. The last document we got that they are requesting for is a household registration certificate. The problem with a household registration certificate is that it is only given to Taiwanese residents here in Taiwan or if you are married to a Taiwanese you are able to acquire this household registration certificate which basically registers your child to the house you are living in. I finished my degree recently, but really and truly I have been trying to get back to Belize, I have been trying to get this paper ready for two years, her nationally certificate. I am not even talking about the passport. And the last thing they told us is that here is what you need to do, write a declaration letter saying you cannot obtain this document, because you are not Taiwanese. Write a declaration letter, have it stamped by a JP or a notary republic, send it to the embassy in Taipei, and send it back to us and this is what we will do to give you your paper. So, no problem I have been trying to work on this paper, and today I went to the notary republic and the people at notary republic here in Taiwan the process is so different than in Belize. In Belize you can just go to a JP and say oh I need it stamped and they will stamp it. In Taiwan everything is about protocol, so if something doesn’t exist in their protocol they won’t do it for you. The guy at the notary republic says I can’t notarize this because this is like I am notarizing your words and we don’t do that. When it comes to expenses it is cheaper for me to go through the U.S I need to get my baby’s passport. In order to get the passport we need to get the nationality certificate, and that is what we have been working on.”
Amaya says he lost his return ticket provided under the scholarship because his family was unable to return home before the ticket redemption deadline. He says that he has also tried to seek assistance from the Embassy of Belize in Taiwan. We will continue to follow.
