Barbados and Guyana are set to allow their citizens to travel between the two countries using national identification cards only, in a significant step toward deeper regional integration in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
The arrangement, reported by Barbados Today, will take effect from July and is being framed as part of ongoing efforts to simplify travel and strengthen freedom of movement within the region.
If fully implemented, it would mean Barbadians and Guyanese could enter each other’s countries without presenting passports, relying instead on their national ID cards as valid travel documents.
The move is expected to enhance ease of travel for business, education, family visits, and tourism between the two CARICOM member states.
The initiative builds on CARICOM’s long-standing agenda of integration under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), which has gradually expanded rights of movement across member states.
Under existing arrangements, many CARICOM nationals already benefit from visa-free travel within the region and can typically be granted up to six months’ stay on arrival, provided they meet immigration requirements.
In a major development announced at a CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in 2025, Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines agreed to move toward full free movement, allowing citizens to live and work across participating states without requiring work permits or skills certificates.
That framework is widely seen as a stepping stone toward broader regional mobility, with discussions continuing on how to extend similar rights across the wider CARICOM bloc.