True enough. I know of people here who paid some amount of money to an expeditor to get their residency without spending anywhere near 12 months on the island first.

And does that then make it "legal"? Or then are they "illegal" residency papers?

Even funnier is that part of the residency process is that you wait for a report from Interpol on persons history. Todays news from Immigration is that he lied on his form about his background!!! Did someone not want the Interpol report to show up and blame him for lying on the form??

OK, so if one gets their residency papers through an expediter, are they then actually legal/valid residency papers? If one lies on the forms in answer to certain questions and that information comes out, then is the permanent residency valid and granting of all rights of any other permanent residency persons?

No, at any time if the documents are proven to be based on false info then they are not valid.

OK, thanks Amanda, but just to make sure I'm clear on this. Getting your residency through an expediter is not valid, correct?

Not necessarily. It all depends on if you followed the rules, answered all the questions truthfully and provided all of the required documentation and satisfied all of the eligible requirements. Then an expeditor's job is to make sure your file doesnt get lost or held up due to an unnecessary delay.

Thanks again. So, if I'm understaning you then, one still has to put in the time, and the expediter is just someone with experience and contacts that makes sure that you've done all the proper papework, applied correctly and once you've put in the time required by GOB, that things then go smoothly through the system, so that you get your permanent residency papers in a timely manner, yes?

Correct, if you do it yourself like we did you have to stay on top of things constantly or papers get "lost" or cannot be found. An expiditer follows up and keeps in contact. We spent countless hours on the phone and many trips to Belmopan to keep ours moving along. But he or she also usually knows people in Immigration and greases the proper palms to make things happen faster. So as long as you did not lie or make false statements you are covered.