And that's because the new Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse isn't satisfied that the current renunciation process for Guatemalans is effective.

What do we mean by that? Well, Belize law requires that for any Guatemalan to become a Belizean they must first renounce their Guatemalan nationality. In practice, all that means is filling out a form at the Immigration office and signing it.

But, it turns out, that such a renunciation is largely meaningless. And that's because the law in Guatemala states that to properly renounce their citizenship a person must make it formal in that country - by sending in their passport - and filling out a formal Guatemalan renunciation form.

When the Guatemalan Ministry Of Foreign Affairs accepts that, only then is the renunciation official. So, it doesn't matter what form they swear to in Belize - that's only a paper renunciation, and those persons can return to Guatemala and get a passport because - until they renounce over there, they are considered citizens for life.

So, that being the case, all Guatemalan nationality applications in Belize are currently on hold. Immigration Minister Hulse tells us he is working with the Solicitor General's Officer and the Guatemalan Embassy to figure out how all these and future applications will formally and properly renounce their Guatemalan nationality.

And what about all those many thousands of Guatemalan - Belizeans in the past who have gotten by with the meaningless paper renunciation? Hulse says he is seeking legal advice on that.

We do know that Section 19 of the Belize Nationality Act, Chapter 161 of the laws of Belize says that in any case where any person purports to renounce citizenship of any country for the purpose of acquiring…the status of a citizen of Belize, and it is found at any time that the renunciation was not in accordance with or not effective under the law in force…in such other country, that person shall be deemed never to have acquired…that status of a citizen of Belize.