Over the past six weeks the Register of Bermudians has been a hotly read document.

Once on that list Bermudians are able to obtain the Bermuda Status Stamp required for travel to the United States beginning January 8, 2007.

Of the 30,000-plus people to recently obtain the stamp, a sizeable portion have realised, to a great deal of frustration, that they aren’t on the Register, even though they have a Bermudian birth certificate and have their name listed on the Parliamentary Registry.

Officials say there’s an explanation for that.

The current Register of Bermudians came into effect in 1993. To create the Register officials used that year’s Parliamentary Registry.

So if you weren’t a registered voter in 1993, or were born after 1993, or your name changed after marriage post-1993, then your name will not be on the current Register of Bermudians — unless of course, you already have submitted a properly completed application for status.