The Department of Immigration will not be open today for the stamping of passports.

The Department previously announced that it would open today to assist people trying to get their Bermuda passports stamped in order to comply with new US Immigration regulations starting Monday.

Since an announcement on November 22, 2006, that Bermudians would be required to have a special stamp in their passport in order to qualify for a visa exemption upon entering the US, 30,000 passports have been stamped.

Immigration staff have worked over time in order to meet the demand, but Minister of Immigration Derrick Burgess said the staff were now exhausted.

He said: "I wish to take this opportunity to salute and thank Department of Immigration staff members who have been stretched to the limit during the past six weeks. I have greatly admired their commitment and professionalism during the demanding period."

He also thanked the public who have been patient while waiting in lines which lasted more than two hours.