PR legal case applications aim to join forces
(CNS): Two legal cases that have been filed in the Grand Court against the Caymanian Status and Residency Board as a result of delays on decisions by applicants for permanent residency could become a class action. Bradley Carpenter and his wife and Mark Edmunds have applied to the courts to have their cases, which are very similar in nature, combined and their judicial reviews heard together. Despite the numbers of people impacted by the long delays in the permanent residency applications because of legal troubles with the point system, the number of legal challenges remains low.
But that may change depending on the success or failure of these two applicants, as there are many more ex-pat workers who have waited a considerable time to have their applications heard, putting their lives on hold and causing issues for their employers as well.
On Monday the government released a statement that the board was expected to begin hearing applications again very soon. However, no specific dates have been given and government officials admitted there are challenges, given the size of the backlog and the fact that applicants will need to update some applications, as they were filed as long ago, in some cases as far back as 2013 and 2014.
Government announced relatively minor changes to the PR points system at the beginning of this month, just one day before lawyers made the application to the court to join the Carpenter and Edmunds cases.
Despite taking more than two years to review the issue and fighting a freedom of information request tooth and nail to keep a review by David Ritch of the entire immigration process under wraps, the changes to the PR point system were relatively minor and extremely simple.
The core issue causing the problems was what the courts found to be the arbitrary allocation of points to certain professions and jobs. So government merely dropped the idea of awarding different points for different jobs, allowing all work permit holders to get 15 points for simply have a job.
Category: Local News, Policy, Politics
Cayman needs to grow in population 250,000 is a good figure . Infrastructure would be easier if shared by a larger population. Cost of living will go down also. Larger population will allow more volume of whatever products and services coming too.It would also mean more competition. These are all things good for the Island.
Just look at Cayman Brac or Little Cayman and you will see the difference in costs of anything. Smaller populations have a higher cost of living then GC. We have three industry and hopefully four with Medical Tourism. We need other industries to come into the islands. More population will help achieve this goal. If one who has travelled to many countries around the world will observe you will see what I’m saying is true. NYC is mostly Manhattan this little Island is only 22 square miles . It has more then 8 million people living and working there.
Hey Caymanians, grant these applications and lose your country. 1000 people and their dependants! Already we see increased property prices due to this requirement of PR. What does investing in property do for young caymanians really? Just makes them renters and increases the entry price for first home buyers. Rollover will encourage local employment. The expat will know he has 7 years and plan accordingly. More people will lower the quality of life and already there are traffic jams. The growth at any cost mantra is destroying quality of life around the world and here in Cayman. The positions these expats fill will be frozen as they wont move as the PR will require them to stay in those positions as named on their RERC. There will not be opportunities for young professional caymanians.
The government should have considered all these things before putting themselves in the predicament that they are in now. Go and tell your government that it is too late now to reconsider. That 1000 plus PR applications that they have been holding on to for years have given the 1000 plus applicants the right to remain on the Islands. This will be a huge challenge for the Government in court should they turn down these applications!
Territory. Not country.
Everyone is looking for the greener pastures. So blame your Government, not people who brought this country into 21st century. 7 years or whatever,CIG should not be playing with people’s lives. No one is forcibly trying to get PR, they were given an opportunity and complied with conditions.
On the other note, why would anyone want PR when the toxic Dump keeps growing and poisoning everything on this island. It works its way into your body cells s-l-o-w-l-y, giving you an impression that all is well and life is good and that is how it is going to be. Criminal negligence lawsuits might arise in a near future.
The moral of the story is …. If you want to keep it, don’t sell your birth right off for a bag of silver.
The discrimination on the basis of national origin is likely to end up getting very messy. And expensive.
Nope. The Constitution allows the government to discriminate for the purposes of controlling immigration. That language was inserted for precisely this reason. That makes the right to non-discrimination a qualified right in respect of immigration, and therefore, one that can be breached to serve a greater purpose, as long as the breach is proportionate to the aims of the greater purpose. There are, at most, 10 points at stake, so the policy is not excessive and is therefore proportionate. Litigating it will be neither messy nor expensive – except for those who try, that will cost them a lot for nothing and they will have a mess when they are done paying lawyers.
The Permanent Residency and Status Grant regime must be ended! It should only be granted by right of Caymanian Descent or Marriage to a Caymanian (for more than a specified period of I believe is currently 7 years before Naturalization.).
No worries Big Mac will give it to everybody and build 20 to 30 stories condos & all.
this immigration mess sums up everything wrong with the ppm……
lazy, arrogant, incompetent…….
That’s the thanks you get for giving people the opportunity for citizenship…geez Alden maybe your priority should have been Caymanians.
I’ve posted similar comments before but I’m happy to repeat them – this is going to get very expensive and very embarrassing for CIG.
the governmwnt is not above the law!? nneither are lawyers….go people go….
Just cancel their work permits and let them board a fight back to their country of origin, or some other country that will take them.
They’ve obviously overstayed their welcome…Now, it’s time for them to GOOOOOO!!
11.51, you are a prime example of why Cayman should remain a BOT. You, I suspect you will declare yourself a God fearing, church attending proud Caymanian and yet your soul is a hate filled black hole covered by a wafer thin veneer of respectability, and on here even that disappears. You also have no respect for law, local or international…which in my book makes you a criminal.
1.31pm Where do you get off at with your bigotry. You are a prime example of the kind of expat thinking that brings division between Caymanians and expats.You come here and hate us and deride us for calling ourselves a god fearing country. I guess you are proud of the fact that you are a devil loving person as demonstrated by your hateful post.Too many are like you they come here like it and want to stay , but at the same time you hate the locals but are willing to sue for the right to live here..When are our leaders going to get the courage to implement a rollover policy. Let guest workers know that when they are coming here to work know that they are indeed guests and,they should not arrive with the idea that they are here to stay. Don’t sell your property back home as you will be going back home when your permit is up.The problem is leaders like Big Mac want to increase the expat population greatly so that we can reach 100,000 population. ( And they all think he is such a fool, they don’t respect or like him) .We are unable to cope with a population of 60,000 imagine the problems trying to develop infrastructure to cope with 100,000.
Touched a nerve 4.01? Now I know I was right…
Your life back home was never as good as Cayman. You truly do not want to go back. Your salary will never be what it is here. The opportunities offered to you here would never be given to you at home. Be grateful and be patient.
If you have to go home, be happy you made millions while here and can enjoy it when you go home.
5.21…for some it is not about the money. Isolationists like you do not understand that unless Cayman gets fresh blood and increases its population, it will die.
Nonsense… isn’t that the point of procreation? Fool.
I love the devil. The parties are so much more fun.
The problem is …. No one comes here to hate anyone. Why would anyone pack up and jump through hoops and difficulty to move thousands of miles if they were already prejudiced and bigoted?
So why do so many return with negative impressions?
4:01 – you make me ashamed to be a Caymanian. You are an embarrassment to these Islands.
caymankind…….
We need to kick Caymans out of the US also, they can go to cuba for the weekend shopping sprees. Cayman are a burden on the US health system, they need to use thier own resources, sick of having to pay US taxes for these parasites.
Trump 2020.
I will be joining them too. My life has been literally put on hold. I had purposed in my heart that should PR not be granted to me, I will remain grateful to Cayman for the years spent on these lovely Islands and just pack my bags, leave and start fresh but since I had to stay for all these years before getting an answer from the PR board, I had to stay here and job hop just so I could make a living. I’m still job hopping and have even faced being unemployed for a few months which has brought on anxiety and depression.
MY LIFE IS ON HOLD! I will be filing a law suit against the government for emotional distress. Let’s just say I am not granted PR. When I leave Cayman, I won’t even be able to get my pension which could help jump start my “new start.” I will have to rely solely on whatever savings I squeezed to put away for stormy days.
HOW WICKED is this government?
They deserve everything that’s coming to them!
This country has given you a chance to receive citizenship….if it is taking too long then abandon the application and move on with your life.
to 4:16
That is not the way all Caymanians feel. I agree there are some that I would like to see leave because of the way they feel about Caymanians. However not all expats feel that way. I don’t know who is who. I may have an idea by reading some of their remarks. On the other hand some are just frustrated because they genuinely want to make Cayman their home.
Not suppose to be job hopping.
Really? Are you dumb? How is job hopping illegal if temporary work permits are being issued by the Immigration department? Go finish up your ABC’s and 123’s little child! You are obviously not ready to be commenting on public posts!
Job hopping among full time WP holders is common 9.05…we had at least 4 full WP newbies here this year so far, all from other full time WP jobs
The whole thing was unlawful because it was arbitrary. Giving everyone maximum points no matter what they do, in a system designed to pick and choose those best able to benefit Cayman, is the height of arbitrariness.
This was never about arbitrary career points. The PPM deliberately and intentionally chose to stall the entire process for their 4 years. They could have given everyone 20 points 4 years ago, or eliminated that points category altogether. That they didn’t fix this, is what’s at issue. That was a choice.
Quite. Time to drain the swamp.
Aside from the issue of the grant or otherwise of PR to any given individual, the matter of any malicious, deliberate failure to apply the law needs investigating. In other words the PPM government & political machine – PPM MLAs, PPM ministers, relevant board members, civil servants and immigration employees – needs investigating for conspiracy to defraud PR applicants (amongst other possible offences). Arrest them. Interview them. Search their homes and offices. Seize their computers and phones. Search their email and other electronic communications.
All it needs is one or two low or mid ranking officials to provide evidence of a conspiracy and the whole rotten political edifice will burn down.
A case of biting off your nose to spite your face………………….Reason why we are in this predicament now.
30 or 15 points?
That’s what I was thinking? I saw 30 and did a double take? CNS, can you check and clarify please? I know that all applicants are now given the full 15 points instead of points based on occupation, but did the law change so that all applicants ALSO got the full 15 discretionary points for priority jobs? I thought this had been set at Zero for everyone.
CNS: Yes, you are correct, that was a typo. Here it is in more detail: All jobs to get same points in new PR regs
This is precisely what this government and the next one wants…when the courts rule in favour of the complainants they can wring their hands with cries of “oh the court forced us to allow PR for these people” rather than having the balls to stand up and tell it how it is.
so true…this government from the beginning has shown it cares more about global perception than Caymanians. They have bent over backwards to appease the UK and other foreign groups that have no interest in the rights or standard of living of the Caymanian people. I hated the UDP and their shadow dealings however the PPM are irreversibly damaging the future for Caymanians.
9.31, interpret my comment as you wish, my intent was to state that its about time CIG, (anyone, not just this one) stood up and told the truth. The truth here is that Cayman needs expats, expats need Cayman. And somewhere there is a line where combined with a much improved education system that we can all help each other and get along, with mutual respect rather than the acrid and frankly stupid remarks and lack of understanding that is reflected frequently on here. However unless CIG starts educating its people about exactly what the expat community means to Cayman, we are going nowhere. Having said that Cayman Finance has started to put out some facts, which I would recommend all read. And that is run by Caymanians.
Gonna get whats coming to them
Who is?