Three Global Citizens now in the Cayman Islands
(CNS): Government’s plan to attract wealthy people who are able to work or run their overseas businesses from this jurisdiction virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be gaining traction. Officials said there are now 60 applications being processed under the Global Citizen Concierge Programme, 22 of them have been approved. Three applicants and their families are now on island, one of whom has already been cleared from quarantine.
In Tuesday’s media update on the programme, the deputy director of marketing and promotions at the Department of Tourism (DoT), Jane Scaletta, said things were going really well. Fears that very few people would up sticks and make this temporary move were apparently unfounded.
While there was no expectation it would attract pre-pandemic visitor numbers, applications so far have met the monthly average target.
“People are saying that they don’t feel safe at the moment in the United States,” Scaletta said, adding that the majority of the applicants so far are from the US, with Canadian and British applicants making up most of the rest. Cayman’s efforts to keep the virus at bay was a significant attraction, she noted.
Government has invested around $100,000 promoting the project, which it will easily recover in fees from the first groups to be approved, but Scaletta said that the programme is being spread by word of mouth too. It has also gained a considerable amount of free press, given the attention the international media has paid to what are being dubbed as ‘digital nomads’.
The 22 approved applications now represent 50 people who are already approved to come to the Cayman Islands in the next few weeks, and more than $41,000 has been collected in fees, with $112,000 more coming in. But Gary Hendricks-Dominguez, DoT’s events manager, explained that this is only a fraction of the money that will flow into the economy as a result of what the families will spend once they are here.
The officials said that there is a vigorous process, which is handled by the Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman (WORC), while the DoT is acting as the concierge, assisting those who are making the applications. Anyone wanting to become a Global Citizen must have a minimum income of $100,000 and conduct business that is not related or connected to the Cayman Islands.
The ‘digital nomads’ are responsible for securing their own accommodation for their period of quarantine as well as for their extended stay here. Successful applicants do not receive a visa but a Global Citizen Exemption Certificate, which makes them essentially temporary residents.
The applications are made through an online portal and the fee per applicant is US$1,469 plus US$500 for each dependent.
“If they come, we will milk them”
The Cayman “ponzi” scheme. Always need to attract new money as there is nothing created and produced in Cayman.
People are shocked at the low level of applicants… what do you expect when it is next to impossible to fly here? I am sure more people would come if they did not need to quarantine, and they could visit before moving here.
And for those who are complaining the fee is too low… it is much higher than the fees for digital nomad citizenship in Estonia, Dubai, and other jurisdictions.
Just wait till they have to deal with customs
Good Luck
Temporary Resident will be the same as the big mess we have now with naturalization. Soon you all will see.
“monthly average target” – which is how many, exactly?
3. THREE! Wow, that a booming success. 🥴
We need cash and charging person to come and live here less than what it cost me for 12month permit for me to get a carpenter. Yet they come and live and spend what really. This was a joke it should been 10k plus 1500 per dependent. But hey CIG are the best at math and the economy.
I’m not sure you understand math. I am sure you do not understand the economy.
Or basic grammar
What school did you go to?
WOW! This program brought in the RICH.
wow!!! problems solved. just come 2021, with vaccine and global citizens
Cayman islands are the best, very best place to work and live in the world. That’s why every one, yes every one wants to cone here . I am Caymanian going back 6 generations and am proud and thankful of these Caymanian Islands
I guess those 41k will be to cover the expenses of the service and the “benefit” will come from the money they will spend in local businesses. Although I am not sure how 50-100 persons per month would make a change. If they all remain on island, by the time the firsts will have to live there will be between 1.2k and 2k more “inhabitants” (keeping the actual rate). I guess when they notice they still have to pay taxes in their payroll they might reconsider their situation, so number might even be smaller.
Where do you get the idea that they “still have to pay taxes in their payroll” from? These people are ‘digital nomads’. Whether or not they pay taxes will depend on the country they have moved from and their tax status there. The U.S. is one of a very few countries that taxes its citizens living outside the country (and even then they have fairly generous exemptions).
True but what does the digital nomad do after the 1-2 years in Cayman ? So they will be constantly on the run ?
wow 3 on island and 19 to follow – sounds like we solved the issue with the Cayman economy, we’ll only need another 50,000 to replace tourism ….
Such a farce, just like the idea of Cayman becoming the virtual dorm for university students
How do they come up with this stuff?
Give it time. These efforts will fill a few hundred apartments and several restaurants. Not enough to replace tourism, but much much better than doing nothing.
Soon they’ll be buying properties and on the fast track to gaining pr and guess what….here comes another increase in housing prices.
WOW, they are only paying about 2K we are going to be rolling in ti big time!
By the time the rest get approved the pandemic will be over!
Amazing work by our talented civil service. Walk up Cayman we are blessed to live here. Stop focusing on all things negative.
It is bad that it is hard to tell if this is
A. Sarcasm
B. Someone actually being serious.
A surely?
We have 3 approved compared to 3,000 approved for Barbados Welcome Stamp program.
Complete farce…