Discussion paper details new Caymanian Protection Act
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has published a ‘Discussion White Paper’ on amending the Immigration (Transition) Act (2022 Revision) to make a number of changes to how foreign residents can become Caymanian. It proposes making it longer to secure permanent residency or status but simplifying the acquisition by descent.
The changes would require work permit holders who want to change jobs to leave the island for one year before they start a new position. The government also proposes renaming the legislation the Caymanian Protection Act, the original name of the 1971 law, to “better reflect its purpose”.
As Border Control Minister Dwayne Seymour laid the discussion paper in parliament on Friday, he said little about the proposed changes, merely asking the public to peruse the document and “give as much feedback as possible”.
In the introduction, ministry officials point to the challenges that have arisen due to the significant size of the expatriate community in relation to the local population and the concerns Caymanians have about preserving their cultural heritage and national identity amidst the growing presence of foreign workers.
“To address these realities, it is imperative that our immigration legislation evolves to balance the need
for effective migration management with the protection of Caymanian interests,” the paper states. “To ensure long-term sustainability, it is important to thoughtfully manage immigration so that the
growth of the expatriate population aligns with the country’s capacity to provide essential services.”
The officials also raise the concern that the country’s heavy reliance on a large expatriate workforce could make the jurisdiction vulnerable to economic fluctuations and changes in global migration trends. “A modernized framework will ensure that the Cayman Islands remains resilient in the face of shifting migration dynamics while fostering economic growth and social stability.”
The paper states that its purpose is to implement revenue-generating measures associated with Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman (WORC) by increasing fees and fines and to improve the immigration framework to better address the evolving needs of the Cayman Islands.
One of the most significant changes is a proposal to extend the period of time a work permit holder must reside on the island before they can apply for permanent residency from eight to nine years. To discourage work permit holders from job hopping, they would have to leave the Cayman Islands for at least one year if they change jobs.
The document proposes extending the time a spouse of a permanent resident or a Caymanian must be married and resident before they can apply for status. It also introduces a new five-year certificate for farmers that can be renewed once to support local agriculture and sustainability. Meanwhile, the existing certificate for specialist caregivers will no longer convey employment rights to spouses and dependents.
The proposed changes to the law would clearly define different types of Caymanian status. A “Caymanian as of right” would become a “Native Caymanian”, a “Caymanian by entitlement” would become a “Caymanian by Dependency”, and those who are granted status by Cabinet through time or naturalisation would be a “Caymanian by Grant”.
The document outlines proposals to improve collaboration and information sharing between WORC and other government entities, such as the police, border control, and the Department of Financial Assistance, as well as to promote and facilitate the employment of Caymanians. The financial situation of potential permit holders, residents and status holders would be scrutinized more closely to ensure their ability to support themselves and their dependents.
However, the document does not appear to address any of the fundamental issues relating to the point system that leads to permanent residency. The current regime has landed the government in court on several occasions, as applicants have successfully challenged the arbitrary nature of how points are allocated in a PR application.
The document is now open for public consultation and anyone wishing to comment on the potential legislation has until 5pm Monday, 3 March.
Submissions should be sent to the ministry via email to publicconsultation@gov.ky
See the full discussion paper in the CNS Library.
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Should be cumulative amount of time spent residing on the island. Doesn’t make sense to live there 8 years invest and have to leave for an emergency or something then your life is messed up. They should count all years in Cayman towards a total for eligibility.
The impetus behind the white paper appears to stem from three primary factors:
1. Pre-election sentiment: There seems to be an effort to whip up anti-expat attitudes for electoral advantage.
2. Misconceptions about residency rights: A prevailing, yet unfounded, belief exists that individuals residing in the Cayman Islands for over nine years automatically gain the legal right to remain indefinitely.
3. Conflation of work permit and PR/status: There’s a notable confusion between work permit regulations and the criteria for PR/status. Caymanians’ primary concern should be to restrict PR and status grants to prevent the influx of low-value immigrants who might become burdens on public resources, thereby avoiding the issue of “imported poverty.”
Discussion:
The Cayman Islands’ Bill of Rights, particularly Article 9(3)(e) [1], grants the government explicit authority to regulate entry and residence, serving as a safeguard against claims that prolonged residence alone establishes a right to permanent residency. This provision aligns with the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) stance [1] that states possess a broad margin of appreciation in immigration matters, even for long-term residents. However, concerns have been raised about the ECtHR’s interpretative approach. Retired Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumption, in his 2019 book “Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics,” observed:
“The Convention was originally conceived as a partial statement of rights universally regarded as fundamental: no torture, no arbitrary killing or imprisonment, freedom of thought and expression, due process of law and so on. It was not originally designed as a dynamic treaty. It was the Strasbourg court which transformed it into a dynamic treaty in the course of the first two decades of its existence. Its doctrine has been that the Convention is what it calls a ‘living instrument’. The court develops it by a process of extrapolation or analogy, so as to reflect its own view of what additional rights a modern democracy ought to have. Now of course the court would not need to do this if the additional rights were already there in the treaty. It only needs to resort to the living instrument doctrine in order to declare rights which are not there.” [3]
Sumption further emphasized the challenges of this approach in a 8 February 2025 interview with The Times, stating:
“One improvement, he says, would be withdrawing from the European Convention of Human Rights. ‘My view is that we should enact the convention in its proper language, and transfer the power of interpretation to our own courts from the Strasbourg court.'” [4]
These perspectives highlight the potential for the ECtHR to interpret the Convention in ways that extend beyond its original intent, possibly impacting national immigration policies.
Given this context, while Article 9(3)(e) strengthens the Cayman Islands Government’s (CIG) position in regulating residence, it does not entirely preclude potential human rights challenges from long-term residents. The CIG should be confident in its authority under this provision to manage immigration effectively. However, to achieve greater certainty and mitigate the influence of expansive interpretations by supranational courts, the most definitive solution would be for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. This move would eliminate the avenue for migrants or expatriates to leverage broadly interpreted supranational legislation to challenge the Caymanian populace’s clear intent to regulate residency and control population numbers.
The recently published ‘Discussion White Paper’ on amending the Immigration (Transition) Act has raised significant concerns regarding its drafting quality and underlying tone. The proposals, most notably mandating a one-year absence for work permit holders wishing to change jobs, are poorly conceived and project (almost certainly deliberately) a xenophobic stance. This perception risks alienating the expatriate financial services sector, which plays a crucial role in the Cayman Islands’ economy. Moreover, the manner in which this discussion paper has been developed and presented raises questions about the competence of CIG and the civil service. Such missteps erode international clients’ confidence in our jurisdiction’s stability and governance. Given that the financial services sector is the primary contributor to the Cayman Islands’ economy, actions that undermine trust in our regulatory and administrative frameworks have detrimental effects.
It is imperative that any legislative reforms, especially those concerning immigration, are approached with thorough analysis, clear communication, and an inclusive perspective. This will ensure that the Cayman Islands remain an attractive and reliable destination for international business and talent.
Sources:
[1] “Nothing in any law or done under its authority shall be held to contravene this section to the extent that it is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society […] to regulate the right to enter or remain in the Cayman Islands.”
[2] The ECHR extends to the Cayman Islands via the UK’s treaty obligations, but is not directly enforceable here. Instead, Part I of the Cayman Islands Constitution Order 2009 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/1379) gives effect to ECHR principles. Local courts interpret these provisions in line with European jurisprudence, but litigants invoke the Constitution rather than the Convention. Thus, the Bill of Rights mirrors ECHR standards within a distinct local legal framework.
[3] Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trials-State-Law-Decline-Politics-ebook/dp/B07RPC4NG4, Location 514)
[4] https://archive.is/20250208022500/https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/jonathan-sumption-democracy-state-covid-fraser-nelson-wmk3cz9np
Immigrants should face tougher hurdles for citizenship {in UK}, says Badenoch
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/immigrants-should-face-tougher-hurdles-for-citizenship-says-badenoch/ar-AA1yunUz?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=c222b9b7bbd64095af0978d7795f7483&ei=30
That’s because immigrants generally don’t add value to the UK economy.
By contrast, in Cayman, expats *ARE* the economy!
hahaha*snort*ahahaha
The Tories are calling for it to be much tougher in the UK, which will STILL be far easier and 5 years quicker than getting it in Cayman!
How many expats contributing to Cayman’s economy and society will leave if this goes through?
1-Myself work permit 7 years in Cayman, directly skilled and trianed over 400 Caymanians in a technical field.
Leave a list in the comments?
No you won’t, coward. If there was anywhere else that offered similar living conditions with all the other benefits (read: one of, if not *the* the strongest tax-free dollars on the planet) that Cayman offers, you’d already be there.
What window-licking, knuckle-dragging nonsense is this about there being a strong Cayman dollar?!
The idea that expats come to Cayman because of a “strong Cayman Dollar” is economically illiterate. The Cayman Islands dollar (CI$) is not strong — it is parasitic, its value entirely dependent on the US dollar (USD), to which it is artificially pegged. A pegged currency is not “strong”; it merely leeches stability from the actual strong currency. The CI$ exists solely because of political inertia and local banks’ rent-seeking profit motives—its only function is to create unnecessary transaction costs.
Expats come to Cayman despite the CI$, not because of it. They come because Cayman has nice beaches (except at Easter), and nice weather in winter (neither of which Caymanians are responsible for).
This means the entire “strength” of the Cayman dollar is, ironically, a transaction tax Caymanians impose on themselves, making local businesses less competitive. A competent jurisdiction would have long ago abolished the CI$ and adopted USD directly.
The structure of Cayman’s economy mirrors its currency’s parasitism. Caymanians depend entirely on expat labour, yet simultaneously resent the very people who keep their economy functional. Just as the CI$ is pegged to the USD, Cayman’s economy is pegged to imported human capital and foreign direct investment. Without expats, the economy would collapse overnight.
Those who trumpet a “strong Cayman dollar” are merely advertising their economic illiteracy and unemployability. The fact that anyone still defends this obsolete financial relic is a testament to why Cayman lags behind more competent jurisdictions. The CI$ should have been abolished decades ago, just as any rational country would have replaced it with the USD. That it still exists reflects the same backward, uncompetitive mindset that keeps Caymanians economically dependent on the very expats they decry.
See also:
https://cpsi.media/p/notes-towards-caribbean-dollarization
https://ibw21.org/news/caribbean-urged-to-adopt-us-dollar/
https://www.centralbank.org.bb/news/working-papers/official-dollarisation-a-realistic-option-for-caricom
https://barbadostoday.bb/2024/03/08/former-central-bank-governor-advocates-full-adoption-of-us-dollar/
https://barbadosunderground.net/2019/07/13/worrell-recommends-dollarization/
Moron.
Hello Moron,
Check out CAD to KYD. 1 KYD = 1.72 CAD. Very attractive to CDN’s. Cayman dollar pegged to USD which has been a wrecking ball to all currencies.
Get your facts straight
What on earth are you talking about?
The guy at 8.38pm TOLD YOU that CI$ is tied to USD. You’ve just parroted what he said, but added some irrelevant crap about Canadian dollars.
I’m trying really hard to salvage some meaning from your attempted rebuttal. Perhaps are you saying (or, more accurately, trying to say) that CI$ are useful for people who have debts to pay in Canadian dollars, and are paid in CI$? That’s the only scintilla of possible logic I can extrapolate.
However, this still fails, because the CI$ per se isn’t strong; rather, it’s USD that’s strong, and CI$ is merely parasitically pegged to it. CI$ itself is an irrelevance: simply a way for local banks to rip of expats and locals alike for exchanging money.
If anyone (a) has a logical rebuttal to the “CI$ are a scam” post; and (b) is eloquent enough to be able to articulate it, please do so.
So far for the jingoists, “points nuls”.
This is extraordinarily painful to read. You are beclowning yourself, and your similarly single-braincelled compatriots who are downvoting the original post.
The “whooshing” noise which you no doubt heard before writing your post, was the sound of the substantive economic arguments in the original post whooshing over your poorly-educated, xenophobic, illiterate, unemployable head.
Caymanian adults seeking remedial literacy and numeracy training can access programs through organizations like LIFE (Literacy Is For Everyone) and IRead For Life. These non-profits offer tailored educational initiatives to enhance foundational skills. Additionally, the University College of the Cayman Islands provides courses aimed at improving literacy and language development. For more information, visit LIFE, IRead For Life, and UCCI’s course catalog.
I’m here to help!
You really took the time to type out all that foolishness XXXXX
https://www.google.com/search?q=1+kyd+to+usd
https://www.google.com/search?q=1+kyd+to+cad
https://www.google.com/search?q=1+kyd+to+euro
Those results are literally the only thing that matters when assessing whether the CI $ is valuable or not.
I will try to explain this slowly and simply. Please let me know if there is anything you do not understand.
The initial post argues that the Cayman Islands dollar (CI$) is not inherently strong but derives its value from being pegged to the U.S. dollar (USD). This means the CI$ maintains a fixed exchange rate with the USD, ensuring stability but not necessarily indicating intrinsic strength. The post also suggests that this pegging creates unnecessary transaction costs and that adopting the USD directly could be more efficient.
The reply counters by pointing to the current exchange rates of the CI$ against the USD, Canadian dollar (CAD), and euro, implying that these rates alone demonstrate the CI$’s strength.
However, this perspective overlooks the mechanics of a pegged currency. The CI$ maintains its value because it is fixed to the USD, not because of its own economic strength. This peg ensures that 1 CI$ is always equivalent to approximately 1.20 USD. Therefore, the CI$’s value relative to other currencies, like the CAD or euro, fluctuates in tandem with the USD’s performance against those currencies.
The initial post’s assertion that the CI$’s value is “parasitic” refers to its dependence on the USD. While the term may seem harsh, it emphasizes that the CI$ doesn’t float independently based on the Cayman Islands’ economic conditions but relies on the USD’s stability.
Regarding transaction costs, having a separate currency necessitates currency exchange for international transactions, which can lead to additional fees. Adopting the USD directly could eliminate these costs, potentially benefiting businesses and consumers engaged in cross-border trade.
In summary, while the CI$ maintains a stable value due to its peg to the USD, this stability is borrowed from the USD’s strength. The initial post correctly identifies that the CI$’s value is not a reflection of the Cayman Islands’ economic power but rather its connection to the USD. The reply’s focus on exchange rates doesn’t address this underlying dependency.
That you think that people don’t understand all of this and that you’re educating anyone is beyond hilarious. I mean, awesome, I’ll make sure to consider all that long-winded, useless bullshit when I go to the bank and trade my $1 CI for $1.75 CAD/69 PHP/189 JMD/$1.20 USD/etc/etc/etc. Oh, wait, no I won’t, and neither will anyone else.
The vast majority of immigrants come here because they can make more money here than they can back home, while living in paradise. That’s all there is to it. Enjoy your stay <3
Are you stupid? It’s pegged to the dollar, it’s a fix rate to the doller of course the conversion is going to be strong because it’s directly linked to it. Go back to school
That is a very charitable reply.
It seems overwhelmingly likely that the individual in question never in fact ATTENDED school in the first place.
Or – possibly – they attended a school which teaches the much-mocked, worthless CXC qualifications, and they were taught by third world teachers, thus compounding their fate. So, effectively the same as never having gone to school.
Don’t shoot the messenger: the person posting about the CI$ being strong – and all those upvoting his post – is clearly uneducated and unemployable. That’s not expats’ fault, and it’s certainly not MY fault in particular for pointing it out!
What a silly comment. People leave Cayman all the time.
That’s why our population continues to skyrocket, and the ratio of Caymanians to immigrants is approaching (if not already at) 1:3, right? Do try to keep up.
You next, right?
Guys, the weaponised xenophobia is getting tiresome, now. How about you – to use the charming Australian idiom – “Piss, or get off the pot”?
Specifically: (1) accept that you need expats, say Thank You to us, then shut the f##k up; or (2) finally do what you’ve been threatening to do for decades, declare independence, pass a new “CAYMANIANS ARE VERY SPECIAL, OH YES, ACT, 2025” and commit economic seppuku.
At least then we can all bugger off to Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, or somewhere less third world and inbred, where they don’t CONSTANTLY WHINGE all the f##king time. It’s really dull.
Sounds from this description as if the Cayman Islands is a very unpleasant place to reside. If so why are you here complaining and not leaving? Make it make sense.
Because you lot are too cr@p to do any of the jobs which we do, so our employers are desperate. WORC agreed, hence granting us work permits. So pipe down, say thank you, and start actually educating your children properly.
Hush, child, and remember that at least 60% ownership in the company you work for is Caymanian. You’re welcome for the best opportunity you’ve ever been afforded in your life. Now get back to work, wageslave. <3
‘Paper Caymanians’, as you like to call them.
Not a funny accent to be heard!
Why don’t you bugger off now? Please don’t wait!
@ Anonymous at 04/02/2025 at 8:05 pm – Jeez dude, why don’t you grow up? Does your home country not have immigration and citizenship laws? Pretty safe to say that they do. Are those laws fair, fitting and accommodating to everyone? No, I’m pretty sure they aren’t. No place in the world has this exactly right, so why don’t you manage your expectations a little, rather than hurling insults at the very people whose country you’re seeking to adopt as your own. No one said you aren’t welcomed here. It’s just a lot more nuanced than you’d expected.
And please dispense with the “Caymanians whinging” stuff. When citizens of your home country discuss the issues that affect them in an open forum, is it whinging or is it debate and discussion?
Well said. Thank you.
The draft bill is garbage, though. As the people below in the comments note, it’s specifically designed to make exploiting low-wage workers even easier for a corrupt political class, while also fatally undermining the financial services industry (the retarded “Change jobs and ruin your children’s education by moving twice in 13 months” provision).
The bill clearly isn’t designed to be passed: it’s just clickbait for morons.
That seems reasonable for people to get annoyed about. No one is disagreeing that rules on PR and status need changing, but this bill isn’t even touching the points system.
I can’t put it more clearly than this: YOUR POLITICIANS HATE YOU. They want $$$$ from developers, and they’ll pander to xenophobia at election time, but when it comes to organising things that matter to Caymanians, they are NFI.
Development Plan? No money in it for the pigs at the trough, so it hasn’t happened for 22 years: https://caymannewsservice.com/2025/02/over-22-years-late-development-plan-still-misses-latest-target/
See also, which someone helpfully shared on that story:
https://caymannewsservice.com/2023/09/donkeys-developers-and-deaf-ears
https://caymannewsservice.com/2024/09/ideas-and-oratory-versus-fridgocracy/
Your solution is passing legislation, but it’s not this anti-expat, pro-abusive employer crap, it’s the following proposal to fix your execrable politicians:
https://caymannewsservice.com/2025/01/crises-corruption-and-constitutional-reform/
Focus your anger where it is deserved: MLAs, not expats. So, yes, expats are sick of being targeted.
[Summary. Financial services fund Cayman, including the amorphous CIG/World Class Civil Service/NAU blob. Therefore , the only people who matter are financial services firms’ CLIENTS. 60% of Caymanian kids leaving school are functionally illiterate and innumerate. Accounting firms, etc. simply cannot employ such people, and even when they do, to keep WORC happy, CLIENTS get to choose who they instruct.]
We can all agree that Cayman needs far fewer low-skill, low-wage immigrants. However, the authors of this car crash of a white paper do not make that distinction, instead indulging in (no doubt cathartic) weaponised xenophobia.
Professional services firms fund Cayman, and pay for everything here. These are ferociously competitive industries, and clients have freedom of choice as to who they instruct. Mutatis mutandis as to in which jurisdiction those clients choose to invest. Therefore, in that free market, CLIENTS’ preferences are paramount:
(1) Caymanians are free to compete with non-Caymanians to sell their services, and clients have the freedom of choice as to who they instruct.
(2) Qualifications and overseas experience are however vital, both substantively and presentationally (e.g. such people are both objectively superior and look superior to clients), and this is why clients choose to instruct them.
(3) The reason Cayman is the most successful Caribbean territory is specifically because Cayman has commendably not indulged in xenophobic, self-sabotaging economically suicidal rhetoric and protectionism. The exception is at election time, e.g. in political posturing such as this.
Much of the white paper is high-emotion, low-intellect nonsense, plainly nothing more than weaponised xenophobia. For example, it is inconceivable that accounting firms would survive much less thrive if their employees (a) were forced to leave for a year if they changed firm; and (b) were not able to secure permanent residence (PR), and in due course status after a reasonable period. Even Hong Kong, home of the evil Chinese Communist Party, grants PR after 7 years. That’s because they know that, if they don’t, people will work elsewhere. Singapore and Dubai have similar systems. Cayman’s golden goose, financial services, is not guaranteed to keep the money flowing, if the islands decide to self-immolate in a frenzy of protectionism.
Competitor locations compete by employing both expats, and highly-skilled locals. Cayman is therefore utterly dependant on highly-qualified expats, unless Caymanians perform better. How’s that’s going, after Roy Bodden’s famous Caribbeanisation of the Cayman education system, by replacing recognisable UK GCE qualifications with trash tier CXC nonsense, taught by thirdworlders?
“Premier Wayne Panton has said the civil service headcount cannot continue to grow… Panton said that the government must move away from “social hiring”” https://caymannewsservice.com/2023/09/premier-says-civil-service-must-stop-growing
“It’s the duty of communities all over the world to give their children an education to a standard that enables them to become full members of their home communities. It takes a village, as they say. By that measure, Cayman’s government has failed, and continues to fail. Some of our Islands’ children succeed, but most don’t…” https://www.caymancompass.com/2016/01/21/barlow-education-versus-protection/
“Cayman’s current representatives have their knickers in a twist, trying to resolve the consequences. An uncomfortable number of the tribe’s members are coming up short in the following respects:-
· Unschooled beyond a minimal level
· Unemployable because of an anti-work attitude
· Untrained and undisciplined in the management of their personal finances
· Intolerant towards foreign ethnic groups
Those deficiencies have steadily worsened in recent years; the drift to full dependency on government handouts has passed the point of no return. There is no apparent solution on the horizon. It looks as though, in time, our “native” citizenry will become overwhelmingly dependent on welfare.” https://barlowscayman.blogspot.com/2015/05/caymans-entitlement-culture.html
“White Paper”.
A quite appropriate name.
Make the connection as to who it favours and disfavours…
This new Caymanian Protection Act, or should we call it the “Politicians’ Profit Plan,” is a masterclass in how to exploit the vulnerable while masquerading as patriots. Let’s start with the gem of this policy: forcing work permit holders into a year-long exile if they dare to switch jobs. Yep, because nothing says “welcome to our paradise” like making workers choose between a toxic job or a forced vacation they can’t afford.
Imagine the scene: you’re a worker here, you get mistreated, underpaid, or just plain sick of your job, but the minute you think about resigning, bam! You’re looking at a year-long banishment from the island. Families uprooted, kids yanked from schools, all for what? To keep the labor market as pliable as putty in the hands of the ruling elite.
And let’s talk about the real winners here – the politicians and their cronies. They’ve been delighting in cheap labor for ages, keeping the minimum wage so low it’s practically a punchline while the cost of living soars. Now, they’re not just laughing; they’re rolling on the floor with their latest trick to ensure workers are trapped, unable to escape to better opportunities. It’s not just anti-worker; it’s anti-humanity, wrapped in the flag of national protection.
But wait, there’s more! This proposal could be the death knell for our financial services sector, the very backbone of our economy. Imagine telling a seasoned professional they need a year’s sabbatical just for a career move. Ridiculous, right? Top talent will laugh their way to jurisdictions where they’re not treated like indentured servants. Instead of attracting the best, we’ll be known for hiring only the desperate or the clueless. Brilliant strategy, if your aim is to turn Cayman into a financial backwater.
It’s hard to decide what’s more staggering: the ignorance or the cynicism behind this policy. Are these lawmakers really that out of touch with how the world works, or are they just playing to the gallery of xenophobia for votes? Either way, the result is a disaster that serves no one but the corrupt and the greedy.
This travesty of a policy needs to be binned, and fast. Those who penned this drivel should be embarrassed, not leading our government. They’ve shown they’re clueless about modern business, fair labor, and basic human rights. Their actions reek of arrogance, stupidity, and a blatant disregard for anyone not in their inner circle. They should pull this monstrosity back before it cements Cayman’s reputation as a place where only fools and despots thrive.
I’m an expat. In funds I saw many people come from Canada etc. and get trained by caymanians. It was rare to see someone come here with funds experience from elsewhere. In fact you can see from almost any linked in profile that people get their funds experience in Cayman. Something needs to be done as Caymanians will soon find themselves as renters in their own country. A managerial class has been imported and results in inflationary pressures.
Businesses won’t pay work permit fees if they don’t have to. They are ruthlessly commercial organisations, because if they weren’t they would collapse.
If a Caymanian is good enough – **that means if they can do the job, AND if clients will instruct them** – then it is cheaper for us to hire the Caymanian.
When we don’t, it’s because either the Caymanian isn’t good enough technically, or clients won’t instruct them. We can’t carry diversity hires: we would go out of business.
If you disagree, why are there not hundreds* of successful all-Caymanian law firms? Either they aren’t good enough technically, or clients won’t instruct them.
What am I missing?
* or scores, or even dozens, or even a handful..
Let’s dispense with the charade. This so-called “Caymanian Protection Act” is nothing more than a grotesque, xenophobic farce—a legislative sledgehammer wielded by a government so intellectually bankrupt and morally depraved that it would sooner torch its own economy than confront the rot festering within its corridors of power. This proposal is not about protecting Caymanians. It is about entrenching a feudal system where expatriate workers – particularly those earning poverty wages are shackled to their employers like modern – day serfs, while the financial sector, the lifeblood of these islands, is sacrificed at the altar of populist pre-election pandering. Let’s dissect this abomination with the contempt it deserves:
1. A brutal assault on low – wage workers: corruption masquerading as policy
The provision forcing work permit holders to flee the island for a year if they dare seek better employment is not merely draconian – it is a brazen gift to the MLA oligarchs who own the very businesses reliant on exploited migrant labor. By trapping low-wage workers in jobs with stagnant pay, the government ensures its cronies can continue paying starvation wages while suppressing any upward pressure on salaries. Let us name this plainly: this is corruption codified into law. The MLAs, many of whom profit directly from construction firms, hospitality giants, and retail monopolies, have engineered a system where their own financial interests supersede the dignity of workers. Minimum wage earners – already struggling under the weight of Cayman’s obscene cost of living – would be condemned to indentured servitude, unable to escape abusive employers or negotiate fair compensation. This is not “protection”; it is predation.
2. Economic Suicide: The Financial Services Sector Will Collapse
If the architects of this policy possessed even a sliver of competence, they would recognize that Cayman’s status as a global financial hub hinges on its ability to attract and retain skilled professionals. Instead, this proposal is a death warrant for the sector. Imagine the absurdity: an accountant at a top offshore firm, a fund manager at a multinational corporation, or a fintech specialist — all forced to abandon their lives, homes, and careers for a year if they seek a new opportunity. Who would choose to work in Cayman under such conditions? The answer is simple: no one. Firms would hemorrhage talent, unable to recruit locally or retain employees who value career progression. Competitors in Bermuda, Dubai, or Singapore — jurisdictions not governed by imbeciles — would feast on Cayman’s self-inflicted wounds. The financial sector contributes nearly half of Cayman’s GDP. To jeopardize this for the sake of performative nationalism is not just reckless — it is economic treason.
3. A Bullies’ Charter: Empowering employers to abuse with impunity
The true malice of this policy lies in its weaponization of fear. By tethering workers to their employers under threat of exile, the government grants unscrupulous businesses carte blanche to exploit, underpay, and mistreat their staff. Workers, many already navigating high-pressure roles, would face a grim ultimatum: endure workplace abuse, toxic environments, or stagnant careers — or uproot their families, abandon their homes, and watch their children’s education and stability evaporate. Spouses, often on dependent permits, would be collateral damage, their lives upended by a government that views them as disposable. This is not governance; it is state-sanctioned coercion, a regime where workers are stripped of agency and employers reign as petty tyrants.
Conclusion: A Government of Fools, By Fools, For Fools
To the Cayman Islands Government and the civil service lickspittles who drafted this abomination: your staggering incompetence is matched only by your moral turpitude. You have concocted a policy so idiotic, so divorced from economic reality, that it reads like satire. You have chosen to scapegoat expats — the very people who build your infrastructure, staff your 5-star hotels, sustain your economy, and fund your bloated bureaucracy — rather than address the systemic failures that leave Caymanians underserved. You have ignored the glaring truth: Cayman’s prosperity is built on global talent and international trust. Burn that bridge, and these islands will regress into a mosquito-infested, inbred, lobotomised/CXC backwater, their economy a smoldering ruin, their reputation a global joke.
But perhaps that is the point. After all, a destitute Cayman would be easier to control, its people dependent on the crumbs tossed by their political overlords. To the architects of this garbage: history will remember you not as protectors, but as pyromaniacs — small-minded, venal, and utterly unfit to lead. May this proposal die in the ignominy it deserves, and may its authors find themselves unemployable in any jurisdiction with a functioning brain (oh, wait – they already are: that’s why they became Caymanian politicians).
“To discourage work permit holders from job hopping, they would have to leave the Cayman Islands for at least one year if they change jobs.”
The relevant text from the white paper preamble and operative provision read, respectively:
Clause 26 seeks to consult on amending the principal Act to repeal and substitute section 64. The proposed substituted section 64 provides that persons who are workers are not permitted to change their employer. The section further provides that where a person who is a worker terminates his or her employment, the person shall leave the Islands for at least one year before any other prospective employer is able to apply for a work permit in respect of the person.
Repeal and substitution of section 64 – change of employer
26. The principal Act is amended by repealing section 64 and substituting the following section —
“Prohibition on changing employer
64. (1) A person who is a worker shall not change the person’s employer.
(2) Where a person who is a worker terminates his or her employment, the person shall leave the Islands for a period of not less than one year before any other prospective employer is able to apply for a work permit in respect of the person.”.
The current section 64 to which the above refers says:
“Change of employer
64. During the currency of a work permit, the holder of that permit may not change that person’s employer unless —
(a) the Board, including the Cayman Brac and Little Cayman Immigration Board, or the Director of WORC believes there are special circumstances; or
(b) the circumstances of the holder’s employment are within a description or class of descriptions specified in a direction made by the Cabinet.”
The current section 64 appears to have been routinely ignored over the past few decades; doubtless because it is totally incompatible with modern commercial realities.
Some questions:
1. What exactly is the problem that this new provision is purporting to solve?
2. What is it trying to achieve?
3. Notwithstanding that it is likely to be mere xenophobic pre-electioneering politics, to what extent does it appear to be targeted at (a) minimum wage service sector expats (e.g. construction workers); or (b) white collar professional services expats?
4. What, in reality, would be the effect of this provision on the financial services sector, specifically professional services firms in Cayman? For example, it seems to me that the most obvious implication is that companies would be unable to recruit on island, because any potential hires would be forced to leave Cayman for 12 months. Surely that would make Cayman utterly toxic to the financial services sector, because people’s careers are not static, and forcing firms to recruit people from the first world with no existing experience in Cayman would be a kill shot for the entire sector?
I genuinely don’t understand what this is about. Either I am extraordinarily stupid and have no understanding of how the world works, or – and hear me out, because this will sound REALLY wacky – CIG and the civil service who drafted this white paper are extraordinarily stupid and have no understanding of how the world works…
What happens when driftwood Caymanians have kids that are now Native Caymanians? Is that only 1.5 votes?
I’d love to know how many serving MPs would actually pass the PR test.
The ONLY reason for creating different classes of “Caymanian” is to discriminate against one or more of those classes.
We do need a mechanism to understand whose status is capable of being revoked, as a first step to determining whose (if anyone’s) status should be revoked.
I can think of at least 10.
“Status Grant Revenue” is a fantastical made-up line item, and number.
Thankfully, some of us can open web browsers and know how to read simple tables and executive summaries. 2023 Financial Report – see “Revenue” §5.2 page 45:
“Similarly, work permit and residency fees ($127.6MM) rose by $7.7 million as the number of work permits increased during the year.”
https://www.eso.ky/storage/page_docums/uploadFilePdf/805/The%20Cayman%20Islands%20Annual%20Economic%20Report%202023_Final.pdf
12:52 pm I appreciate the correction. Yes, it was a typo on my part. My bad. That you took the time to check is admirable.
The changing jobs rollover may well be a breach of the human rights of the person. For example, if that person has children born and resident in Cayman, then to enforce the rollover would be a breach of the right to family life.
Anyway, this proposed legislation is pre-election puff designed get votes rather than to see the light of day.
If the government is serious about addressing PR, then adjusting the points would be the best approach.
Here’s my input upfront:
1. Get rid of owning Property as a part of the ‘Point System’ for Permanent Residency. In doing so, just maybe, the housing market might provide opportunities for Caymanians to Purchase a home rather than big developers building to cater to the RICH and more affluent amongst us only.
2. a. Collect ALL outstanding PR Fees NOW and revoke the PR of those persons who have not/do not/will not pay them.
b. No excuse is acceptable. Enforce the Law. (If a person can apply for PR then that should signify that you have been granted PR because you have the means to pay the prescribed annual fee.)
3. Increase the time frame for the PRIVILEGE to apply for PR to 15 Years. (One year additional will solve little to nothing).
4. Put a moratorium on Status Grants for say 20 Years, EXCEPT for persons who are married to a Caymanian after 10 years or are entitled to gain Caymanian Status through family ties.
Revoke PR or Status for anyone serving a sentence at Northward or Fairbanks, too. They forfeited their right when they broke the law.
Unless a Cabinet Grant, this is already supposed to be the practice. We need leaders that can read what their job is.
Even for a Cabinet Grant that is supposed to be the practice if the offence is one connected with or facilitated by, the grant.
Save for those awaiting trial that have not yet been convicted of something terminal of their continued Status. But let’s get serious: our criminals are born in Cayman, not successful applicants via the merit-based points system. The crime problem is a product of drugs, addiction, and broken Caymanian households. While Bryan wastes close to $10mln on a park nobody asked for, their regime invests next to nothing in addiction support. It begs the question, are our politicians somehow involved and/or complicit in the transshipment drug/weapons/people smuggling economy? This has nothing to do with merit-based Status Grants.
I agree with much of what you said but you are forgetting that the criminals do not need the merit based point system. The criminals marry a Caymanian without the scrutiny of the points system or positive contributions to society for nearly a decade. I am an expat and agree changes are needed but you can’t tell me the only path to residency should be decided by young women. Women that are all to happy to marry and bare children for known criminals as another poster has suggested.
Agree with you 9.05 .
Unfortunately Not all those convicted go to prison. I know one who has not changed his ways and is still a grinning presence at Governor’s cocktail parties.
There should be revocation of the privilege to live in Cayman for white collar thieves as well.
A) That is already the case.
B) Cayman’s prison population: 258. Share of Caymanians: (178) 67%.
What is the population of Americans in US jails? British in UK jails? etc etc.
*crickets*
Some of the Caymanians are not Caymanians. Riddle that one.
12:59 am — Very great constructive proposals as factors to be given due consideration.
With respect to your fourth (4th) point, children (young persons), who are formally adopted by a Caymanian, should receive the same rights as their adoptive Caymanian parent has.
Whilst this appears, at least impliedly, to have been included, it thought that it was worth clarifying expressly.
Kindest thanks for your insightful input.
‘As Border Control Minister Dwayne Seymour laid the discussion paper in parliament on Friday, he said little about the proposed changes, merely asking the public to peruse the document and “give as much feedback as possible”.
Where can we find this document?
There’s a link through CNS at the bottom of the article.
No doubt, no one wants to hear the words ‘IMMIGRATION REFORM’ but it is time for serious reform in the Cayman Islands.
Citizenship of a country as it pertains to the foreign population within the country, is NOT a Human Rights issue. For such people, it is a PRIVILEGE lest it be NOT forgotten.
There will be backlashes from interest groups and other self-serving groups that are among the population in our country, however, Generational Caymanians are imploring the current and the new government to have the ‘guts/wisdom/interest/foresight/loyalty’ to carry out this much needed Immigration Reform and the new Laws that are written and gazetted be those that put the best interest of Generational Caymanians and their extended families at the core.
The time is NOW to safeguard our Caymanian Culture/Heritage/History and the well-being of the Generational Caymanians population and their extended family members that call the Cayman Islands home.
“a drowning man will grasp at straws”
our political chaos and floundering is the result of years of greed and lack of vision by Caymanians, acted out on our behalf by our political leaders over many years.
truth be told we are now a minority stakeholder in the territory with persons not originally from here having the greatest vested interest with the most to loose. they naturally will take care of their interests and as long as there is enough handouts to keep us at bay, things will be just fine and life will go on as before.
almost impossible to reverse this situation.
where is the blood test investigation ?
Why do Caymanians need protection?
Noone would employ an expat with all the paperwork and high work permit fees if qualified Caymanians were available?
Better education please. Take the money spent on two competing universities and spend it on scholarships for Caymanian students to study abroad.
As they do in Dubai.
To 7:39 pm I strongly disagree. There are qualified Caymanians but employers:
1. Do not want to pay Caymanians a decent salary
2. Many abuse work their permit holders forcing them to pay for the work permit, their insurance — and some, even their pension.
3. Caymanians would not agree to work the number of hours that some of these work permit holders are forced to work.
4. The living conditions that some work permit holders are forced to endure are tantamount to slavery. It is inhumane!
I agree, but the board that approves those WP’s is staffed by Caymanians, so why don’t they protect their own?
To 9:21am: Ministries and departments are under a whip to bring in revenue. In 2023, the WP revenue was $90.7 million. Without a policy decision, I doubt any civil servant will dare mess with that. That is why I insist that voters need to decide: do we follow the money or make the hard decisions?
You are saying that Caymanians have slaves, and that is hurting Caymanians. Try to reconcile your thoughts
To Anonymous 1:15pm: My thoughts are quite clear. Cheap labor is a detrimental to Caymanian employment, not to mention that people are being abused by employers who have no conscience or scruples.
Yes and those employers are Caymanian (as businesses have to be at least 60% Caymanian owned). So some Caymanians who own businesses are abusing expat workers by not paying a living wage etc. Why won’t these Caymanian businesses hire Caymanians and pay them a living wage? That is the question you must ask. Caymanian business owners will deflect onto foreign workers to sow divisions and hide their own disgusting business practices, including opposing raising the minimum wage.
Some of the 60% aren’t from here, hence the need to create categories of Caymanians. There are many nationalities other than Caymanians, employing and abusing their own. Many do it without the requisite T&B so no need to be a Caymanian of any category in that case.
How sweet. You actually believe the business owners are Caymanian?
Some Caymanians are unwilling to compete against the ravenous rest of the world for the top level international finance careers available locally. Those challenging 6 figure annual comp positions are not “tantamount to slavery”, give us a break. Surely these savvy idle and qualified Caymanians can open a web browser and go to https://my.egov.ky/web/myworc/ to see what work is advertised, and then apply for it, as the law provides. Yes, the job may involve overtime to meet deadlines and compete at the highest level to win business. These are not charities, or CIG 10am-3pm glad-hand make-work positions. A lucrative performance bonus incentive is often part of the comp package.
To Anonymous 1:17pm: My comment arose from the statement, “No one would employ an expat with all the paperwork and high work permit fees if qualified Caymanians were available”, made by 7:39pm. Clearly, it applies to cheap labor, more so than positions in the Finance Services industry.
10am-3pm? What kind of monster are you? When are persons supposed to have lunch and do chores?
or run their side business
To 1:17pm: Though most government offices open between 8 and 9am and close between 4 and 5pm, many civil servants are at work before and after such times. I am not denying that some people really are not cut out for civil service, but that happens in every industry globally. Really, some people bash all civil servants simply because they can.
To 7:39pm
There were 303 new scholarships granted in 2023. Many of them for overseas universities. In addition, the number of students on scholarships is as follows:
Professional 47
Humanities 66
Education 81
Medicine & Veterinary Studies 144
Engineering, Technology & Science 213
Social & Business Studies 275
These details are openly disclosed in Parliament. You can also check the Annual Reports of the Ministry of Education or visit the ESO website.
How many of those scholarships are to top universities in the Countries, and how many of those complete the programme with a 3.0/B average?
How many of those get any form of work experience during or after study, and then how many actually come back and want to work?
By the time students get a scholarship, the origin of their parents is forgotten as many of Caymanians on schoalrship are born to driftwood or were once driftwood, so there is no intention to return as they have 2 3 or 4 passports and Cayman is never their first choice.
Where are the scholarships designed to reduce the work permit numbers? Where are the scholarships in the construction industry? Where are the the scholarships in the hospitality industry (so persons graduates can enter a junior management role)? Where are the scholarships in accounting with guaranteed employment in a junior role in the big 6 firms?
If you are on Scholarship you are meant to come back and work in Cayman. Truth be told the vast majority of kids want to do just that.
We unfortunately have a shortage of entry-level jobs. Rather than employing and training a recent university graduate, firms advertise for over-qualified workers so they can get an expat to fill the position if needed. We should be asking ourselves why employers feel the need to do that. Are the business owners evil or is there another reason?
Yes, it’s impossible to train world-class professionals in a tiny island in the middle of the Caribbean. You need first world experience in major companies in large cities, serving demanding clients.
Only then will you be credible over here.
Anyone telling you otherwise is lying, because they know what you want to hear.
I don’t like it. I wish it weren’t true, but it is.
Would you recommend that students who are studying (specifically me in the UK in Finance) seek graduate employment in London instead of focusing on coming home? I am genuinely seeking advice because I look at many of my older relatives who struggled to gain employment upon graduation after studying abroad, and if they did, it wasn’t what they wanted to pursue career-wise. I understand Cayman lacks the amount of opportunities a first-world country could provide. Could someone please give a second-year student abroad some advice?
Yes, get experience in London or a similar capital city. Only then return to Cayman.
The insistence that Caymanian kids return to Cayman immediately after graduation does them an immense disservice, because they are thereafter forever tainted in the eyes of international clients (i.e. the ones who matter) as lacking international experience.
Worse, the affirmative action exemplified by the immigration laws in Cayman mean that every Caymanian is further tainted by the rancid stench of potentially being a diversity hire to placate WORC. I don’t like it. I wish it weren’t true, but it is. The only way to mitigate that risk is to have proper international experience for at least three years before returning to Cayman (less than three years, and it’s unclear if you jumped or were pushed).
Gimme! Gimme!! Gimme!!!
I DEMAND a high profile job, which must be delivered to me ON A SILVER PLATTER!!
That is my BIRTHRIGHT!!!
Clowns.
To 8:48pm If you disparage Caymanians so, why are you here? It boggles the mind. Go somewhere else, for Pete’s sake! Such a nasty attitude, yet you stay here and reap the fruit.
You’re perfectly entitled to compete on your merits. That’s what we do.
What’s irritating is when knuckle-dragging, window-licking MLAs spend 4 years between elections gorging themselves on kickbacks and abuse labor practices, and then JUST BEFORE EACH ELECTION start screaming that everything is the fault of evil expats, and that Caymanians must be immediately appointed as CEO of every company in Cayman, and are far too good to start at the bottom like the rest of us did, etc.
It’s the sense of entitlement. We’re INTERNATIONAL businesses, serving INTERNATIONAL clients. We’re just temporarily in Cayman because you need the work permit fees. The constant demands are getting tiresome, and Dubai, Singapore, et al are looking every better every year.
If anything, your oft-cited ‘Put Caymanians on a perch’ legislation undermines you all, because clients suspect that you’ll all diversity hires. It’s not the winning move you think it is.
To 4:26pm: Remember these are publicar funds. Yes, some scholarships are awarded to top universities. The rest of your questions are valid, Nimitz can only be addressed through chances in education policies which (again) can only come to pass if voters get involved and lobby their MPs for said changes. It all comes back to voters getting informed and getting involved. The withdrawal of the NCA Bill is a recent example of that dynamic.
Long over due but still not in favor of caymanians.
It is certainly in favour of Caymanians who employ mininmum/low wage WP holders.
Like Mr Dwayne Seymour,9:27.
Just make the developers pay for infrastructure costs with no duty concessions. For bonus densities and concessions, the developments must be for Caymanians.
Cayman should buy another island
in the Caribbean
Like Cuba?
Would provide a strong workforce and multilingual opportunity.
Close family ties too.
Has some natural resources too. More beach to develop- north and south shores.
Worth a discussion.
1. ‘Imperative’ to act. But it took you the anti expat Opposition that finally made it into Govt, 3.9 years to bother with hastily cobbling something together? LOL!
2. The purpose of creating categories of Caymanian means only that theres an as yet unstated but inevitable intent to discriminate, eg property stamp duty waivers at first, ability to run for office second, everything you can think of third, etc, etc.
3. Changed PR 8 to 9 years. Will discourage anyone?
4. Not bothered refining the points scoring, LOL!
5. Can’t change jobs unless leave = an employer abuse charter.
6. Minimum wage still $6 hr. Can’t even throw the poor wretches a bone, just kick them harder.
It’s not just that. It’s going to cause further division within communities as if we don’t have enough hate and grudges around already. Whilst I appreciate the intent, I don’t think this would be a solution.
It doesn’t make any difference as all the buy a work permit people will still be sub contracting all over the island job sites. You can not shut down the developers because they are looking for a cheaper labor source.
Voters please be careful with your vote Do not vote for those who have ignored you and your children for over 30 years, whilst they enriched themselves and their foreign friends. Now because those whom they have brought here have now displaced and marginalized them they want to remain relevant in society, are now asking you to once again restore the same influence and power in their hands promising to fix the very problems in society that they help create.which they are well aware cannot be remedied nor fix . Yet they are promising everything and like Porn will deliver absolutely nothing so now by sprinkling a few local familiar faces and bribing the process by nefarious means want to now deceive you with shiny things that we can now neither afford nor want.
“Yet they are promising everything and like Porn will deliver absolutely nothing” … not sure where your analogy connects with that one or how it relates to the topic of permanent residency
They all been promising the whole world via trickle down economics.
Show me someone who will actually follow through.
The Constitution does not permit a law that would create greater and lesser Caymanian status or any discrimination based on any hierarchy of ‘Caymanianness’ but legalities have never bothered this group of politicians.
This is the best they could come up with? Extending PR to 9 years from 8 but without fixing the points system to make it harder to obtain? Creating “classes” of Caymanians? Not doing anything to fix the temporary work permit regime which is routinely abused?
I would comment on the discussion paper but what’s the point when there will be a new government in three months who will go back to the drawing board.
Immigration reform is sorely needed and these guys sat on this for more than a year and introduced the discussion before it’s too late to do anything. Good work guys.
All Jamaican’s and Filipino’s should be exempt from paying work permits because they are so hard working. Thank you Honorable Seymour. When will you be issuing gas & grocery cards?
What I think is amusing is that based on the definitions section not a single one of our Members of Parliament is a ‘Native Caymanians’.
Just to be clear, this has nothing to do with protecting Caymanian jobs. It’s all about protecting employers so that they can continue to treat their staff like shit knowing that they can do nothing about it. It’s an evil plan.
It was the first thing that crossed my mind. You think the abuse in many places is bad now? That is a ridiculous idea, which is going to have a negative impact in the long term.
Keeping the Serf indenturement grade minimum wage low is the ignored culprit of permit explosion, exploited by Caymanian permit-holding Lords. However, contrary to Seymour’s data-phobic policy suggestions, very few of the entry level permit holders will ever qualify on merit for PR, so it’s not even the same conversation as Status Grants. There is no causal relationship between the issues.
Winner winner, chicken dinner!
Protection of the further indentured servitude keeps the construction and related industries profitable.
25 years minimum
UNHRC.
This is not a Human Rights issue. The Cayman Islands has the Right to decide who becomes a citizen of this country. For example, You have the Right to become a Citizen if you have at least ONE (1) Caymanian Parent whether or not that parent was settled here. Caymanian As of Right/Generational Caymanian.
If the Board grants you Status/Citizenship, then it is a PRIVILEGE not a RIGHT! Remember this FACT please!
The Cayman Islands is a Dependent Territory of the United Kingdom, party to OHCHR and MUST afford a legitimate open pathway to Naturalization, and to full citizenship rights (Cayman Islands Status), after a prescribed period. The CIG has tried to challenge this and has lost every single time. We might learn from these expensive case law lessons, seeing as it’s our money being set ablaze rehashing the same amnesia-filled exclusionary narratives every election period. Just stop.
Hence the need for term limits…
or written notes for the next Gov’t, oh wait.
Clearly you want that to be the case but as a matter of law and “FACT” you are wrong. I believe it is also a privilege to live here permanently but it is one that by the time it is granted should have been earned.
I envy people like you, people who say little and know less. Your ignorance, while repugnant, seems to insulate you from the horrors of the world. Must be having a grand old time secure in your empty head and righteous convictions.
In the real world, the rest of us will attend to this issue with far more grace and sensibility than you would.
Try that in UAE (Dubai) or Qatar. Successful countries that know how to protect their own.
125 years minimum
If you steal from your employer and you get sacked.. you can get a new work permit. If your employer steals from you, and you resign you cannot get a new work permit…
This section is ludicrous
RE: THE CAYMANIAN PROTECTION ACT, MANUFACTURED LABOR SHORTAGES & THE 42-MAN RENOVATION TEAM EXPERIMENT
Today, we bear witness to a masterclass in self-inflicted economic sabotage—a government so obsessed with control that it has crippled its own labor market, while a workforce so inefficient it could serve as performance art continues to thrive.
• “Eight years before applying? Make it nine! Let’s see who lasts!”
• Next up: A gladiatorial trial where applicants must defeat a bureaucratic Minotaur to prove worthiness.
• Tired of your job? Too bad! You must now leave the island for a year before reapplying!
• Perfectly logical—just like repairing a sinking ship by throwing out the lifeboats.
• Because what farmers really needed was… more forms!
• Absurdistan fully endorses this move. No better way to support local agriculture than to strangle it with red tape!
• When in doubt, rename the disaster and pretend it’s progress.
• Coming soon: The “Traffic Flow Optimization Plan,” featuring more roundabouts, less logic!
Through the advanced observational techniques of sitting, watching, and trying not to scream, we present the following workforce distribution model, commonly found in renovation projects, infrastructure works, and bureaucratic task forces across the island:
BREAKDOWN OF A 42-PERSON TEAM ON-SITE:
Since it’s clear that waiting is now a full-time profession, Absurdistan proposes a Mandatory Workplace Observation License.
• Supervisory Staring Specialist (for those who just… watch.)
• Operational Readiness Observer (for those waiting to start.)
• Efficiency Prevention Consultant (for those ensuring nothing happens too quickly.)
Why fight inefficiency when we can formalize it and pretend it’s part of the plan?
Dear legislators,
Congratulations on your latest contribution to the fine tradition of Absurdistani Policy Making.
Your commitment to overcomplicating the simple, obstructing the necessary, and ensuring economic inefficiency will be studied for years to come.
Should you require further bureaucratic inspiration, Absurdistan is prepared to send a delegation to assist with additional layers of inefficiency.
Until then, we remain yours in endless deliberation, redundant paperwork, and policies that defeat their own purpose.
Sincerely,
The Secretary to the Ambassador of Absurdistan
(Sent via diplomatic courier, who will deliver this as soon as their committee on optimal routing efficiency completes its findings.)
Dude you care enough to comment on all of these stories but your writing is painful and 99% of people don’t think it’s funny.
Just stop and write normally.
ChatGPT ???
AbsurdAI
Raise the minimum wage to a living wage so the big cats using cheap imported labor must hire Caymanians to make profits.
This is the way to protect Caymanians and lower the crime rate.
You realize there are 12,000 expats on minimum wage and only 2,000 Caymanians, plus about 1,500 unemployed.
Can you show your workings as to how raising the minimum wage would create more Caymanians to take all the now-attractive jobs?
And what’s your theory? That the reason Caymanians don’t want construction, domestic and tourism jobs is that the salary is $6 per hr instead of $9? Rather than because they are unpleasant jobs and the unemployed people can survive just fine without them thank you very much (according to the Labour force survey supported by parents and spouses rather than the govt).
It is absurd illogical thinking like this that populist politicians latch on to.
The way to protect Caymanians , is to supply them with the same Weapons used by foreigners….First world EDUCATION….
3rd world schooling is what is Keeping Caymanians as second class citizens in the workplace.
Bring back UK teachers and Curriculum and level the playing field for Caymanians, then there won’t be the need to pass laws. “Protecting” them.
A “masters” from California coastal on line degree is worthless alongside a 4 year Masters degree from a recognized University.
Stop with “ I have my Masters” like MacKeeva has a doctorate.
I am fine being called a “Paper Caymanian” or “Piece of Driftwood”.
Keep in mind that us “expats” are here because Caymanian Companies are hiring us, Caymanian Families are hiring us,
local businesses are allowing us to become partners, and it seems like most all Caymanians are willing to sell us land and houses. And lastly there seems to be many Caymanians marrying us.
Government after Government has chosen the almighty foreign dollar time and time again over their own people.
Signed,
One of the few who got “Caymanian Status” after the last Caymanian Protection Act was repealed.
And that makes you what a desirable undesirable? Cha.
Of course they haven’t thought about the point system. That’s the hard part .. the rest is pandering to the voters.
BROAD CAYMANIAN PROTECTION LEGISLATION
There is an imperative need for extremely broad Caymanian protection legislation, which must be injected into wide areas of application in the Cayman Islands, and the foundational basis for doing so is already extant in our Constitution’s Bill of Rights (“BoR”).
Generally speaking, unjustifiable discriminatory treatment is provided for (pursuant to s.16(1) BoR (read together with s.16(2) thereof) headed “Non-discrimination”) that applies all persons (regardless of whether or not they are Caymanian, and rightly so).
More importantly, at least for present purposes, a Caymanian protection provision that allows for justifiable discrimination is extant in our Bill of Rights, pursuant to s.16(4)(b) BoR, which provides:
“Subsection (1) shall not apply to any law that makes provision—…with respect to the entry into or exclusion from, or the employment, engaging in any business or profession, movement or residence within, the Cayman Islands of persons who are not Caymanian”.
In essence, with respect to these above-mentioned topic areas, justifiable discrimination in favour of Caymanians, over and above non-Caymanians, in the Cayman Islands is already enshrined in our Constitution.
DEFINITION OF “CAYMANIAN”
The interpretation of “Caymanian” (as defined under s.28 BoR) “has the meaning ascribed to it in the laws of the Cayman Islands for the time being in force”.
As such, the constitutional power to redefine the definition of “Caymanian” in the legislation of the Cayman Islands lies within Parliament’s hands.
Therefore, Parliament can choose to do so, but to what extent will it (if at all)? And, given what protections, rights and freedoms will accompany any such redefinition of categories of “Caymanians”?
MULTI-GENERATIONAL CAYMANIANS and FOUNDATIONAL MULTI-GENERATIONAL CAYMANIANS
It is paramount that, with respect to the definition of “Caymanian” (where there are different categories of Caymanians), the definition of a “multi-generational Caymanian” (including, to take it a step further, a “foundational multi-generational Caymanian”) is defined in legislation in the Cayman Islands.
There are Caymanians, who come from founding lineage, in the Cayman Islands. Using myself, for example, my mother’s side (Bodden) traces back further than 300 years and my father’s side (Merren) traces back further than 250 years.
There are many other Caymanians that also fall with a similar foundational category — not the same as, but similar to, “indigenous” persons (since there are technically no “indigenous Caymanians” in the Cayman Islands).
Should there not be certain protections, rights and freedoms that “multi-generational Caymanians” (especially “foundational multi-generational Caymanians”) receive, over and above other categories of Caymanians, in the Cayman Islands?
It seems rational and necessary (especially with the significant dilution resulting from the population explosion over the last 25 years or so) in order to balance out disproportionate socio-economic detrimental disparity faced by Caymanians.
So, for example, should a “multi-generational Caymanian” category apply, at the very least, to any “Caymanian” that has roots dating back 100 years or more? It seems rational and this could apply to anyone, regardless of how their ancestors became a Caymanian — 100 years is certainly a significant commitment of planting and putting down roots of lineage in the Cayman Islands. .
CAYMANIANS ARE A RARE AND ENDANGERED SPECIES
Pursuant to s.18(1) BoR (headed “Protection of the environment”) provides:
“Government shall, in all its decisions, have due regard to the need to foster and protect an environment that is not harmful to the health or well-being of present and future generations, while promoting justifiable economic and social development.”
This is not only reflective of fostering and protecting the physical environment (e.g., land, wildlife and sea biodiversity), but also the socio-economic environment of present generations of Caymanians — that is, protection of the Caymanian people and an a non-detrimental socio-economic environment on such Caymanian people are an essential focus point.
Moreover, the Bill of Rights, which “is a cornerstone of democracy in the Cayman Islands” (s.1(1) BoR), inter alia, “recognises the distinct history, culture, Christian values and socio-economic framework of the Cayman Islands” (s.1(2)(a) BoR).
We protect, inter alia, the blue iguana, turtles, Cayman parrots, old trees that have historic significance (with deep roots — PON intended) as well as other plants and fauna as rare and endangered species.
However, one of the most significant rare and endangered species, which appears to receive far less protection, are Caymanians generally (especially multi-generational Caymanians and, even more so, “foundational multi-generational Caymanians”).
This is not to say that a “Caymanian”, who was just granted status a few days/weeks/months ago, is not important, not welcome and should not be protected too. It’s rather the opposite. However, such persons did choose to uproot from somewhere else and more recently than others (e.g., multi-generational Caymanians) planted roots in the Cayman Islands.
Those with strong and deep-rooted lineage and heritage, who have maintained their connection to the Cayman Islands, deserve to receive certain protections, rights and freedoms to honour and respect this longstanding commitment to the place we have called home for many generations.
Something analogous to aspects of indigenous rights legislation needs to be considered and revamped to provided legislative policies that provide protection, rights and freedoms to multi-generational Caymanians, which the current system has failed miserably at doing to present date.
We should take certain protections, rights and freedoms provided to certain persons, because of deep-rooted ties to a country (such as indigenous people), for example, American Indians in the USA and First Nations in Canada as well as other countries (e.g., Maroons in Jamaica).
This is not a novel concept. Shouldn’t the Cayman Islands do the same (or similar) in our own domestic legislative policies? Will Parliament, in fact, have the courage, wisdom and fortitude to do so? I guess only time will tell the story, let’s just wait and see.
My two cents, for what it’s worth.
Thank you for your contribution. This is a very complex subject area. What would you say in regard to the following scenario which is based on facts but with slight changes to avoid pinpointing the individuals involved.
1850 – Person 1 is born in the Cayman Islands to parents who were born in Jamaica and moved to Cayman in 1845.
Person 1 lives from age 0 – to age 20 in Cayman and then moves to Jamaica for employment
Person 1 gets married in Jamaica to an immigrant to Jamaica and in 1889 has a child – Person 2 – who is born in Jamaica. Person 2 has a born Caymanian parent.
Person 2 lives in Jamaica from age 0 to age 24 and then emigrates to Panama for employment. In later life Person 2 marries a Panamanian citizen and in 1944 has a child Person 3. Person 3 has a born Caymanian grandparent.
In 2023 Person 3, then 79, arrives for the first time in Cayman and claims to be a multi-generational Caymanian entitled to status by descent.
Person 3 has 7 children (5 with spouses) and 11 grandchildren none of whom have ever been to Cayman. Are they all generational Caymanians?
Where has such special treatment got the native Americans? Rampant unemployment, crime and alcoholism.
Who do you think put them on reservations? Not themselves!
Citizenship is a PRIVILEGE. The RIGHT of citizenship therefore should be afforded to those of descent and their extended families.
Or would you rather the same happen to Generational Caymanians as the Colonial Powers have done in the past?
If you are truly here for the betterment of yourself in all aspects of your life that Cayman offers to you, particularly financial, as you would not be here if it didn’t, then your empathy is needed, not your scorn!
This is a nauseating post. The deep-seated hatred of all foreigners is cultural rot. Cayman does not have indigenous people, and those self-ascribing more holier-than-thou value to themselves than to their fellow neighbour, who likely have also put their back into making Cayman what it is, are rotten hell-bound souls. Respect must flow both ways if you seek eternal redemption. Best of luck on that with these attitudes.
Nationalism in a true melting pot territory is disgusting and very stupid to boot.
International finance companies and employees likely do not like it either.
Best care for the Golden Goose or Singapore and Ireland and Hong Kong will.
I’m not sure about HK or Ireland, but yes, Singapore is decent.
I think Dubai has the edge, now. A friend wrote this on Facebook, recently:
“Moved to Dubai 3 months ago and already enjoying it far more than London. Spent all day at a waterpark yesterday with friends having a fantastic time, and then on to a Turkish restaurant for dinner. Last week I was hiking in the mountains at dawn, a short drive from Dubai. I’ve also joined the local running club and will be doing the Prague Marathon with them next year. They also have a cycling section and the Al Qudra cycle track is a 80km dedicated road track. Nothing like that in the UK. This Christmas will be spent with family down in Oman, now a short flight away. I could go on. The idea that Dubai is some kind of short term sacrifice is totally outdated and I think Western governments should be very, very afraid.”
See previous discussions about Dubai being superior to Cayman, here: https://caymannewsservice.com/2024/11/saunders-calls-for-tax-on-foreign-owned-property/comment-page-3/#comment-665146
Dubai sounds like a wonderful place. Why are you missing out. You only live life once. What’s stopping you?
Too disruptive for the children’s education at this point. That said, with the retarded knuckle-dragging exhibited in this white paper, and the comments thereunder, we may yet change our mind!
Good luck paying for Cayman if the only people who actually bring money into Cayman all disappear!
Now where have I read about different classes of citizen based on generational national purity before?
Eerily similar themes and turgid prose too!
Maybe it sounded better in German?
Orrie Merren’s diatribe is an unmitigated disaster of legal writing—verbose, incoherent, riddled with grammatical errors, and structurally chaotic. It reads like a student attempting to sound impressive rather than a competent legal professional making a precise argument. The excessive parentheticals, meandering sentence structures, and bizarre rhetorical flourishes (e.g., “PON intended”) render it barely readable, let alone persuasive.
Substantively, it is a confused tangle of pseudo-legal posturing, cultural grievance, and historical cherry-picking. The reliance on constitutional provisions is haphazard, with vague references to “protections, rights, and freedoms” without any serious analysis of their practical implications. The argument for preferential treatment of so-called “foundational multi-generational Caymanians” is poorly framed, lacking any clear policy rationale beyond emotional appeals.
This level of writing exemplifies why so few Caymanian lawyers rise to the top of elite firms — clarity, precision, and logical rigour are the hallmarks of legal excellence, and this piece demonstrates none. If anything, it undermines the very cause it purports to champion.
The fact that so many Caymanians have upvoted this train wreck of a legal argument speaks volumes about why they remain unemployable. Clients don’t want to deal with this level of incoherence—if we put someone who writes like this in front of them, they’d fire us and take their business elsewhere.
If Cayman wants homegrown lawyers to compete at the top, it needs to fix its education system. Ditch the third-rate CXC curriculum and adopt the International Baccalaureate. Ensure students achieve top grades, send them to elite law firms abroad to gain real experience (Cayman is too small to provide it), and then return ready to compete. Until then, don’t expect sympathy.
Me thinks that you sound concerned and desperate that Caymanians are going to be taking back control of the Cayman Islands. It is noted that Mr. Merren’s comment was posted very quickly at 12:46 am shortly after this article was published. This was impressive writing to have been published that quickly.
Impressive writing? You’re doomed, if you really that. I’m terribly sorry, but you’re probably going to struggle to be employed in a McDonalds if you consider Merren’s effluent to constitute decent writing.
“You’re doomed, if you really that” is not impressive nor decent writing.
Reads like Orrie whipped your arse in a case or two, perhaps?
Has anyone ever instructed Merren to appear in the FSD?
Please dear god, let our opponents instruct him: he would be wet dream to oppose, he is so clearly out of his depth in a puddle.
Look at his grasp of English: do you genuinely fail to understand that people in the first world do not write like this?
Roy Bodden and the CXC disaster has really done a number on you lots, hasn’t he?!
What would the different types of Caymanian achieve?
IMO nothing but more division of citizens of our country. If a person gains the right of be called Caymanian then so be it.
If they earned it, yes – BUT how did many that you speak of gain the right?
Did they sit on the “right” lap?
Did they choose the “right” real estate?
Did they rely on an inept system of governance to sneak through, despite clear barriers in our laws?
The problem is that now it is clear. For every person who has properly gained a seat at the “Caymanian” table, three of four have gate-crashed. That is the cause of much of the mistrust and divisions. Caymanians have every right to be outraged, and a consequence of that outrage is bound to be calls for “different types” of Caymanian.
The irony is that what the government is proposing defines everyone granted status by Mac in 2003 “a Native Caymanian.” They are no such thing. Poor Mr. Benson must be turning in his grave.
You have no idea on what it takes to qualify to submit an application. Many intergenerational Caymanians would fail the Caymanian History and Culture test that at one time was worth 20 PR points, let alone the net contribution, property, criminal background check, and needs tests…designed and approved by the all-Caymanian CI Status and PR Board. If you wish to expel all those that raise these community averages by doing well on those scores, what indifferent social-drag losers would you want in their place? You may get your wish one day.
Au contraire. Below are the criteria that all applicants are supposed to be required to satisfy. It is supposed to be tough. Do you contend that everyone granted status over the past 15 years has met all of these criteria?
Matters for Board’s consideration
30. In the course of processing an application for the right to be Caymanian, the Board shall satisfy itself that —
(a) such grant would be in the public interest;
(b) adequate consideration has been given to the number of dependants who would be entitled to reside in the Islands or become Caymanian by entitlement should the application be granted;
(c) that it would be in the interest of the Islands to grant such application if the number of dependants becoming Caymanian by entitlement would be more than three;
(d) the applicant has not committed an act of insolvency or bankruptcy, or been involved as a shareholder or director of any company or other entity which has been the subject of liquidation especially where creditors have been adversely affected;
(e) the applicant — (i) is of good character and conduct; (ii) has to that person’s credit three good character references received by the Board directly from three Caymanians; and (iii) has a clean criminal record and has not been involved with illegal drugs;
(f) the applicant is of good health and does not suffer from any form of communicable or mental disease that would make that person a danger to the community;
(g) the applicant has not been involved in organising or engaging in any subversive political activity, nor has the applicant organised, caused or promoted racism or any illegal activity within the Islands or elsewhere;
(h) the continued residence of the applicant and that person’s family will contribute to the well-being of the Islands;
(i) the economic situation of the Islands and the protection of persons already engaged in similar gainful occupations have been duly considered;
(j) adequate consideration has been given to the desirability of granting the right to be Caymanian to applicants with different backgrounds and from different geographical areas so that a suitable balance in the social and economic life of the Islands may be maintained; and
(k) adequate consideration has been given to the desirability of retaining the economic resources of the Island in the control of Caymanians
“To discourage work permit holders from job hopping, they would have to leave the Cayman Islands for at least one year if they change jobs.”
understand what this will do to this island. this legislation if passed would essentially prohibit any expats on the island being promoted…
the exodus and run on effects on the economy will be immediate. property market will tank, and skilled workers in law and financial services would no longer see Cayman as a viable option….
who in their right mind would take a job here without the possibility of being promoted? not a soul.
good luck MLAs. if this passes you’ll have no income to pay your salaries or the civil service.
Not too smart are you? Change jobs means change employers not your job title…
a change in title is a change in job. numpty.
Even if it meant a change in jobs, that’s still fatal to financial services. People need to move around throughout their career.
The fact that you’re seriously suggested this indicates just how unemployable you lot are in the financial services industry. No wonder you want to legalise cannabis and gambling: that’s all that you’re good for.
Don’t worry though, expats will continue to pay $$$$ work permit fees, stamp duty and import tax to fund your Moron MLAs, Corrupt CIG and World Clown Civil Service.
The Absurdistan show must go on!
Look, the horse has bolted, but well done on almost closing the gate.
Some good ideas, but waaaay too late.
Having to, effectively roll-over, to change jobs would torpedo the financial services sector, and possibly the hospitality sector. There is not enough quality backfill to insulate against the job-change proposal.
Watch the civil service spiral into further inefficiency.
There will be so many exemptions to this law that it will be rendered ineffective to other than jobs that Caymanians already don’t want.
Good point from a brilliant name
Not really. People come here with little financial services experience. They obtain it here. They might be auditing some factory up in Canada and then come here and commence auditing funds. Then they move into administration or directorships. All experience acquired here.
They do this every 4 years but no real action is taken when they get in. They had FOUR years to tackle this and they wait til the election period.
More window dressing. I think they should expand the definition to include how many generations, something like Caymanian I, Caymanian II etc.. and for each generation you would get an extra vote.
Instead of focusing on integrating those that have contributed to our society and making sure those people are active participants in our culture, our government strives to separate us into those that are Caymanian and those that aren’t Caymanian enough.
Blaming our problems on outsiders and extreme forms of nationalism are always popular around election time to evoke strong emotions to make everyone forget who created the problems in the first place and to forget that they don’t have any solutions that won’t be the target of costly long term legal challenges that the people will end up paying for out of the same funds that would ideally help solve our long term issues.
Don’t be a sucker. Until the government comes up with a proper and legal solution to curb immigration that won’t be challenged versus what has been already promised to those on the pathway to status, this white paper is only a dog whistle for those who wish to blame expats for the growing pains that those in power may have not directly created but have stood by without leadership to solve over time.
Mr. Joseph, what say you?
Mr Joseph can say little of any help if the politicians and civil servants refuse to even meet. It seems they are not speaking the same language and, at this stage, are not even on the same planet.
Yes and double each of those votes if there is inbreeding.
With an election coming up the timing of this is perfect, it’s just clueless politicians stoking the xenophobic minority to win votes
Guaranteed it’ll be poorly worded and open to legal challenge
Given the demographic, the country needs skilled, qualified expat workers, it’s a reality that has to be accepted
The fund admin business left Cayman as they made it too difficult to get work permits, carry on down this road and the Cayman economy will be served by remote workers and there will be a reduced number of work permits, and therefore income to pay the already bloated number of government employees
Short sighted and ill considered, as usual
8;00 am horsedudu.
From the same dimwits that reveled in “Gay-pril” parliamentary overtime sessions instead of passing necessary time-critical OECD Blacklist avoiding legislation.
What other lines of service/practice areas do you predict to leave the Cayman Islands financial services industry potentially? Genuine question by the way.
haha an extra wote per generation, fantastic idea, surprised the drafters of the legislation missed that
I can only assume you’re being sarcastic
Bravo, you are the only one that got it.
Could your response be anymore foolish? Scrise.
Discouraging foreign investors is not the right way to promote the welfare of Caymanians.
And speaking of Welfare, better beef up the NAU budget to look after the increased number of Caymanians who will be deprived of jobs .
What are we doing to become more self-reliant in 5-10 years? What are we doing to promote the next generation to carry on self-reliance in 15-25 years?
I don’t think you’re wrong, but I believe this highlights to me that we are completely dependent on outside knowledge, expertise and money. The island often says that we can’t discourage foreign investors, but since I was a child in the 90’s, we seem to be walking further and further into dependency. We look to solve all our problems and needs by paying someone else to do it for us. I believe this is precisely why we have this fear of upsetting expats and foreign investment.
We are presenting ourselves as needy, but don’t think for a second that the other side doesn’t understand the power dynamics. Expected to be treated like dependents when we act like dependents.
Education: until Caymanians kids are qualifying at the same – or, preferably better – rates as expat kids, they’re simply unemployable in professional services jobs.
The obvious – and I mean incredibly obvious – start point is to ditch the garbage CXC qualifications, and third world teachers, and switch to internationally-recognised qualifications and Western teachers from first world countries.
LMAO Caymanian I Senior, Caymanian II Junior, Caymanian III babes….