PR points problem ‘vexing’, says premier
(CNS): Premier Alden McLaughlin has stated that the problem his administration is facing over the permanent residency points system is “vexing” and “complex” but the government is working to address it. In his speech at the Chamber of Commerce annual Legislative Luncheon on Wednesday, McLaughlin said the problem, which emerged following a finding of the court that the point system is arbitrary and unfair, was a legacy issue. But it has left government with a backlog of PR applications that stretch back as much as three years and government is wrestling to find a solution.
“The matter remains under consideration by the government as we seek the best way to move forward,” he told the room full of guests from the business community, many of whom are impacted by the ongoing freeze on residency applications.
“Until a resolution is found, all I can do is crave the patience of those awaiting their applications to be processed,” McLaughlin said. “The government takes this matter most seriously and intends to deal with it as quickly and efficiently as we can.”
Before the premier spoke, the current Chamber president, Paul Pearson, said in his speech that immigration remained a major headache for the business community.
“Immigration, labour and the cost of doing business are the main issues of concern identified by our members,” Pearson told the audience, pointing to a series of “small focus groups” who shared what he said were eye-opening, instructive but troubling matters.
“Members feel disadvantaged by certain inconsistencies they face with the immigration system and their ability to obtain qualified labour due to considerable permit delays and deferrals – leaving some businesses understaffed for prolonged periods, ” he said.
But Pearson also pointed to the residency application delays. Members had expressed concerns about the PR delays, he said, as well as the uncertainty in processing the applications and the impact this was having on senior and middle management positions.
But in his address at the Ritz lunch, McLaughlin said that there was no quick fix.
“The root of the issue goes back to systems and processes in place for many years but it has now fallen to this administration to find a sensible resolution. This is a vexing issue, not just for those impacted, but for me and the government. The matter is complex and we are working to address it,” he said. “There is no sinister reason for the advice remaining confidential at this stage, as some have suggested. It is simply the case that sensationalised reporting of the legal advice government has received on this sensitive issue is bound to make resolution of the issue that much more difficult and politically fraught.”
A report by David Ritch, which was commissioned by government following a ruling by the chief justice, has been labeled privileged legal advice by government. But given the length of the delays and the growing number of people waiting for a resolution, the government’s relative silence on the issue has caused further concern.
McLaughlin said that the efforts of the media to obtain and publish the legal advice given to government made it even more difficult to speak publicly about the matter because it could be perceived that he was waiving the claimed legal professional privilege if he did. But he insisted the matter was under serious consideration.
There are concerns on both sides of this issue. People waiting on their applications to be considered are in a state of limbo, uncertain what to do regarding future plans and their jobs. But given that some of the applicants will now have been legally resident in Cayman for twelve years, there are human rights questions about whether or not those applications can be refused, regardless of the qualifications of the individuals. This means government may in the end be forced to grant PR to everyone, whatever their circumstances or skills, undermining the stated policy aims of the PPM.
When the government changed the immigration law in 2013 to eliminate the rollover and key employee stages on the road to residency and allow all work permit holders regardless of their situation to apply, the PR point system was altered to make the application process more vigorous and allow government to set the criteria at that point as to who would be allowed to go on to apply for Caymanian status.
Check back to CNS later for more from the Legislative Luncheon
Category: Local News
Um..can we at least collect the cash owed for PR grants or revoke it from those losers?!!
Well i will say im a expat on work permit i get rolled over and come back i dont care about the PR or the status i go home for a year and im happy to get a work perpit approved when applied for i love cayman islands but one thing i hate ?Is some of them dougun PR and Status holders as they get it they become so friking lazy and start to cry to gov for help i know a few who get help to buy their weed and rum gov need to stop helping these lazy ass peopleif they get papers and cant mantain them self take the darn thing away stop giving them food that they go back and sell when you have caymanians that really need it
Seriously?
I am an expat. And I do not support PR status. Make PR status available only to people with net worth high enough that only few can afford it. So when I hit JackPot I will qualify, but this country must fix the Dump first and not with the latest plan. I would want to live in an ecologically clean environment. Meantime my eyes are on Saint Barthélemy. Learning French already.
Ellie, you would have been the perfect person prior to 2003. St. Bart’s is perfect for people of your caliber. Yes, Cayman was the destination prior to 2003. Now I’ll agree it’s a toss up between St. Bart’s, Monaco and The South of France for the class of people that could afford to retire and live here prior to that time. The situation should be vexing to everyone who knew what we had and gave up. We gave up Utopia for a lost country sandwiched between the aftershock of hurricane Ivan and a gloomy future of 2026 What a trade off! Still in a state of shock! The few Caymanians that want to know what it was like prior to 2003 have to all find the feet of Mr Steve McField to know the truth and facts.
Are you still an expat today?
I am a Caymanian and would love to see more PR given out as it will go someway to rectifying our corrupted and depleted gene pool.
Now that is the biggest truth on here…
who’s surprised?….look at the all the ppm non-action on the following:
immigration
civil service reform
port
cost of living/ doing business
sunday trading
gaming legislation
privitisation
just look at aldens spineless flip flop on something as simple as daylight savings time….tells you all you need to knoww…..
11.50am I guess you miss all that ”gambling’ action.
I need to grease my cash machine…any suggestions on a good currency trade
What really irks me is that we have to do a butt load of redundant paperwork, and pay fees for said, every few month. Yet they do nothing to deserve that fee. Frankly they do nothing at all that I can see, for years. In what other business can you keep charging for zero service. But they have us by the short and curlies. Just grow a pair and do something. Enough with this limbo bull crap.
If Alden was a West Bayer he would be ‘wexed’ and ‘tings would be ‘wexing’….which is not the same as waxing, because then you’d actually be doing something.
People who voted for him should be pissed. The amount of people that would have been rolled over by now are probably going to get to stay in the mass approval that is bound to happen. Those could be Caymanian jobs but you don’t see it that way. All you see is keeping the expats from attaining the right to stay and call this their home. Also, whoever suggested being able to stay and work here for as long as they want as an option must go back to school. That’s possibly the most ridiculous solution I’ve heard.
It may be ridiculous but it’s the one they have successfully in the BVI for decades.
Successful for whom?
Everyone but you.
Impossible in Cayman given our adherence to the ECHR.
Jellyfish and Wobble!
Just a fix here
The real confusion is the points and how to allocate them.
Why don’t they do it this way. Total combined income of the person or persons (ie married couple) that are applying for PR
and then tie it directly to all assets owned in Cayman.
So, if a couple who are both working, make 100k a year. And to get 20 points if 20 points is max
Lets make some math work for us here, shall we. 20 points x’s 100K income and Divided by 10 years living in cayman..whcih would be 200K CI.
Now if they have only 100 K in assets. well, they only get 10 points. Half of the max 20.
Or lets do it for a single person
single person makes 45K a year.
20 points max x 45000, divide by 10 years living here, he would only need 90k in assets. for the 20 points.
But say he only bought a piece of land for 30K. Well, that’s 1/3 his max assets of 90K, so he only recieves 1/3rd the points. Or 7 points (rounded off)
How hard is this, people?
And lets throw a bone in there, Since we allow people to get non working PR for money invested in the island
My math works there too
Say you have a couple who claim they make 100K a year, through foreign investments. And want to live and get PR n cayman
100,000CI x 20 (max points) divide 1 year in cayman
or 100,000 x20 divide 1 = 1 million dollars in assets they would need to apply for pr and one year living in cayman.
So the longer you wait to get PR. The cheaper it will be. Say someone works here for 20 years (im not saying illegally, but legally some how)
They make 75K a year
so 75,000 x’s 20 max points dividd by 20
They would only need 75K CI in assets to receive the maximum points of 20. If they only had 55k in max assets, they would only receive .73% of the max 20 points Or about 15 points.
11.49-this is probably why you are not the premier.
Just a fix here
The real confusion is the points and how to allocate them.
Why don’t they do it this way. Total combined income of the person or persons (ie married couple) that are applying for PR
and then tie it directly to all assets owned in Cayman.
So, if a couple who are both working, make 100k a year. And to get 20 points if 20 points is max
Lets make some math work for us here, shall we. 20 points x’s 100K income and Divided by 10 years living in cayman..whcih would be 200K CI.
Now if they have only 100 K in assets. well, they only get 10 points. Half of the max 20.
Or lets do it for a single person
single person makes 45K a year.
20 points max x 45000, divide by 10 years living here, he would only need 90k in assets. for the 20 points.
But say he only bought a piece of land for 30K. Well, that’s 1/3 his max assets of 90K, so he only recieves 1/3rd the points. Or 7 points (rounded off)
How hard is this, people?
Coward. Pushing this off until after the election to protect wotes.
Alden and Tara could set up their own law firm, “Spineless and Spineless”. But it would be an educational establishment not a law firm, at least in Tara’s parallel universe.
LOL
I find it ironic that people want to come to these Islands, not pay tax, yet complain about the cost of living and doing business here in Cayman. If you reduce the cost of living and doing business, you might as well impose taxes (i.e. payroll tax and corporate income tax). You can’t have it both ways because the Government needs revenue to function.
Then you don’t get what the issue is at all 10.12- Government revenue comes from work permits and tourist taxes, import taxes etc. The rest is just monopoly and cartel pricing-like fuel prices for example. That’s what the Chamber (not ex pats) are complaining about
You know what the issue is? Fairness. Almost no one pays what they should under the present system because it is unfair, antiquated and uninforced. $350 duty free allowance? Really, that is a ludicrous duty allowance. Why has it not changed in 25 or more years?
Into Masochism Annie? Why are you pushing to change something that is one of the very few benefits of being here? We have to pay through the teeth for everything else, so don’t bemoan that minor perk, which you have to be able to afford a plane ticket for to benefit from anyway…
Huh? You support, deceit, lying and cheating? Rah, rah perjury.
Make the allowance reasonable. Duh.
I hope you have not imparted your lack of morals onto your children, if, God help us, you have any.
Education system failed you badly Annie.
Really, the education system has failed me badly? How so anonymous 11:04? Please enlighten me with your great wisdom? Was I ‘failed’ by being taught honesty? Was I failed by being taught fairness. Was I failed by being taught maths? Chemistry? Literature? Help me out here, 11:04.
If I have been ‘failed’ because I believe in the rule of law then you should blame my parents, for instilling moral values in their children, rather than blaming some elusive ‘education system’.
Wow! I am a reasonably well off person and even I am amazed at the cost of living in Cayman. But guess what it affects our own the hardest, most expat professionals are just fine .
I am vexed. Very vexed. At a time when Bermuda has got its act back together, this issue along with negative changes in how certain authorities are dealing with financial services are putting more nails in Cayman’s coffin. Both need to be addressed now, not tomorrow, but now. We keep hearing “Cayman is booming”, if we don’t change we will soon be going bust…
Cayman went bust long time ago. 1982 was when Cayman had it right.
In other words this problem (like many of the others) is way beyond our ability to understand much less solve. Please stand by while we try and come up with more excuses to try and cover our ignorance. Also we would like to remind you that if you ever get tired of living in a third world country that we would love for you to leave but not take you pension money with you. Thank you for your imagined understanding.
Well obviously the attorneys who prepared the report understand the issues. Perhaps they should be continuing to deal with them.
The PPM will commission another Report on Ritch’s Report before they take any action, and then commission a another Report on what actions to take from the previous Report on the Ritch’s Report.
It is beyond the civil services ability to understand. The private sector understands them well.
Oh come ON! Really? More delays. Didn’t our esteemed Premier tell us that they government would release details of the new PR procedure in October following the receipt of the Ritch report? Well October is nearly over and clearly they still haven’t done or decided anything, “because it’s quite difficult”. Aww, I feel for you.
I agree with an earlier comment – I think the government just wants to be able to brag that not a single PR was granted during their term, thereby protecting the interests of real Caymanians.
Sadly I feel that successive government’s immigration and PR policies have only increased division between the peoples of Cayman, not helped with growth and integration.
It is clear that the spineless PPM will wait until they lose a court challenge that openly grants PR to all those resident over 10 years, so they can just put up their hands and say it was not their fault. Leadership? I don’t think so.
That is exactly what’s going to happen. Anyone who has been here for ten years and hasn’t gone to jail obviously is needed here on the island, and the way the island is growing why would you want to send them away and replace them with someone who doesn’t know the Runnings.
10 years and you are in!
If the GIC has no resolution to this then the PR application fees should be frozen and forgiven until the Govt gets its affairs in order.
They already have the money – you now need to pay it when you apply, not when it is approved. So there is no incentive for them to process these quickly as they are getting an interest-free loan from all of the applicants.
classic waffle from alden/ppm……
another non-update from the do-nothing ppm…..
time for a class action by all pr applicants….and sue for damages…..
Here’s a suggestion, why not check to see if there are any PR applications that make it past the mark WITHOUT the offending arbitrary points section. Process those and leave the questionable ones until you do figure it out. I know it won’t clear all the issues, but I reckon it will clear all those that are well qualified. Doing something is always better than doing nothing.
I completely agree. There are clearly applicants who have ample points and can pass through the system easily anyway, and clearly there are applicants who cannot get sufficient points, even with the additional from the discretionary element of their employment. Process these cases, and leave the rest if you have to, but do something for all the people who are waiting and waiting and unable to get on with life.
My husband completed months of study and the expensive classes at the school, only to be refused sitting his PR exam because of this shambles. Why not let him take the exam and have those points on his file at least? Why make him wait?
In relation to your last sentence, doing something is not always better than doing nothing. Whoever is in power the Government is always castigated for doing nothing or doing the wrong thing. I’d love a government with the perfect mix of patient, correct decision-making and aggressive, surgical moves to tackle problems but it doesn’t exist.
“The government takes this matter most seriously and intends to deal with it as quickly and efficiently as we can.”
Do you believe this quote? Do you think anyone does?
Hahahahaha, I think I strained a muscle from laughing so much.
Hahahaha
They are “dealing with it as quickly and as efficiently as they can. Which means they don’t have the ability to deal with it at all.
Mr Premier
It’s not rocket science. The CI government not the CJ will be forced to foot the bill should unskilled workers that will eventually become a burden on the country’s welfare system be granted permanent residency. Ignore the CJ’s now famous dicta. Judges are required to apply the law. Get rid of the points system and adopt the Singapore model:
Professional, Technical Personnel and Skilled Workers (PTS) Scheme
PTS-scheme A Beginner’s Guide for Singapore Permanent Residence Application This is the most preferred and popular scheme for becoming a Singapore PR among holders of the city-state’s employment pass, S pass, entrepreneur pass or personalized employment pass. Estimates say that more than 95 percent of professionals attain their PR status through this scheme.
Notably, an applicant’s spouse and children aged under 21 years may also apply for Singapore PR status together with the applicant. But male dependents will be liable for Singapore National Service once they are granted permanent residency.
National Service Liability
ICA says: “Under the Enlistment Act, all male Singapore citizens and PRs, unless exempted, are liable to register for National Service (NS). Following the completion of full-time NS, they will be required to serve up to 40 days of Operationally Ready National Service (ORNS) per year for the duration of their ORNS training cycle till the age of 65 years (for officers) or 40 years (for other ranks).”
Thus, while applicants who become Singapore PR are exempted from NS, their male children who are granted PR status under the applicant’ sponsorship are liable for NS under the Enlistment Act.
Authorities in Singapore are also very strict against those NS-liable PRs who want to escape their NS liability.
First and foremost, applicants with relevant skills, educational qualifications, and professional and financial background matter in securing a Singapore PR.
What generally helps is:
•if the applicant belongs to a niche industry that requires personnel with specialised skills-set to function
•if the applicant’s skills-set compliments the local work-force and not compete with it
•if the applicant is under 50 years of age
•if the applicant has obtain his or her qualifications from reputable institutions
•if the applicant has family ties in Singapore
•if the applicant does voluntary work and contributes in general to his neighbourhood and local community
•if the applicant has worked in Singapore for at least 12 months before applying for Singapore permanent residency
Leaving aside all the marketing gimmicks and false claims, remember that there is no magic formula for obtaining a Singapore PR. Unlike countries such as Australia and New Zealand, Singapore doesn’t have a points system for judging the PR applications.
CJ should be a democratically elected position!
He can be as “waxed” as he wants! A lot of us have ten years under our belts. Now it is our turn to legally call the shots. Indecision and delay has bitten him in the ass.
The longer this takes to fix the more expensive the solution, and the more destructive to our economy and society. Unfortunately the man on the street may not understand the implications of what is happening, but they will sure as hell feel it!
This was the PPM plan. Now they can go to their knuckle dragging supporters and say, no PR grants under our administration. Getting the legal review and continued delays was all a fugazzi.
True true
How can they expect to receive Permanent Residence if they don’t know the name of the person who made the best cassava cake in 1939 and which politician cooks the best turtle stew today?…
Stop messing around and adopt the West Bay system – everyone on the list gets it, forget the points and everything else.
Be a illiterate third world criminal or hootchie and just marry in! Easy, bring the whole family!
Yup. Works perfectly even though the law clearly provides the answer should be no!
This from the man who pushed so hard to justify introducing rollover and has in the past made comments about ex-pats who seek PR that demonstrate blatant xenophobia? LOL. I’ll bet he’s behind the whole current mess.
How can I be patient Mr. Premier when the delays are depriving me and my family of basic rights? I cannot get promoted in my career. My children cannot seek the passports of the country they have lived in since they were very young, and every 6 months we are forced to submit to ridiculous and repetitive procedures, not knowing what is going to happen or when.
2;58 why don’t you leave and go to Saudi Arabia and find out that you will never get Staus there.
9:50 Saudi Arabia isn’t bound by the requirements of ECHR – they can do what the heck they like. Anyway why would anyone want to live in Saudi permanently? Even Arabs are trying to get out of the place.
Dear Sir/ Madam, you should go back to your own country without whining! This country belongs to Caymanians.
It hasn’t belonged to Caymanians for dart years.
Last time I checked most of it belongs to expats. Won’t be long now and they will call the shots.
Who wants Staus anyway? No -one wants Staus. Status would be good. If you ever need to come to Europe or the US as the seas rise around Cayman, please let me know, lets see how your PR application goes
Good answer, well thought out, let’s talk about a completely random country that has no concept of human rights and ignore the elephant in the room.
Yes basic human rights are being messed around with here. People come to Cayman in good faith, earn a living, contribute to the economy in every way possible, like it, decide they want to make it their home, raise their children here, complete endless forms, blood tests, clearances, pay their fees, go to school to learn every possible fact there is to know about the country (90% of which is totally irrelevant), pass that test, build relationships and conform to every piece of legislation thrown their way.
Oh but hold on, let’s move the goalposts again, let’s put these people’s life on hold for a few years irrespective of the consequences. The mess needs to be sorted out, one way or another, so the people waiting can plan ahead. If the criteria is going to make it impossible to stay, fine, just let them know but please do not say “why not just leave” that is a shallow, xenophobic attitude and not the solution to a problem this country has itself created. The people waiting have followed the procedure to the letter yet they are the ones being punished it would seem. These delays are not only causing problems from an employment point of view but also causes many personal stresses if a family cannot plan their lives for more than six months at a time.
It really is time to sort this problem out. The Ritch report was completed 9 months ago. Crave the patience? The patience is wearing very thin in some quarters and I fear that something will snap that will bite this Government hard, leaving no option other than to rubber stamp all these 10 year + applicants as a basic human right unless someone picks this troublesome hot potato up and deals with it rather than toss it to the next administration to deal with. Come on.
Because the sand there is too sandy.
Vexing? Yep. Complex? Yep. Arbitrary? Yep. Unfair? Yep. A legacy issue? Yep – a legacy of YOUR government Mr. McLaughlin. A failing of YOUR government. It has been 3 full years since this legislation was rushed into law. 3 full years. No Mr. McLaughlin, you are not dealing with it as quickly and efficiently as you can, and frankly you seem to have no intention of dealing with it this side of the next election.
If you are unable or unwilling to draft and implement a relatively straightforward piece of legislation, then you have no business whatsoever being anywhere near the political process. Cayman deserves better than you.
Should not be such a thing as status to become Caymanian, and roll over, instead it should be that everyone can stay and work (as long as they don’t take away work that a caymanian wants) and they can support themselves and behave and don’t get in no trouble,then they can stay forever, but they cannot apply to become caymanian unless by family and marriage. And no one granted Caymanian Status should be allowed to go on Social Services for at least 20 years after becoming Caymanian. For now some people gets Caymanian Status and within a few days goes on Social Services with their Children, only to become a burden to Cayman Islands.
That, 10.04 is a recipe for continued endless in breeding and we have already seen the results of that…with 30,000 in the gene pool you need fresh blood to survive
Well said.