Tag: permanent residency
Number of work permit holders reaches new record
(CNS): After a slight decline at the end of last year, the number of work permit holders in the Cayman Islands, as of 11 March, reached a new record high of 36,972. According to a freedom of information request made by local attorneys HSM, this is an increase of 1,529 new permit holders since the […]
Over 1,000 people waiting for PR and status decisions
(CNS): The new Caymanian Status and Permanent Residency Board could be facing five new applications for the Right to be Caymanian every weekday for the next decade, based on the current number of people qualifying following years of widespread exemptions from term limits and the lowering of barriers, local lawyers are warning. There is now […]
Minister gives conflicting views on immigration
(CNS): Labour Minister Dwayne Seymour, as a guest on Radio Cayman on Monday, failed to outline any specific plans the PACT government has to solve Cayman’s growing immigration challenges. Claiming he knew nothing about Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan’s controversial billboard demanding “Immigration Reform Now!”, Seymour expressed very mixed views about what needs to be reformed […]
Number of work permit holders exceeds 36,000
(CNS): There are currently 36,049 work permit holders in the Cayman Islands, another new record that is nevertheless increasing every day by around 12 new arrivals. The latest statistics released by Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman (WORC) on Friday show that the number of expatriate workers has increased by almost 1,900 since February.
Vaccine mandate for permit holders lifted
(CNS): The legal requirement for non-Caymanian residents and their dependents to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has been lifted. From Friday, applicants for work permits (new and renewals), permanent residency, specialist caregiver certificates, student visas or Cabinet entry permits, as well as dependents no longer need to prove they are vaccinated, according to government officials.
Ministers want to lock gate on Cabinet status grants
(CNS): Ministers Kenneth Bryan and Dwayne Seymour have called for a freeze on granting Caymanian status to residents who have been here for at least 15 years or who apply through Cabinet. The government frontbenchers said this was their own view and not yet a PACT policy, as it hadn’t been discussed. But they said […]
Lawyer urges gov’t not to stop PR process
(CNS): Given the number of issues impacting WORC and the local immigration system following the change in ministers and the recent appeal court ruling, local attorney Nick Joseph is urging the government not to pause the processing of permanent residency applications. With delays already mounting, he said the issues emerging over the last few weeks […]
Is the PR history and culture test fit for purpose?
Nick Joseph writes: For many years, persons seeking to obtain permanent residence in the Cayman Islands have taken a history and culture test. It started as a mechanism to attempt to measure a person’s assimilation into the Caymanian community. Being able to hum a verse of “Munzie Boat” and understanding that “soldiers” wear shells, not […]
Court ruling finds PR system breaches BoR
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government’s troubles with the permanent residency system got a whole lot worse on Thursday when the Court of Appeal declared that the Immigration Act is incompatible with section 9 of the Bill of Rights, which deals with family and private life. Two individuals whose PR applications were denied over insufficient points […]
PR backlog mounts due to sham marriage focus
(CNS): The backlog of permanent residency applications based on length of stay continues to grow as officials focus their attention on the problem of sham marriages. The majority of PR applications are by work permit holders or residents who have been here for eight years and apply via the points system, but the government’s priority […]
Deputy Premier: PR is a privilege not a right
(CNS): Chris Saunders, the deputy premier and minister for labour, has again refuted the idea that the PACT Government has imposed any kind of moratorium on the granting of permanent residency rights. But the minister has made it clear that government is not only taking the time to scrutinise all applications, it also has plans […]