1) Full Work Permit
(A Gainful Occupation Licence)
2) Temporary Work Permit
3) Residency for Persons of Independent Means
4) Certificate of Direct Investment
5) Student Visas
It is worth noting that an overriding principle of Cayman Islands immigration legislation is that employment and career opportunities are offered to Caymanians before any other person. Caymanians are given preference over similarly qualified expatriates, and employers must take steps to provide training opportunities and experience to Caymanians who have the potential to fill a particular position. As Caymanians have rapidly become a minority in their own Islands, efforts are made to ensure that a balance of other nationalities exists so that no one nationality is culturally dominant. In this regard, employers will be frequently encouraged, in appropriate circumstances, to seek employees of different nationalities.
The system does not however only seek to protect Caymanians. Other categories of persons also have advantage, and preference in employment opportunities is required to be given, if no qualified Caymanian is available, first to the holders of Residency and Employment Rights Certificates who are married to Caymanians, next to Permanent Residents with the Right to Work and finally, to other persons who are already legally and ordinarily resident in these Islands. Only if these categories of persons are unavailable for a position will a permit be granted to a person who is overseas.
1. Full Work Permit
Allows one person to work and remain in the Cayman Islands for a specified period of time (except persons married to Caymanians). All work permit fees are the responsibility of the employer. Immigration law prohibits employers from requiring employees to pay any part of such fees. Annual fees range from CI$300 for a “kitchen helper” to over CI$24,000 for the very highest senior management positions. Those not requiring work permits please see the end of this chapter.
Prior to granting (or renewing) a permit, the relevant Board will need to be satisfied of a number of matters including: the need to engage the services of the prospective worker; attempts to find a Caymanian, the spouse of a Caymanian, a Permanent Resident with the Right to Work or person already lawfully resident to fill the role; the character of the worker; and the protection of local interests. Work permits can be, in certain circumstances, granted for up to five years duration, subject to conditions, with a renewal fee payable each year.
Please note that work permits for self-employed people are only issued in exceptional circumstances, as decided by the Chief Immigration Officer or Work Permit Board. All work permit forms, fees and instructions can be downloaded from the following website: www.immigration.gov.ky.
Documents Required When Applying for a Work Permit:
a) Application form
b) An original Police Clearance Certificate
c) Copies of advertisements published in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks along with any responses and CVs of Caymanian applicants
d) Prescribed fees
e) Photographs (passport sized), two full face and one profile
f) A full and accurate description of the job to be filled
g) Cover letter detailing the qualifications necessary for carrying out the job; why the applicant is seeking a work permit; and reasons why a Caymanian was not employed for the position
h) Medical questionnaire form
i) Accommodation form
j) Pension and health insurance form.
Change of Employer
Subject to some exceptions, the holder of a work permit may not change his employer for the duration of a permit. Changing employers upon the expiry of a work permit is permitted, although the consent of the previous employer is usually requested before the relevant board will grant a permit in favour of a new employer. Protections are, however, in place to prevent expatriate workers from falling victim to unscrupulous employers and the Immigration Department will assist workers in any way appropriate in the relevant circumstances.
Promotion or Redesignation
During the currency of a work permit, the holder may not be promoted or re-designated without the prior consent of the relevant Board. This restriction is intended to protect opportunities for Caymanians, but the relevant Boards will be very accommodating in appropriate circumstances. Care should be taken that appropriate applications are made, particularly since a failure to make them can result in revocation of a permit, and even prosecution in appropriate circumstances.
Work Permit Dependants
The Board has to be satisfied that the worker has sufficient income available to adequately support any dependants. Currently, the Board would expect to see a minimum monthly salary in the region of CI$3,500 for a family of three and this increases by CI$500–$1,000 for each additional dependant. This is a guideline only. In every case the character, reputation and health of your dependants is taken into consideration as well as whether you can comfortably afford to feed, house, educate and maintain them on the Island. The possibility is that you will be granted a work permit, but your children will not be allowed to accompany you. If you are considering starting a family once you have settled in Cayman please see the Having a Baby chapter for guidelines.
Also, each year a fee of CI$250 will be collected for each dependant for persons in the unskilled category and CI$500 for each dependant for those persons in the skilled category. It is a grey area as to whether the employer or the employee must pay for this. A non-refundable fee of CI$200 per person is also collected for repatriation. Please note that your employer must submit the letter applying for your spouse or children to be a dependant on your work permit. If they choose not to do so, for whatever reason, then your family can only stay here as temporary visitors. See more information below.
Please note that only the following can be dependants of a work permit holder: a child, step-child, adopted child, grandchild, parent, step-parent, grandparent, brother, sister, half brother, or half sister. This means that girlfriends, boyfriends and fiancées cannot be listed as dependants on a person’s work permit. If however, you would like them to accompany you to Cayman they will only be allowed to come in as visitor, which has its own complications, until such a time as they get a job themselves and have their own work permit.
Dependant’s Girlfriend/Boyfriend
As the situation stands right now, if a girlfriend or boyfriend comes to the Island without their own work permit they will be allowed in as a visitor and in all likelihood will be given only 30 days to stay. It would help their case if they came with a letter from their ‘sponsor’ (the permit holder) or from their bank which says that they will be supported or have enough money to support themselves while they are here without seeking work. If they come in with this letter, or send a letter to the Chief Immigration Officer in advance explaining the situation, they might be given a total of three to six months to stay. If they want any additional time after this the process is as follows: they must go to the Immigration Department on Elgin Avenue, fill out a form, pay CI$50 and explain why they want an extension.
The Immigration Officer will decide how much time to give them based on their individual case and it is unlikely they will be granted more than 30 days as an extension. Every subsequent extension on their time is then charged at CI$100 until they leave the jurisdiction, and upon their return they will be given another 30 days. The whole process is very expensive and will only stop once they get a job or they become your legal spouse. Each time they go to the Immigration Department it would help if they took a letter from the work permit holder explaining the situation and confirming that there are enough funds to support them.
2. Temporary Work Permit
In appropriate circumstances and upon suitable application the Chief Immigration Officer, or his designate, may grant a Temporary Work Permit to an individual permitting them to engage in gainful occupation in the Cayman Islands. Such permits, if granted, are for a maximum of six months and cannot be extended or renewed. An eight month tourism permit is currently being discussed which would span the high season, after which the worker would have to leave the Island.
While Temporary Permits can be and are often used as a bridge between the arrival of an expatriate worker and the issuance of their Standard Work Permit, their use (save in exceptional circumstances) for persons who are not genuinely intended to be temporary employees is discouraged.
Documents Required When Applying for a Temporary Work Permit:
a) Application form
b) An original Police Clearance Certificate
c) Prescribed fees
d) Photographs (passport size), two full face and one profile
e) Cover letter stating why the applicant is seeking a Temporary Work Permit and reasons why a Caymanian (or other person resident in Cayman) was not employed for the position
f) Medical questionnaire form (if permit is to be sought for more than three months).
There is no prohibition on applicants for Temporary Work Permits having dependents. Each application is dealt with on a case by case basis.
One recent and welcome change is that it is now possible to obtain expedition of Temporary Work Permit applications on payment of a reasonable fee which can guarantee processing within 72 hours. Same day service is even possible in appropriate circumstances.
Despite being a British Overseas Territory, the Cayman Islands are not a part of the United Kingdom, nor indeed (unlike the French ‘Departments’ in the Caribbean) of the European Union. Therefore, no advantage is given to British or European nationals over any other nationality.
However, not every foreign national working in the Cayman Islands needs a work permit. There are specific categories of person who are exempt from the requirements, subject to strict conditions. For example: Cayman Islands Government employees; journalists representing a recognised news organisation; and non-executive directors of companies carrying on business in the Cayman Islands. Such working visitors are allowed provided they remain in the Cayman Islands for no longer than seven days. The full list of persons and activities exempted is as follows:
> Attending meetings or trade fairs and making purchases from Cayman Islands businesses
> Attending conferences and seminars as an ordinary participant
> Receiving training, techniques on work practices employed in the Islands
> Representing an overseas educational institution, to promote or to interview applicants for places at such institution
> Being a guest speaker at a conference or seminar where the event is a single or occasional event and not part of a commercial venture
> Organising or supervising a conference or seminar for up to seven days duration where it is a single or occasional event
> Participating in sporting events
> Covering a specific news assignment as a newspaper, magazine, radio or television journalist representing a recognised news organisation
> Working for short periods for a non-profit or cultural organisation based in the Islands
> Giving professional or expert testimony in court proceedings
> A non-executive director of a business being carried on in the Cayman Islands where the person is not involved in the day-to-day operations may visit in his capacity as a director only
> Being a representative of a foreign manufacturer coming to service or repair products under warranty.
Finally please note that any business in the Cayman Islands which regularly employs persons for short periods of no more than 14 days on any particular visit may seek to apply for a Business Visitor’s Permit allowing such individual(s) permission to work in the Cayman Islands for a specified number of visits per year subject to strict limitations.
Enforcement
Breaches of the Immigration Law are treated as quasi-criminal by the Immigration department and can have very serious consequences for all concerned. Overstaying a permission to remain in the Islands, working without or outside of the terms of any permission granted, and many other breaches of the law may result in arrest and prosecution not only of the individual concerned, but anyone who facilitated such a breach, including the directors of a business which employs an expatriate without a work permit.