With 200 temporary permits being submitted to the Immigration Department daily and stacks of regular work permits pending, many that have been handed in late, the Department of Immigration is under severe stress.
Chief Immigration Officer Franz Manderson said several temporary permits have been refused in recent weeks, but he rejected claims that 1,000 temporary permits had been declined in the past week, saying the figure was too high.
‘A significantly larger number of permits than usual have been refused in the past number of weeks,’ he said.
But the number disapproved is not disproportionate to the huge volume of numbers applying, he added.
The department is getting 200 temporary applications a day.
‘Many people just can’t wait eight weeks for a work permit so they just apply for a temporary one,’ he said.
Mr. Manderson said the main consideration for the department is whether a Caymanian can do the job rather than the applicant.
‘We’re getting huge numbers of applications and our department is under a lot of stress because of it,’ he said, adding that the department has seen a lot of abuse of the temporary work permit process recently.
With regard to year-long work permits Mr. Manderson said that hundreds and hundreds are pending. On Monday, 30 May, Mr. Manderson was getting ready to present his figures to Cabinet the following day, he said.
‘We’re looking at ways to keep people working,’ he said.
Mr. Manderson said that in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, which hit in September, many temporary and short-term permits were granted; many of these were expiring and people had not been submitting their applications for year-long permits eight weeks in advance to allow time for processing.
Since the law states that a person cannot work in between the expiration of their short term permit and approval of their year-long permit, hundreds of permits are expiring at a time and these people cannot continue to work.
‘I can’t extend a six month permit and it is not fair to rush applications to the board. It is not fair to push any permits ahead of the queue,’ said Mr. Manderson.
Mr. Manderson said a top priority is to come to a solution for all pending work permits.
‘We realise that this situation can bring some businesses to a standstill and we’re doing everything we can to come to a solution and to allow for flexibility,’ he said.
Mr. Manderson said he was getting ready to present these figures to a meeting of Cabinet, in order to come to a solution, and he did not want to make the figures public until he had done so, he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Manderson said quite a few people entering the Cayman Islands seeking work are being tested for basic, English communication skills at the airport.
From 1 May, when the new tests started, to 30 May, 17 people had been sent home having failed the English speaking test. These comprise one person from Nicaragua, three from Costa Rica, eight from Honduras, three from China and two from Cuba.
‘When we send someone back it is because they’re bad – really bad,’ explained Mr. Manderson
‘These people have to live here, go to the doctor, work here, they need to use the language.
‘It boggles my mind how an employer can interview someone for a job and not realise they don’t speak English,’ said Mr. Manderson.
A supervisor from the Immigration Department carries out the tests at the airport. The officer at the Immigration desk first has a quick chat with the person wishing to enter the country and he/she can ascertain whether there could be a problem with language.
‘For instance if he asks for their name and the person says George Town in answer, then we know we have a problem and a more in-depth test needs to be carried out. It’s a basic communications skills test,’ said Mr. Manderson.
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