Companies operating within Cayman’s special economic zone, recently created by a Cabinet order and some changes in local laws, will have to pay work permit fees for any foreign employees they hire.
Those fees, however, will be on the lower end of the permit fee scale and will not be charged according to the nature of the worker’s job.
The companies will also be exempt from other permit-related fees including application fees normally required.
According to regulations attached to the Cayman Islands Immigration Law, approved on 24 January, Part 2 of the regulations – which specify how much private companies must pay each year to bring a non-Caymanian worker to the Islands – the normal work permit fees will not apply to “a person employed by the developer of the special economic zone known as Cayman Enterprise City or by a special economic zone enterprise”.
The regulations further exempt Cayman Enterprise City companies from the payment of work permit application fees, fees for variation of a work permit and fees in respect of dependants of the employee.
In exchange, the special economic zone company would have to pay an annual work permit fee of $1,230 for each non-Caymanian employee it hires on a work permit, no matter what job they hold in the zone.
The regulations, which are part of the Immigration Law, do not require a vote of the full Legislative Assembly.
The work permit changes for the special economic zones are among several immigration-related concessions government has made to attract development within Cayman Enterprise City.
According to a copy of the Immigration (Amendment) (No. 4) Law, 2011, the removal of advertising requirements for jobs and of training requirements for Caymanians are among the loosening of immigration controls. Provision for special economic zone companies to have a business staffing plan, as is required under Immigration Law for any company that employs 15 or more work permit-holders, would be made not applicable to those companies.
There are certain sections of the Immigration Law that require the various immigration-related boards or the chief immigration officer to consider aspects of a work permit application including; the professional and technical qualifications of the worker and the economic or social benefits he or she may bring to the Islands.
Also, certain requirements that pertain to the protection of local interests must be considered when weighing applications for a work permit approval.
According to the amendments, those specific areas would not be applicable to companies working within the special economic zone.
What is a special economic zone?
A law approved by the LA last year creates ‘zone trade certificates’, which allow companies to operate with the special economic zone in lieu of adherence to the Local Companies (Control) Law and local businesses licensing procedures.
The zone stipulates companies operating there can only do business overseas and not locally. The zone proposed by lawmakers has been dubbed Cayman Enterprise City.
Late last year, Enterprise City CEO Jason Blick said zone officials were in talks with 20 companies identified by Fortune magazine as ‘Fortune 50’ companies; among the world’s wealthiest.
Construction of the planned 500,000 square-foot Enterprise City would be done in phases during the next nine years, according to the most recent proposals.
The facility is expected to be constructed in Savannah, but for now is operating out of a temporary building in George Town on Breezy Castle Road.
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Here is the hypocrisy of this economic zone: If our government was to reduce across-the-board ALL WORK PERMITS, IMPORT DUTIES, and TRADE AND BUSINESS LICENSE FEES, and whatever government fees have you; logically, more monies will be in the hands of local employers, and that will create more expansion of local companies and create more jobs on the Island.
Hence, the only economic zone that our government leaders should be working so hard to stimulate, is the ENTIRE Cayman Islands zone! Reduce our fees and amend our antibusiness laws! Problem solved!
@Bodden…
Yes … but then where would the Government get its income from? Would you be happy to start paying taxes? Of course, if you don’t mind all those Caymanian-only non-jobs in the Civil Service Welfare Scheme being scrapped?
The point of the CEC – and the reason for the concessions it has on work permits etc – is it is bringing in companies who would not otherwise come to Cayman at all. The choice is not between collecting the usual rate and the lower CEC rate – it’s between collecting the CEC rate and nothing.