Immigration Act amendments get support across Parliament

At a Glance

• The Immigration (Transition) (Amendment and Validation) Bill 2026 included three amendments that addressed omissions in legislation passed earlier in December 2025.
• One amendment “grandfathers” in people who have already applied for permanent residence, while another amendment paves the way for people born in the Cayman Islands on or before 26 March 1977 to be formally recognised as Caymanian.
• Opposition members complained that the Bill was rushed, but Premier André Ebanks said the matter was “too urgent to delay”.
• The bill was passed with 18 votes in favour and one abstention.

Approval for government’s amendments to its plans for immigration reform moved a step closer with MPs from across the political spectrum voting for the changes as they made their way through Parliament.

The Immigration (Transition) (Amendment and Validation) Bill 2026 was debated in Parliament during a lengthy sitting on 4 March and was presented to the House by Minister for Caymanian Employment and Immigration Michael Myles.

Myles said that, following the initial presentation of the Immigration bill, “an extensive consultation was conducted … which included town hall meetings, radio appearances, meetings with stakeholder groups and a full 28-day consultation”.

Three amendments

Following that process, he said that three amendments were now being made. Firstly, the bill had “inadvertently excluded” people who were already in the process of applying for the right to be Caymanian.

‘That does not open the gates to new applicants, nor does it broaden the criteria for who may apply,” he said, but ensured that people who “had already lawfully set their foot upon the path” could apply after 15 years rather than the new 20-year limit.

The other amendments were to give formal status to express fees which, while being offered for over 15 years, were found not to have been in the original legislation. 

Myles said, “We are operationally committed to ensuring that work permits are processed more quickly, in general, in the absence of a Caymanian candidate. And … where there is a genuine need, we will be offering the opportunity to expedite a work-permit grant, which will incur an expedited fee.”

The final amendment was to make sure that people born on or before 26 March 1977 were formally recognised as Caymanian without having to apply for Caymanian status, a subject mentioned by many MPs in their contributions to the debate. 

Myles described the “daily indignity” being faced by many caught in the status gap.

“Imagine being born in these islands, your roots stretching back many generations, and yet, the moment you apply for a job in the private sector, walk into government office to open up a business, apply to become a notary public, apply for government scholarship, apply for financial assistance in a time of hardship, or try to obtain the national ID, only to be told you must first submit an application to the Department of WORC, along with an affidavit and other supporting documents, then wait for the director to confirm what you already know – that you’re Caymanian,” he said.

Myles added that the urgency of dealing with the issue meant government was waiving the customary 28-day public consultation period for this clause, saying, “Caymanians as of right have waited long enough for this matter to be addressed.”

Opposition remarks

Responding to Myles’ opening words, Deputy Opposition Leader Kenneth Bryan said that he believed the bill had been rushed through without the necessary consultation, saying, “This is not how a serious government behaves and is not how a democracy is meant to function.” 

He added, “By truncating this process, the government is not just rushing a bill, they are potentially manufacturing a bad law that will inevitably require further correction at the taxpayers’ expense.”

MP for West Bay West Julie Hunter said, “This bill stands firmly on the principles of fairness, clarity and responsive governance. It is not reckless reform, contrary to what some of the opposition might try to infer.”

She said that the bill was not about repeating history, but correcting it, by affirming “belonging” to the Cayman Islands without any legal ambiguity.

“Certainty restores dignity and is what we are trying to do with this law,” she said. “We are trying to restore the dignity of a generation of Caymanians who somehow feel that they don’t have a place in their own country.”

‘Long overdue’

Dwayne Seymour, MP for Bodden Town East, said that the amendment and legislation was “long overdue” and that previous attempts had failed to get the necessary consensus to move the process forward.

“I am happy that, finally, a group, the NCFC, could agree to move forward with this amendment and validation,” he said.

“We are never going to get it perfect, but I don’t like this, ‘Are you Caymanian?’ question,” he said. “Too many Caymanians are caught up into this, and I don’t want them to be disenfranchised.”

Opposition Leader Joey Hew echoed Bryan’s complaints that he believed the process was rushed, saying, “We literally got briefed on this bill not even 30 minutes before Parliament was to start [and] we had to go back during the 5 o’clock break to complete the briefing. That is all we are saying – simply that it has been rushed.”

“We understand the issue, we understand the problems, we’re just concerned about the course that has been taken.”

Caymanian ID

Premier André Ebanks spoke near the end of the debate. He brandished his Cayman Islands identity card, which showed, he said, “I am Caymanian”, but said that his driver was unable to get one without getting a letter saying he was Caymanian, a situation which affects 1,600 others.  

“This is too urgent to delay,” he said. “We have to get on with it …. Let’s get done what we can and come back to scoop the rest later.”

He added, “Let’s get on with it; enough is enough.”

Concluding the debate, Myles thanked his colleagues for their support and the comments from the opposition and independent MPs, and said, “I will never procrastinate. Everything I do is with urgency to serve everyone in our country as much as I possibly can.”

He added that “customer service of immigration must improve”, and said he was doing everything to ensure that Caymanians could find employment and that businesses could get speedier work-permit approvals if a Caymanian wasn’t available for a role.

The second reading of the bill was passed with 18 votes in favour and one abstention. 

In December, Parliament approved the most far-reaching changes to the islands’ immigration legislation in more than a decade.

The Immigration (Transition) (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2025, was originally intended to come into force under the new name of the Caymanian Protection Act on 1 March, but implementation was later delayed, with government consulting on a schedule of associated fees, while making fresh changes to the law.