Immigration doesn’t discriminate

We would refer to a recent letter titled ‘Immigration officer was insulting’ of 5 February from Leonie Donaldson-Quintelier who felt compelled to write about her encounter with the Department as a result of her wanting to extend her vacation for several weeks.  

Mrs. Donaldson-Quintelier, who explained she was a 65-year-old retired black woman and a legal resident of the USA but holding a passport for a visa required country outlined she felt insulted at the standard requests of an Immigration Officer to allow her to extend her stay. This as a result of her visiting the Islands for many years, investing in a home in the area Breakers and being a one woman ambassador spending much money in Cayman. Mrs. Donaldson-Quintelier also claimed that her husband, who was white, had never had any problems with extensions because of the assumption that he was wealthy.  

For clarity and understanding the department responds to the article with the following:  

A person from a country requiring a visa and travelling with documentation should note Section 21 (3) b of the Immigration Regulations (2010) Revision) which states: 

Notwithstanding section 64 (1), a person resident in the United States of America who- 

Arrives directly from that country; 

on landing, produces a valid united states alien registration card; and  

produces a return or round trip ticket to that country may be permitted to enter and remain in the Islands for a period not exceeding 30 days.  

As a consequence of this stipulation within the Law, persons from a visa requiring country wanting to stay beyond the 30 day maximum allowed would require a Visa to do so. An Immigration officer reserves the right in the exercise of due diligence to request supporting evidence that the applicant can financially support themselves while visiting or extending their stay within the Islands. This is a normal policy and procedure requirement within the department when reviewing such requests and is outlined as a requirement not only on visa applications but also on visitor extension applications. This provision is also provided within the Law under Section 68 (1) which states: 

Before granting permission to any person under Section 67, an Immigration officer may require such person to satisfy him that he is in possession of a paid up return ticket or ticket entitling such person and his dependants, if any, to travel to such person’s next destination outside the Islands and is in possession of sufficient funds to maintain himself or his dependants, if any, during the period of his stay in the Islands.  

While a person from a non-visa requiring country would not require a visa to extend their initial stay, they would still be subject to producing the supporting evidence of a return ticket and sufficient funds to support their request if the request was made for a visitor’s extension. If no request was made for a visitor’s extension, then the person would be expected to leave on or before the period of authorised stay on Islands expired that would have been granted on arrival at the airport.  

The Immigration Department consists of approximately 160 staff members of which 63 are uniformed Immigration officers. The Department processes 2 million passengers per year through the airport and seaport facilities, in addition to processing over 13,000 applications for visa entry into the Islands. Further, the Department processes over 38,000 work permit and residency applications per year along with issuing 4,000 passports. Through customer service outlets, the Department services over 140,000 phone calls annually through the Communication Centre and assists over 100,000 customer queries at its public counter.  

While handling these large numbers of various matters with the public on a daily basis, the Department takes extreme pride in maintaining an effective border management approach, enforcing immigration laws and policies fairly and consistently. Regardless of race, colour, nationality or gender, the department is committed to delivering the highest standard of service, even with the limitation of resources of reduced personnel and restricted budgets. The Department strives to treat all customers with respect and dignity while acting ethically with impartiality, fairness and consistency.  

Linda Evans, Chief Immigration Officer Department of Immigration