In what many might consider a major surprise, Leader of the
Opposition Alden McLaughlin said last week the People’s Progressive Movement
believes there should be significant changes to the seven-year term limit for
foreign workers, generally known as the rollover policy.
Although the PPM isn’t calling for a complete abandonment of
the policy, it does want to do away with the seven-year term limit and key
employee provisions of the Immigration Law. In its place, the party suggests a
system whereby every foreign worker who stays here eight years becomes eligible
to apply for permanent residence, which they must do before their 10th year if
they wish to remain.
Permanent residence applicants would still have to qualify
under a point system, which would require, as it does now, certain levels of
community involvement and investment. Not everyone who applied would obtain
permanent residence under this system, but everyone would at least have a
chance, plus such a system would allow foreign workers to stay here up to 10
years even if their permanent residence application is denied.
This new system would have a couple of other advantages: It
would reduce the burden of the immigration boards in deliberating over key
employee applications and eliminate the need for employers to pick some
employees over others as key employees, possibly creating workplace animosity.
The PPM believes this revised system would be more
equitable, allowing people in all professions and of all economic standing the
opportunity to try to meet the permanent residence criteria.
We know the PPM is already taking heat for this suggestion
from many of its party faithful, who believe the rollover policy is needed to
protect Caymanian jobs and to protect the country from over-population by
expatriates.
Despite the criticism from their own camp, Mr. McLaughlin
and the PPM are putting forward an idea they think is in the country’s best
interest. We applaud them not only for their courage to do so, but for
proposing an idea we feel has much merit, one the sitting government should
strongly consider implementing.
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Oh sure, make the system even more uncertain for expats. That’s just exactly what’s needed here.
It’s funny to note though that Alden and Co. are taking heat from their own party members over the slightest movement to let ex-pats stay even one day longer.
Caymanians are never going to learn.
They will learn when the economy tanks even further. To get those numbers of people up, back to the 10K that was rolled over, is the only way to make the economy strong again.
And they have two options. Talk about fixes, and implement slow fixes, which will take 10 or 30 years for the economy to bounce back.
Or fast fix, which is just remove the roll over policy all together, and make it a residency application, in which you have to meet certain criteria. And that may be the quicker way to getting back the 10K people.
THen clamp down residency applications once the numbers are back up. And then let the island grow naturally.
It’s what happens when you mess with something that is already working. Don’t fix what is not broke.
This is the best suggestion that’s been made here on this particular problem for a long time now, comig from a forum veteran like yourself.
If political expediency were not the priority for Cayman’s politicians, rather than solving actually, existent problems, this suggestion would have begun to be implemented back in the early 90s, when Cayman’s economic and social dynamics began to change.
This entire system needs to be revamped but woe betide the government that actually has the cojones to do it; they will have set the tone for Cayman’s future development but committed political suicide.
Instead, we stumble from crises, to crises, PPM to UDP, back to PPM and so on…
Without ever addressing the core problem that will not go away by itself.
The cuurent immigration/labour management system in Cayman has outgrown its effectiveness for Cayman and needs to be revamped totally to fits today’s issues and problems. not those of 30 years ago.
What has happened to Cayman hospitality? Ex-pats feel the undercurrent of hostility and resentment from the locals. The expats don’t want to run the country. They work hard, follow the rules, spend money here, and do the jobs that Caymanians can’t or won’t do. Why would an expat invest long term or buy a property and pay Stamp Duty if they think they are going to be rolled over? And why would they bother coming back again after being away for a year? If they are a family with children, they would have to pull their kids out of school and enroll them in school somewhere else for just a year, and then pull them out of that school after a year and come back here again. Not likely. In addition, what company or expat would pay to move their employees back and forth like that. Employers lose the investment they have made trying to build their business with trained and experienced people just to have them be sent off the Island, and then they have to start all over again with another expat. It has been proven that the rollover does not ensure that more Caymanians get jobs, and the unemployment numbers are up around 10%. Landlords lose good tenants and they can’t pay their mortgages or property insurance if they don’t have rental income. Hmmm, I’m struggling to understand the benefits to Caymanians of the rollover program.
Although there seems to be no benefit to Caymanian caused by the roll over, it’s clear that they still do not want expats or foreigner in their midst. The anger toward foreigners is obvious in Cayman, I see it directed towards me and I don’t even work on the island and never have. What this shows is a hatred towards outsiders which is pure bigotry and it comes from a people who claim to be God Fearing. They have obviously forgotten what Love Thy Neighbor means. Cayman is no longer the God fearing Country full of loving people it used to be. Visitors to the Caymans including Expat workers and Tourists keep to themselves, because they see the hatred directed towards them from locals