A law firm specialising in immigration issues says a lack of clear guidelines and policies for granting the right to be Caymanian has led to a slew of successful appeals of rejected applications.
The Caymanian Status and Permanent Residency Board is still applying “subjective” assessments of applications in the absence of definitive government policies, according to HSM Chambers, which handles immigration appeals.
The law firm noted in its most recent update to clients that of particular concern was that last year the board rejected 24 applications on the basis of naturalisation, though the firm has had some success in challenging decisions at the Immigration Appeals Tribunal.
HSM said it was instructed on eight appeals arising from those 24 rejections and last month the tribunal ruled in favour of six of its clients.
Four of the six appeals were connected to the children of permanent residents with the tribunal finding the board had not provided an explanation as to what they had considered before they determined that the grant would not be in the public interest.
Additionally the tribunal, the firm said, found that the board continued to apply a “subjective assessment of the applications in the absence of policies”.
“In February 2024 the Board granted 2 applications by children of permanent residents, which suggests they are now following the guidance laid down in these recent Immigration Appeals Tribunal decisions,” the firm said.
However, it noted that the lack of policies and guidance will only lead to more board decisions subjected to challenges and being overturned on appeal.
“It is sincerely hoped that these 4 individuals will be the last children of permanent residents who have their Right to be Caymanian applications rejected on the basis that it is not in the “public interest” when that public interest is not set out and that there are no facts in the specific cases which supported such a finding,” HSM stated.
The update also included the latest immigration statistics. After a slight decline at the start of January, work permits have begun trending upwards once again and appear to be heading for the 37,000 mark, based on numbers shared by HSM.
As of 11 March 2024, the firm said there were 36,972 work permits in effect, according to statistics released through a Freedom of Information request, which is a new record.
“This is an increase of 1,438 since 1 February 2024 and a total increase of 1,529 since January 2024,” the HSM statement said.
At the start of January, there was a slight dip of 1,058 work permits based on Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman statistics.
The total number of work permits as at 5 Dec. had stood at 35,927.
As at 4 Jan. 2024, there were 35,443 individuals on work permits, which reflected the decline, though this number rose in the weeks following till it hit the new high.
With Hotel Indigo set to open next month and other developments in the pipeline for later this year, these numbers are expected to increase further.
The HSM brief stated that Jamaicans still hold the largest amount of permits at 15,439, followed by Filipinos at 6,219, British at 2,051, and Indians at 2,032.
Status applications moving
As for determining Caymanian status applications, the firm said there has been “a significant increase” compared with prior periods related to applications based on marriage or naturalisation.
A total of 57 such applications were determined in February.
Previous statistics, the firm said, had showed a noticeable downturn in the conclusion of certain applications “in particular the applications for the Right to be Caymanian on the basis of marriage or naturalisation”.
According to the HSM update in 2022, the Caymanian Status and Permanent Residency Board had concluded 432 applications on the basis of marriage or naturalisation.
These statistics, the firm said, was fairly consistent with the 2021 figures of 413 applications.
“However in 2023 only 160 applications were concluded, a decrease of over half. If on average the Board were to continue to process 50 applications per month then we could see 550 applications processed this year,” the update stated.
In February 2024, 35 new applications for status based on marriage or naturalisation were submitted “which means that it will take a considerable amount of time before the current wait time is shortened for new applicants,” the statement said.
There are 6,086 permanent residents in the Cayman Islands, according to HSM, and of that number the largest groups by nationalities are Jamaicans, British Overseas Territory Citizens, British, Canadians and Americans.
Timelines for determinations
As of last week, HSM said, permanent residency applications based on the points system were taking 12-14 months with a few decided in under a year.
Applications for spouses of permanent residents were taking about eight months, and for spouses of Caymanians about six months.
It is taking about a year to receive decisions on naturalisation applications and nearly two years for the Right to be Caymanian on the basis of naturalisation.
For applications on Right to be Caymanian on the basis of Marriage a decision is taking just about 19 months.
“In our opinion, no application should wait more than 6 months to be determined given the potential adverse consequences to applicants,” the law firm said.
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