A Cayman Islands driver’s licence is now likely to be the most expensive in the world, Compass analysis suggests.
Government’s decision to increase fees by 700% for non-Caymanians, means obtaining and renewing a licence will be more than 10 times higher than in any comparable economy.
Under the new regime, the cost of a three-year licence will increase from $75 to $600 (US$720). A 10-year licence will go up from $250 to $2,000.
Caymanians will be exempt from the fees, with the National Coalition for Caymanians government moving to ensure a limited impact for voters. A comparison of driver’s licence costs in mainstream economies and in Cayman’s closest neighbours suggests the fees were already relatively high in Cayman.
A five-year licence renewal in Ontario, Canada, costs US$90. In the UK, a 10-year licence costs US$18. The US varies by state; for example, in New York City, a licence costs $80 for 10 years.
For other island economies, the trend is the same.
In Bermuda, perhaps the most comparable to Cayman in terms of size, economy and road use, a licence costs US$121 for 10 years. Guernsey’s licences cost US$8.50 for a year, British Virgin Islands is US$15 for a year, and Jamaica is US$34 for five years.
None of those countries has separate fees for non-citizens.
In that context, Cayman Islands licences were already the most expensive per year in the group surveyed.
The new fees – for foreigners only – is more than 10 times pricier than the next most expensive licence.
Legislators debating the plans during budget discussions earlier this month were broadly accepting of the fee increases. Finance Minister Rolston Anglin insisted that “the vast majority of the new revenue measures are not intended to put further burden on the ordinary Caymanian”.
Both he and Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks reassured MPs that the Department of Vehicle and Driver’s Licensing would be able to determine through a database whether applicants were Caymanian.
Preferential treatment for Caymanians
In a later Finance Committee hearing, Attorney General Samuel Bulgin said there was a “presumption of legality” from his office on the two-tier fee structure, until and unless a court says otherwise. He gave his opinion that, “Government has the wide berth to carry out preferential treatment for Caymanians without running afoul of the general discriminatory provisions in the Constitution.”
The impact on overseas workers, many of whom already live close to the poverty line, could be severe, however. Even at the new minimum wage rate of $8.75 an hour, a three-year driver’s licence amounts to almost two weeks wages for Cayman’s lowest paid workers.
Similar magnitude driver’s-licence-fee increases are planned for heavy equipment and trucks, with smaller increases for vehicle licensing.
It remains possible that some of those costs could be passed on to consumers in certain impacted sectors, such as food-delivery services. There is also a potential impact for Caymanians who employ domestic helpers.
Across comparable countries, driver’s-licence renewal fees are typically very low because the process is treated as a basic administrative cost rather than a revenue-raising tool. While governments rarely state this explicitly, fee schedules in places like the UK, US, Canada and Ireland strongly suggest a consistent norm of minimal, cost-recovery pricing, making Cayman’s proposed charge an extreme outlier.
Many jurisdictions raise motoring revenue through vehicle-registration fees, fuel taxes, insurance levies and road-use charges for all drivers.
Norway is frequently cited as one of the most expensive places in the world to get a driver’s licence. But the US$3,675 cost is for a first licence and covers extensive mandatory driver’s education training – aimed at improving safety on the roads. The licence renewal, after 15 years, costs US$8.
Annual cost of driver’s-licence renewal (US$/year)
- Cayman Islands (non-Caymanian): US$240
- Cayman Islands (Caymanian): US$30
- Ontario, Canada: US$18
- British Virgin Islands: US$15
- Singapore (65+): US$13
- Bermuda: US$12
- New York, USA: US$10
- Guernsey: US$9
- UK: US$1.80
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This is madness from our politicians and can only be described as xenophobia. No other country in the world has done this. We are only going to lose a lot of our hard working permit holders, which in turn will release a large number of jobs, which Caymanians will not take. I find it incredible that those in power would even think of this. It seems that money is all that matters.
This government that is currently elected is very discriminatory. As a Caymanian, they treat expats like African Americans in 1963 of the USA. Week after week is pure discrimination by Anglin, Myles, Bryant, Ebanks , Jon Jon.
What will be next? Higher priced groceries for expats only? Higher electricity, water and gasoline fees for expats only? Will they start charging for use of the public beach, only for expats and tourists?
As a Caymanian, even I don’t believe my government should be this discriminatory. I’m not sure who voted these people in. They are breaking Cayman and sending it to the Stone Age, all because they can’t just say every household – Caymanians and expats can have 1 car.
Soon expats will need to drink out of different water fountains and use separate bathrooms while we get to sit on gold toilets. Hopefully every Cayman gets a paid driver like the government officials soon, at the cost of the expats on island.
Well said.
This is not complicated to figure out. You will have a lot of people that simply choose to drive unlicensed, particularly at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. Non compliance means people aren’t learning the rules of the road and passing tests, so the quality of the average driver will go down. There will be more accidents and concomitant economic and personal losses which will drive a call for more resources to be spent on enforcement which will undermine the very intent of high fees in the first place.
I understand the desire to get cars off the road. But first we need a decent public transport system that runs on time and covers the weekends and evenings.
The previous government commissioned, and then ignored, an expensive Consultation Report.
Time to put its suggestions into action.
What about those that are specifically employed to drive? Truck and delivery drivers. Most of whom are on work permits. Ultimately these costs will have to be borne by company owners (Caymanians btw). You cannot tell me that a company with 20-100 drivers (Progressive, Fosters etc), the delivery services (Lets Eat and Bento) are not going to have to charge more? There is no fee that does not impact cost of life here.
This seems crazy There are good ways to raise. money this is not one of them
Could this be the worst government in Cayman’s history?
The operation was a great success, but unfortunately the patient died…..
Expats have been instrumental in the Cayman Islands’ economic success, particularly in developing its primary industries of financial services and tourism. The reliance on foreign talent and investment has kept the economy buoyant and internationally competitive.
The Cayman Islands’ economy would gradually collapse if skilled internationally experienced professional expatriates were driven out.
the government has to provide a good public transportation 24×7 and safety
I am happy to pay for the most expensive drivers licence in the world if that means we have the best resourced traffic police in the world and hopefully the best driving standards in the world.
This is simply awful and will only lead to less business for the government since the majority of people will skip the license for obvious reasons. Tourists and visitors expect high costs on Cayman, but they don’t expect to be preyed upon by the government.
As it stands, the licensing process is time consuming and frustrating and should be made easier, not more expensive. If rates go up this high, it will make more sense to hold off on licensing, which will ultimately affect safety.
I really feel sorry for the foreign workers, who are just barely getting by and will now have to contend with this as well.
This government is driving out skilled immigrants that for years Cayman has thrived on. This country prides itself on drawing in some of the best talent in the world in their respective fields, and the xenophobic, nationalist, far-right government are throwing out all that hard work in the interest of national pride. You watch, within five years Cayman will have lost it’s stellar tourism reputation, and will be overtaken by Turks, Anguilla, St Barth’s and the rest. I will leave this island when these horrible measures come in, and then I will be back, when the government realise their errors and try to hurriedly backtrack.
Time to sell and leave the Cayman Islands.
When a Govt runs out of ideas on how to address a problem, they Tax it. That’s what this is, a head tax on foreign drivers. It seems the Govt thinks the traffic & driving problems come from non-Caymanian drivers. Many of us know the real problem drivers are Caymanians themselves, treating the roadways & roundabouts like the Indy 500.
How discriminatory?! The Government are breaching their own Bill Of Rights – Human Rights legislation.
Non-discrimination – Part 1, Section 16 – Discrimination means treating people differently, without justification, when they are in similar
situations.
This right gives you protection from the government acting in a discriminatory manner in relation to all other Rights that the BoRFR guarantees.
“Discriminatory” means affording different and unjustifiable treatment to different persons on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, age, mental or physical disability, property, birth or other status.
This right is a mixed right, meaning that some sections are limited while other sections are qualified.