The Cayman Islands government has confirmed that revised immigration legislation will take effect on 1 May 2026.
The rollout had been delayed, in part, to address an issue that would have prevented hundreds of long-term residents from accessing transitional protections.
The Caymanian Protection Act, passed unanimously by Parliament in December, tightens residency and status requirements and gives greater protections to Caymanian workers. Changes include an increase in the residency requirement for Caymanian Status from 15 to 20 years.
The original 1 March commencement date was pushed back to allow some tweaks to the landmark legislation passed in December of last year.
One key change corrected a drafting issue and expanded grandfathering provisions to people with permanent residence applications pending, allowing them to apply Caymanian Status after 15 years rather than 20.
Given a processing backlog of close to a year, the issue stood to affect a large number of applicants and potentially opened up the government to legal risk.
A new amending bill, passed in March, widened that protection to cover anyone who had submitted a permanent residence application before the new rules take effect, provided it is subsequently granted. The protections also extend to certain holders of Residency and Employment Rights Certificates, some adult dependents and asylum recipients with indefinite leave to remain.
The amending bill also establishes a statutory basis for an express work permit processing lane, allowing government to charge additional fees for expedited applications.
A revised fee schedule takes effect alongside the legislation. Immigration Minister Michael Myles said application fees, unchanged for more than 15 years, will increase under a tiered structure, though work permit fees themselves will not change.
The Ministry of Caymanian Employment and Immigration and Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman said system testing, form finalisation and staff training are being completed ahead of the 1 May date.
Myles said the delay in implementation would ultimately lead to a smoother more efficient process.
“We are determined to get this right. The revised immigration legislation represents a significant step forward for work permit administration in the Cayman Islands, and the standard of its launch must match the standard of its ambition.”
WORC Director Jeremy Scott added, “Our teams are focused to ensure that the system is launched and operates as intended.”
More information at gov.ky/web/mcei/immigrationreform.
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Who decides these unreviewed rush dates? What is with the random timing. How do we not have a full review and pass at end of year but rather the government wants to rush and pass something incomplete and full of holes. Rush rush rush, we need to hit May.
What a joke.
It’s amazing how things can get done quickly. Government can make things happen when they want to.