an applicant suffers from a contagious
The Next Step for Permanent Residents
mistreated fellow workers, or where they
Many people have asked what happens next once someone has been granted Permanent Residency (PR). Below we explain.
do not have an adequately funded pension.
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disease that could make them a danger to the community, are proved to have
Permission to Continue Working (PCW)
When a person applies for Permanent Residency, he/she must apply for and be granted Permission to Continue Working (PCW) before any existing work permit expires, otherwise they will have to cease work when their latest permit expires. If the applicant’s final work permit has already expired, they are not entitled to work whilst awaiting the outcome of their application for permanent residence, until they have a ‘PCW’ stamp in their passport. A ‘PCW’ stamp attracts the same fee as a six month work permit and must be renewed every six months while the application is pending. Most Permanent Residence applications are presently dealt with within nine months.
Naturalisation:
Once you have been
granted PR you only need to wait 12 months from the date of approval, and then you can apply to be naturalised on the grounds of residency. This is an essential step if you would ultimately like to apply for Cayman Status (other than on the basis of being under 18 and the child of a Caymanian, or the spouse of a Caymanian). Please see the Naturalisation section in this chapter for more information on the process. >
The Right to be Caymanian (Caymanian Status): Once you are naturalised and five years have passed (or you have been resident in the Cayman Islands for 15 years, whichever happens earlier), you can apply for Caymanian Status. Please see the Right to be Caymanian section in this chapter for all the details.
How to Appeal a Permanent Residency Refusal
If your PR is turned down the first thing you have to do is decide whether you are going to appeal the decision or not. If you choose to appeal then the next step is to serve a formal Notice of Appeal on the Secretary of the Immigration Appeals Tribunal (IAT) – located in the Government Administration Building. Your Notice of Appeal ought to be received by the IAT within 28 days of your application being refused. At this point all you need to include in the letter are a) the grounds under which you are filing the appeal (i.e. that the refusal was (i) erroneous in law (ii) unreasonable (iii) contrary to the principals of natural justice or (iv) at variance with the Immigration Regulations) b) the decision against which the appeal is made c) a copy of your original application and the refusal letter (if that latter document is available) and d) a bank draft for CI$1,000 made payable to the CI Government, which is non-refundable. Once the IAT receive your appeals paperwork you will be issued with a receipt and the IAT will request from the Department of WORC an ‘Appeals
b) Permanent Residence as the Spouse of a Permanent Resident Permanent Residents will have to continue paying CI$500 per year per dependant until they (or the Permanent Resident) becomes Caymanian. If you are on a government contract, and receive PR, you appear to have the choice of putting your dependant children on your PR (and paying the CI$500 fee per year) or keeping them on your government contract and paying no fees for them. There are other rules worth considering. The dependant spouse of a Permanent Resident can and (in most cases) should apply for their own Permanent Residence and Employment Rights Certificate (RERC) in their own right, as soon as their
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I M M I G R AT I O N & PA S S P O R T S
The Board has the power to revoke the Permanent Residence of any holder who “fails to maintain the level of financial investment stated in the application”. The law also states that if false information is provided, or a material fact is concealed in the application, the Board may revoke any permanent residence granted. Permanent Residents are required to report details of their circumstances annually. Finally, if persons become destitute, subsequent to the grant of permanent residence, it may be revoked. Harsh as this might sound, without a large tax base available to provide an extensive social safety net, the Cayman Immigration (Transition) Actseeks to ensure that only persons who will not become a burden on the society are awarded PR. As the current system stands, unless you own a property or shares in a business in Cayman, it can be difficult to make enough points to qualify for Permanent Residency. Applicants are likely to gain the most points should they purchase a property well before being eligible to apply, as any mortgage payments (including interest) will count in the assessment.
Statement’ which will include the reasons for the decision to turn down your PR. It will also include their scoring of your PR application plus all the paperwork which went with your original PR application. The IAT will then forward all of this to you. You are then required to file detailed grounds of your appeal with the IAT and serve a copy to on WORC within 28 days of receipt of the Appeals Statement. In your appeal you must provide written arguments as to why you disagree with the points given in each section, raise any relevant other factors, and provide any supporting evidence/documents. The use of an attorney in relation to the preparation of rebuttal grounds of appeal is strongly encouraged as many of the details can be very technical in nature. The IAT will review all the documents and decide whether the appellant’s case has merit. If the IAT decides in favour of the appellant, this will be communicated. The successful appellant will then be given an opportunity to submit updates and/or provide fresh evidence for consideration, and any changes in circumstances as it relates to the application. The IAT will then reconsider your application, and assess you afresh against the points system. Once the Tribunal have made their decision the IAT Secretariat will inform you of it.
