No sign of fake records, say immigration officials

| 09/07/2010

(CNS): The chief immigration says there is no intelligenceto suggest or evidence revealing that any fraudulent police clearance reports have made their way to Cayman. Linda Evans said the Immigration Department had a close relationship with the office in Jamaica and she told News 27 that the local immigration department would be keeping a close eye on the situation. Concerns have been raised following reports from Jamaica of an investigation concerning a former senior police officer and several other members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and possible fake documents.

Meanwhile, the immigration department has also confirmed six people have taken advantage of it.  Four were over-stayers and two were working by operation of law which had expired.
The amnesty offers an opportunity for people who are currently on island illegally to leave the country without fear of prosecution before 31 July. Evans said that the department expects to see more people will make use of the amnesty as the month draws to a close.
It is estimated that there are around 250 people overstaying in Cayman and those who do not take advantage of the opportunity to leave this month will face a clamp down in August and risk a fine of $20,000 and imprisonment of up to 5-years. The penalties for work permit offences range from fines between $5,000 and $15,000 and imprisonment for up to 1-year.
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  1. Recently Enlightened says:

    I believe the key to this story is in the very first sentence. "there is no intelligence".

  2. Anonymous says:

    Really? Please tell us the neccesary steps imigration made to obtain that information.  This requires an investigation that couldn’t possibly happen in a week. 

  3. anonymous says:

    C.I.O. – What about the clearances of new "MARRIAGES  OF CONVENIENCE"  with the Minister’s Association  that is a possibility? Have the Authorities  thought of  investigating  this loophole ??   It’s one of the loopholes"  that the US Department of Immigration is scrutinizing, and placing stipulations on such acts of convenience.   

    • Anonymous says:

      My dear Immigration doesn’t want to go this route because, by default, a Caymanian is guilty and more than likely that guilty Caymanian has a friend in Immigration. Because of entitlement there are two sets of laws in Cayman and we can only utitlize the ones against foreigners. Worse, if the laws assist the foreigner, we have to make up Immigration policies to go after them. The lastest one I have heard is that Immigration has told someone on Appeal that he can’t work till the appeal is heard. This is against the law, but typical Immigration logic. You see, they know the appeal takes years and one cannot afford to live here without employment. So the person will have no choice to leave. Unless, of course, an attorney can be afforded. They run US$600.00 per hour. This adds up quickly when they bill you for retreiving voice messages. 

    • Anonymous says:

      There are numerous "Marriages of Conveniences" taking place in Cayman, as long as the Marriage Officers receive their$500.00 fee, they don’t care. They don’t check with immigration to find out what is the status of the foreigner, like they should do.

      I know of one particular case, where a man who is sick, married a Honduran woman. They have not even slept in the same house. The woman has another man staying with her, who she purports to be her cousin, but it is a known fact that he is her "man". The Caymanian man’s family is tired of reporting the situation to Immigration, but nothing is done about it. This is just an example of how lax our Immigration Dept is, sad to say.

      There is also a case of a Jamaican man who is a fugitive here. He told a Caymanian that he had murdered in Jamaica, and spent 10 yrs in Jamaica. when he was released from prison, he had a Police friend who had erased all of his convictions, therefore, he had no problem getting a Police Clearance. This matter was also reported to Immigration.  I saw his status holder wife recently, and she told me that he had left the Island. I could not question her further. My assumption is that he got C/S from her, obtained an EU passport and gone to the UK. Like another fugitive that we had in Cayman has done.

      What is going on in my precious Islands now is heart-breaking to me, and not much is being done about it. We can only pray, and pray diligently.

  4. Anonymous says:

    The Premier has clearly stated his intentions to Jamaicanize the Cayman Islands much more than it isnow,

    Now that being the case why would the CIO come out and admit to Jamaicans being here with fradulent documentation. Are you not aware that Civil Servants can not disagree with anything that comes from the Government???

    Admitting to the fact that there are or may be Jamaicans here with fradulent documentation could cost the CIO her job.

  5. Dennis Smith says:

    I was at a dance last year and a person was pointed out to me as a known criminal from Kingston. There were several other people with him and they all drove off together. Not a good feeling.

  6. Rafaelle says:

    The Jamaica news is saying widespread fraud and investigations Cayman is claiming they can’t or don’t see nothing who do you believe . I certainly feel more confident with the Jamaica news media than relying on an  immigration Department that hired a fugitive from the United States Come on Now Dear!!!!. The amount of persons from various countries that have serious criminal backgrounds will never be known and it is not only "Jamaicans" that are here with clean or clear Police records. We will now here we need more employees to do the necessary and adequate checks. Some like our XXXX leader believes because it comes from a apparently legit body or government source means it is officially bonified or certified I guess he has probably never heard of Corruption well i am suggesting to him on his worldly travels stop off in Nigeria for a lesson in state sponsored fraud& corruption. The whole world knows how if you can afford it it can or will be done so long as the price is right are we so naive or just plain stupid. To those in the Cayman Islands Immigration department the word is: Investigation. We appear to be going backwards in Government i can distinctly remember some very good former RCIPS who worked along with Immigration department previously with great results that too has been dismantle by our UK experts and  their advisors. I am no conspiracy theorist but some very odd things have taken place here to Cayman and its Government in the past 7-8 years it almost been rendered ineffective in its ability the working programs have been dismantled good people remove or push out. We are  constantly "improving and modernizing yet we appear to be going backwards further by constant interfering obstructions hinderance and failures which break down the systems in government it almost seems to be a concerted effort for us to fail and our thatch leaf politicians merely add and exacerbate the problem by doing absolutely nothing except looking for the next big Payday. This Island is obviously in need of new strong political blood untainted by the old compliant loyal subjects.

  7. Anonymous says:

    I heard Mrs. Evans say on the news that one of the persons that turned themselves in had obtained status. Can someone please tell me how that is possible? I would imagine that before status is given immigration would at least check to see that the person is in fact legally. The only other explanation I can come up with is if the person had since married a Caymanian. Which in that case, both of them should be fined or jailed, because I’m certain that that marrige would not have been legitimate.

    • Anonymous says:

      Its also possible the person didn’t even know he had status. Such is our system. 

  8. Anonymous says:

    OH PLEASE. If you have someone that was issuing the records telling you that they really don’t have anyway of knowing that this person was so and so, how can our immigration department say that they are no signs of in authenticity? How can you tell? What are we looking for? Obviously it is going to have everything that an real original will have. Its the information thatwould have been tampered with (earased). What our Immigration Department needs to implement, if not already done is FINGERPRINTING! That would be a big step up.

    • The Plain Truth says:

      The governmet/Immigration has a good reason for not implemening the finger print process.

    • Anonymous says:

       In case you don’t know already, EVERY work permit holder has a fingerprint on file. It is a requirement with their police clearance when coming to this island.

      • Anonymous says:

        I’m sure that finger print is stored right next to that fake police record..

      • I See you says:

        Maybe there is a fingerprint on file for EVERY work permit holder, but has immigration ascertained that the fingerpring on file for such holder is in fact the fingerprint of that person or is it the fingerprint of his or her friend or cousin