Immigration board policies to go public, Mickey hears
(CNS): Despite long held perceptions that some immigration board decisions are made based on anonymous complaints or ‘poison pen letters’, the board has revealed in a recent freedom of information request by Mickey Mouse that none of the immigration boards are supposed to consider anonymous correspondence against applicants. The information manager has also said that the boards are in the process of putting all of their policies in writing, which will soon be available on the website for everyone to see. The FOI revealed that the draft policy document for dealing with complaints states that only written and signed complaints can be considered.
If the complaint against a work permit applicant is signed then the person being complained about has to be informed, and if the complainant is not prepared to disclose the details of the complaint openly then again it is not considered during the board’s deliberations.
When a complainant is prepared to stand by their complaint, according to the policy the applicant will see the details of the complaint, the evidence against them and be provided with an opportunity to respond. The draft policy reveals that boards will then consider both sides before making a decision.
With the advent of freedom of information both work-permit holders and their employers making the application are entitled to request the details of their files and all of the decisions made about them to see what weight a board gives to complaints.
DRAFT Policy of Immigration Board on Complaint Letters
Category: FOI
Of course this is so fewer com[laints will be lodge. fear of reprisal is very real here and i believe Cuba is far more advance on the subject. At least with them you know where you stand from the get go. McKeeva were did you get this one from Perlina? It would make her life easier she could tell you who the complainers are. Your good, really good and then enjoy your retirement. I hear Costa Rica is nice or even Venezuella to think about it. Wherever it is it wont be too far.Oh listen, I hear they are looking for a new tribe leader in the Amazon. You’ll like it, a lot of nice snakes and dumb but hungry animals. Good for your diet
The bigger news here is that all the infamous unwritten rules are going to be committed to paper (as alluded to in the headline). Thank heaven for small mercies.
However, the bigger problem is that the board is still permitted to make policies that are of dubious standing in relation to the law and regulations. These policies are not subject to any formal process of consultation, codification and communication. Can boards still make up and change policies on the spot? Are we going to continue to find out about new policies at the time the permit is refused?
Will a breach of policy by a board be grounds for appeal? What if the refusal happened before the policy was codified?
What about the other policies of the department (e.g. temporary permits)?
There should be no extra-legal, arbitrary policies foisted on the community by these politically appointed boards (who do not necessarily have any expertise in HR matters or business generally) or the department for that matter.
There is a process for changing the law and regulations and every "policy" should either be codified in those documents or scrapped. There is no other way to ensure they are fair, properly drafted and authoritative.
how nice that they are putting their policies in wrighting. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!! Their policies are not in wrighting?
Wright on brother, wright on! Maybe you should offer to help them wright these policies, it would the wright thing to do, wright here, wright now. Unwrightened policies, the wrighting is on the wall.
Beware, in Cayman, evidence consists of things like:
I think ….
I believe ….
I heard ….
Facts, on the other hand, are still irrelevant. There exists a set of persons who genuinely believe it is a birthright to have a foreigner removed from the island for personal gain / satisfaction.
This depends on which party lies the best. Knowing the parties is the best solution. On the other hand a GOOD FRIENDof the administrator should not be able to deal with the application. You can always hear the Public saying "dont worry I will get it approved as I have a friend working there. It happens all the time. They should have to declare their interest and not handle the application in no form .THANKS.
How could or would anonymous negative correspondence find its way into the material to be considered by the immigration board in the first place?
Bizarre, ignorant and outrageous comes to mind
Hmm, sounds sensible. Lets see how many people reject it out of hand because it doesn’t match their preconceived notion of how things are done.