155 TLEPs still outstanding
(CNS): Despite the massive number of people that the immigration department had to regularize this week, government officials confirmed Wednesday afternoon that almost all of the 1,465 Term Limit Exemption Permit holders that remain in Cayman have now had their passports stamped. This means they can continue to work until 9 December if they have jobs or deal with their affairs in preparation to leave if they do not. Just 155 people remain outstanding and officials said that enforcement officers will be taking measures to address those people who hold the expired permits and have not regularized their immigration status.
All TLEPs expired on Monday 28 October, and following the amendments to the Cayman Islands Immigration Law, all work permit holders can now stay in Cayman for up to nine years provided their permits are renewed and no Caymanians apply for and successfully get the jobs they hold.
Although this means hundreds more workers will now reach year eight, allowing them to apply for permanent residency, government is still hoping most will be deterred from doing so because of much more stringent requirements to qualify for residency and the hefty fees attached to the application.
With the TLEP now a thing of the past, the workers formerly here on those exemption passes will need to get new work permits but their bosses will be under the spotlight over the next forty days as they begin advertising the posts. Government said that the Department of Immigration will work closely with the National Workforce Development Agency toidentify willing and able Caymanians to fill these and any other position held by foreign workers.
With government now focusing more heavily on enforcement of the immigration law to stamp out abuse of the system, employers who apply for work permits for expatriate workers must inform immigration about any Caymanians who have also applied and explain why they were not successful or face a $20,000 fine. The government has said it will be watching employers closely to ensure advertisements for jobs are not over inflated or tailored to meet a specific applicant but that they are fair and reasonable.
Category: Politics
Okay, I hear you. But what is the reality for many employers is very different. You get people who are under qualified and overly entitled. They think sick days are personal days, they want a two hour paid lunch during prime business hours, want to talk on their phone all day.
I just hired a new woman. Explained the hours, job requirements, etc. She now cannot work on Wednesdays, because, get this….she needs to get get her nails done. OMG, it is our busiest day, and how can you even argue with this logic?
155?
How can we trust any numbers from this government?
Guess I’ll never sell my condo for more than pennies on the dollar now.
Another title could have been "155 TLEP'S Still on the Run…
Compare this article to the previous reports that only 1000 had went.
and notice the wording , or those TLEP's remaining, 155 are unstamped, so the others must have left the island
155 EMPLOYERS need to be feeling the heat.
I'm guessing these are prominent locals who "hire" from overseas for part time favors and they have no idea where these part time workers are either. If they have left the island, Immigration would have a record.
They are now 155 overstayers with no regard for the law and will be dealt with. However, ENFORCEMENT PLEASE DO YOUR JOB AND FINE THE EMPLOYERS!!!
Does that mean there are 155 doing 'part time favors' in the bars or privately? What is the job title? Will these jobs become available?
lol …i hear they extended that deadline to the 9th of December what a farce !
155?!! Wow, so much for the claim of so many that they knew of "hundreds" that had left.
155 is down from the "over 600" that CNS speculated on Tuesday were not regularised, leading people to claim they knew hundres of people that had left. So, yes, hundreds did leave because the 600+ figure came from the original number of TLEPs issued, and the 155 figure is from the number of TLEPs still in effect as of 28th October 2013. The commenters were aware that the numbers were not right because they knew that it was not correct to assume every single person who got a TLEP from 28th October 2011 onward was still on the island.
Essentially, CNS jumped the gun again and reported without full information, allowing rabid commenters to unfairly rip government apart over perceived ineptitude (e.g. "they don't even know how many people are still here??!?!"… turns out they do, CNS just hadn't asked yet). Now the more balanced report based on full information has come in and many people still don't realise the original one was speculative and did not have an adequate disclaimer. Opinions should be based on the facts, but that is impossible when our media don't report them. There is plenty of ineptitude in government, but if we keep taking potshots with no reason the real criticisms will not be taken as seriously. A boy can cry wolf too many times, you know.
I'm not a fan of the Compass, but Nicky and Wendy you need to maybe watch yourselves a bit more. In my opinion there has been increasing bias and injection of opinion (including inferred opinion through how articles are worded) on this site. The Compass has never been a bastion of free and fair reporting (though their errors lie mainly in not saying things that should be said, not in being biased) and is going steadily downhill with the new ownership being excessively egotistical, taking a strong tack to the right, and becoming bafflingly US-centric. The Cayman Net News remains a joke and iEye News is Colin Wilson's pet soapbox and also not a serious contender for actual journalism. The reasonable people are calling out for free and fair press!
Do the Math, 600 had not gone to immigration so were outstanding and now they have saying of the TLEPs REMAINING only 155 didn't go, so around 450 must have left, so far and that is only those holding permits, add their spouses and families, and the real figure for people that have left is probably 600-1000.
so far
Read the article. It indicated if not directly by implication that 155 had not been regularized i.e., either did not get a WOL or did not get a visitor stamp to wind up their affairs or had left the jurisdiction already. I know of at least six who went and got visitor stamps to wind up their affairs, two who have left to return to home countries and two who went on to WOL's. So basically it is 155 who have not been accounted for but who could have left without being counted as many of them left leading up to the big deadline
Regardless of the uproar the PPM policy seems to be working. I have had 3 expats tell me their permits were refused recently and when they went to seek other employment they were told "No this Government wants us to hire Caymanians". Say what you want but the PPM way is working!!!
Actually, it would only work if the employers of the expats that are leaving/have left replace them with Caymanians. But if that doesn't happen, all the PPM will have accomplished is hurting the economy by removing some of the GDP that leaves with the expats. If your GDP is decreasing, you'd better reign in spending, or you'll end up like Detroit.
working maybe, but for what we are not quite sure. Heard the same myself, however one big problem..employers will not be told what to do or who to employ..the international companies will move non essential work back and we will be in the same situation again…its called free market economics and if you do not follow those principles you end up like Venezuela, ie, should be wealthy but people cannot find toilet paper in the shops.
Too late. You are allowing businesses with Staffing plans to rely on adverts from months ago, so yet again, the system is operating to exclude locals from opportunity. Spectacular fail.
Quite true. When locals applied months ago they were told there was no vacancy because the position was full until November at the earliest. How can we do this to our own people?
I AGREE with "Too Late" – Can we please see the results of the August 2013 White Collar job advertisements please?
My very qualified college degreed (with great references) Caymanian friend had an interview not just 2 weeks ago and was told by a large prominent BANK that the job was a wrok permit renewal. So it seems that the glass front door has yet to apply to the white collar world?
We tell Caymanians to get expereince and get qualified, but expat bosses STILL hire from overseas. The Immigration Board members need to stop pandering to their crony buddies and FOLLOW the LAW. For every $50k job, I assure you a local has applied, but the big firm HR Departments along with Business Staffing Boards are still playing their games!?! Until we are ready to apply the SAME rules to our CFOs, CTO's, and CEOs the playing field will still be unlevel. Promote from within and only hire an expat when a local cannot qualify= simple. Oh, and it is the law.
It is time for transparency – for every white collar job, let's SEE the Caymanian applicants apply directly to the Immigration Board and the secrecy behind the FR veil will be liftted! Guess what? This will also dispell the myth about qualified Caymanians. Give us a chance and we will work hard (without the relocation expense and permit fees)
Isn't it better to hire a good local than fuel social services? Take the energy wasted on keeping people down and please pour it into education to produce a better local product.
Phew, we might just get away with it.