Status: 1000s May Apply
Government'srecent announcement of a removal of the moratorium on awardingof Caymanian Status could mean that some 3,000 to 5,000 personsmay qualify and decide to apply for a possible grant of this covetedprivilege.
Sources say that this estimated total representsa build-up reaching back to 1991 when the restriction on bestowingof status was first put in place and covering the 11 years whenthose who thought they qualified for such recognition could notget their applications heard. This is in addition to thousandsof the holders of Work Permits over five years.
Keeping the moratorium in place for thisperiod only to lift it now could present an administrative challengeto the secretariat of the Immigration Board in fielding what mayturn out to be a floodgate of applications from hopefuls for CaymanianStatus.
It is believed that of the estimated 15,000to 16,000 people here on work permits, a figure hovering on athird of that number constitute the hopefuls who have since 1991passed the required years of residence to make them eligible forStatus.
An indication of the type of administrativeheadache immigration officers expect can be found in a set ofguidelines the Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs issuedWednesday, 15 August. Some applicants for Status on the groundsof residence or naturalisation are asked to follow procedure clearlyaimed at helping the office locate files which may have been loungingfor the 11 years of restriction.
By publishing a quota of persons who canbe granted Status this year in the Official Gazette on Friday,10 August, Government indicated a removal of the moratorium.
Uncertainty remains on the motivation forsuch action but what is known is that it comes just one day afterCayman Net News published a report saying the legal basis of themoratorium may be challenged, and one working day before a motionin which such a challenge was contained came up for hearing incourt.
Although government might have saved itselffrom widespread legal action which many luminaries in the professionbelieved it would have lost, there arises the question of thefate of dependent offspring who might have been under 17 yearsold at the time of application of the parent but are now adultswho can no longer be legally termed dependents.
Meanwhile, indications from those in immigrationprofessional services are that intending applicants should maketheir submissions as quickly as possible because of the time tobe consumed in processing of the expected large numbers and therunning of background checks. Successful applications are to becompleted within the year, and persons rejected have 21 days toappeal and the matter heard also within the year.
It has been suggested that owing to thehigh number of applications expected to be processed and a fearof favouritism - whether real or perceived - use of an Americanstyle lottery system for granting of Status may be applied. Atheory here is that factors like the high number of applicantsand the small size of the country combine to make those presidingover the applications familiar with a number of the persons involved,giving rise to a public perception of favouritism.
"It hoped that there be no repeat ofthe occurrence in the 1980s which led to a general belief thatsenior government officials bargained for the number of theircronies who should be granted the coveted Status," said oneformer legislator.
Additionally, there is uncertainty overthe number of places that will be allocated for awarding of statusnext year. At the time of announcement of the moratorium in 1991the annual figure was 12 but, the following year a new administrationre-opened the system and increased the number to 18 only to closeit again less than a year after until now.
There has not been mention of a new numbersince. Meanwhile, it is hoped that the new government will comeup with an acceptable figure for the ensuing years in order toretain a sustainable growth of the permanent population, eitherby the grants of Status of Permanent Residency with the rightto work.