Permanent Residents Can Now Add Spouses Immigration
Permanent residents will now be allowed
to add their dependent spouses to their permanent residency status.
Chairman of the Immigration Board Mr. David Ritch recently announced
this initiative which resulted from a review of certain permanent
residence issues.
The review indicated that there was no legal impediment preventing a permanent resident from applying to add a dependent spouse after obtaining permanent residence.
The Board would, in future, consider such applications on their merits but subject to the Board's usual discretion, he added.
Mr. Ritch further explained the Board's change in position: "This move by the board to permit permanent residence holders to add a dependent spouse after the fact removes a long-existing anomaly that limited the right to add such a spouse only at the time of the original application.
"We expect the change to be well received by the many permanent residence holders whose spouses are continually being subjected to the inconvenience of having their passports stamped with visitors' extensions. We also believe that this underscores the commitment of both the Board and the Cayman Islands Government to arriving at a sensible and comprehensive immigration policy," he said.
The review is in keeping with the current Immigration Board's stated policy of reviewing ongoing practices and procedures, with a view to streamlining and simplifying applications to the Board.
Mr. Ritch noted that he fully expected there would be further changes in the context of overall immigration legislation when the proposed reforms are brought before the Legislative Assembly in 2003.
In the interim, any permanent residence holder wishing to add a dependent spouse should contact the Board Secretariat at 244-2064 for more information.