All businesses require work permits for any staff who are not Caymanian or Caymanian status holders.

Required documents for a work permit are:

1. Application form
2. An original police clearance certificate
3. Copies of the advertisements published in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks along with any responses and CVs of Caymanian applicants
4. Prescribed fees
5. Photographs (passport sized), two full face and one profile
6. A full and accurate description of the job to be filled
7. Cover letter detailing the qualifications necessary for carrying out the job; why the applicant is seeking a work permit; and reasons why a Caymanian was not employed for the position
8. Medical questionnaire form
9. Accommodation form
10. Pension and health insurance form.

Annual fees range from CI$200 for unskilled labourers to CI$22,500 for senior management positions.
 
Roll-over and key employees
Cayman’s ‘roll-over’ policy may also impact on the business staffing plan. All foreign nationals employed in the Cayman Islands are subject to a seven year term limit, unless they are granted ‘key employee’ status by the immigration authorities. This means that after seven years foreign nationals will have to leave the Islands for a minimum of 12 months, before they can apply for the grant of a work permit again.
 
For key employees the term limit is extended to nine years, after which they have to cease to be resident for at least one year to be able to obtain a new work permit. Alternatively foreign nationals who have been legally resident in the Cayman Islands for at least eight years can apply for a permanent residence with the right to work.

Business staffing plan
Any business that employs more than 15 work permit holders has to provide the Immigration Department and the Business Staffing Plan Board with a detailed analysis of the staffing needs of the business for the next three to five years. Immigration regulations demand that the following information is included in the plan:

• the number of employees at the date of the submission of the Plan;
• the number of Caymanian & non-Caymanian employees;
• the positions occupied by all Caymanian and non-Caymanian employees, the nationality of the non-Caymanian employees and whether such non-Caymanian employees are permanent residents or holders of work permits;
• the length of time each position has been held by a work permit holder;
• in respect of posts held by work permit holders other than permanent residents, the likelihood of such posts being filled by Caymanians or permanent residents and the anticipated length of time, in respect of each post, before that happens;
• a list of the positions in the business that are identified as exempted positions and a brief statement as to why they are so considered;
• the anticipated growth of the business and its future plans for the next three years;
• the future anticipated needs of the business as regards its workforce for the next three years;
• the commitment of the business to education and development locally including scholarships, training schemes and in-house training;
• the recruitment policy of the business; and
• an identification by the business of the number of work permits that will be required in at least the next three years, the posts for which they will be required and the desired duration of those work permits.

More information:
Cayman Islands Immigration Department
94A Elgin Avenue,
P.O. Box 1098,
Grand Cayman, KY1-1102
(345) 949-8344
immigration.gov.ky
imweb@gov.ky