The Ministry of Border Control & Labour announces the passing of the Immigration (Transition) (Amendment) Act, 2021 and the Customs and Border Control (Amendment) Act, 2021 in Parliament on 5 October. The Acts have now been assented to and came into force 14th October 2021.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Border Control and Labour, Hon. Chris Saunders, says the legislation aims to offer as much protection as possible to the diverse Cayman Islands community, while COVID-19 global pandemic continues.
“The revised legislation endeavours to make the new requirements as reasonable and humane as possible. We have removed the mandate for persons with existing close, long term personal connections to the Islands. In addition we have built in grace periods where appropriate, and allowed medical exemptions where called for. We believe these changes have helped to improve what is otherwise a necessary piece of legislation,” Mr Saunders remarked.
Therefore the Ministry wishes to advise the public that as of 15th October these Acts will now require eligible applicants and their eligible accompanying dependants to be fully vaccinated and provide proof of the covid-19 vaccinations to WORC and CBC respectively when applying for or renewing the below categories of residence or employment facilities:
WORC – Immigration (Transition)(Amendment) Act, 2021
WORC officials note that the changes mean that temporary work permit applicants must submit an additional form along with the other required documents, although previously no medical form was required.
CBC – Customs and Border Control (Amendment) Act, 2021
Approved vaccines
The legislation also details which vaccine programmes that are accepted by the CIG. For these purposes the Chief Medical Officer has approved AstraZeneca, Janssen (Johnson and Johnson), Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech.
40 day grace period
Those applying for work permits, who are off-island and for some reason unable to access a COVID-19 vaccination, can submit, along with their application, a declaration of their intent to complete an approved vaccine course within 40 days of arrival on-island. Failure to provide WORC or CBC a vaccination certificate confirming that the applicant has completed the full course will result in revocation of the approved application.
Individuals who are already on-island when submitting their application, may likewise declare their intent to complete an approved vaccine course, and provide a vaccination certificate to within 40 days of approval. Failure to provide WORC or CBC will result in revocation of any grant and having to leave the Islands.
Exemption
Anyone seeking exemption from the Acts on medical grounds must obtain a letter/certificate from a physician in the Cayman Islands, if applying locally, or from a physician from the country of origin, if applying overseas. This document must be sent to the Health Services Authority for review and approval by the Medical Officer of Health, after which it should be submitted along with the application.
Additionally, WORC and CBC officials stress that if a vaccination certificate, declaration, or medical exemption is not included at the time of the application submission, this may cause a deferral or delay in processing. The declaration form can be found on both CBC and WORC websites.
To facilitate COVID-19 social distancing protocols, WORC and CBC encourages customers with queries to email: WORC@gov.ky or call 1-345-945-9672 or toll free 1 (800) 534 9672 or Customs & Border Control, email visa.queries@gov.ky or call the Customer Support Centre 1-345-649-4579.
Alternatively, persons can review FAQs by visiting www.worc.ky or exploregov.ky/coronavirus.