Moving to Grand Cayman Island

G'day out there,

I am moving to Cayman Islands in March and I am looking for an apartment and a car. I'm working in radio, so I am not making alot of money.
Any suggestions? My office is in Georgetown - looking to find a place that is central.
Thanking you in advance for your assistance!

Cheers

Hi Bobcaygeon,
I hope you made it to Cayman alright. We have been here since Sept 05. How is your experience so far? I take it you have found lodging already? If you need any assitance feel free to ask.

The Cayman Islands is alright. But very careful about the deductions that are taken off for pension and health insurance. KEEP ALL OF YOUR PAY STUBS. These indicate how much was deducted. There is a tendency for some, not all employers to use these deductions as a means to reduce wages by not submitting them. Your only recourse then is to provide proof to the National Pensions Board. But by filing a complaint you also put your job on the line because your errant employer also holds your work permit! Sounds kinky. But in fact it's a reality. Believe me. I've been there.

Hi, My wife and i are planning to move to the caymans and are looking for some tips and advice from other Canadians who have already done this! We are both in our 40's, she is a Corporate Legal Assistant and i am a sales manager with a major wireless carrier. Can anyone recommend the best ways to search for and apply for jobs there? From what we have seen so far, there are quite a few positions for legal assistants but what type of jobs are there available for sales/sales management? Are we best to go there on vacation and get info, or can we find it on the web or????

thanks,

Mike and Sandra

www.caymanjobs.com

Jobs are rated on their professionalism (or difficulty one could argue), and this has a bearing on how long you can expect to get a work permit. Becoming a permanent resident is very hard, basically you need to be in one of the top categories that lets you stay for 7 years and have your employer sponsor you. Very difficult as well if you have children for them to keep the status when they grow up if they weren't born there.

Basically next to impossible to become a "belonger" (i.e. a citizen of a British Overseas Territory with belonger status to the Cayman Islands), I think the only way of doing it is to be married to a belonger for at least 20 years.

Thanks for the link!
My wife is a British Citizen, would that make a difference? We do not want to become permanent citizens, just work and live there for whatever length of time we can. You mentioned the top professions, are you referring to accounting/legal and investments?

My wife is a British Citizen, would that make a difference?

Nope. She would need to have been born there. The Cayman Islands has most likely the toughest rules on becoming and remaining a permanent resident or a "belonger" (the equivalent of citizenship) in the world.

We do not want to become permanent citizens, just work and live there for whatever length of time we can. You mentioned the top professions, are you referring to accounting/legal and investments?

Depends on what they consider to be "essential" at the time. Some jobs e.g. clerical jobs you can only get a permit for up to three years, some jobs are five years and some they will grant an extension so it can be gotten for seven years. You can't have a permit for more than eight years, iirc, the employer needs to sponsor you for permanent residency at that point. Have a look at www.immigration.gov.ky

I personally think the trick to it is to get a job with the government, because they're not subject to work permits, they just issue you a contract for however long and then they can sponsor you for permanent resident status.

You can get a residency permit that doesn't allow you to work if you're minted, you have to bring in some insane amount of money and also have earnings from overseas at some ridiculous level too.

wow, thanks for all the info Steve. do you live in the Caymans? If so 9or have in the past) how did it work for you in finding a job etc?

mike

I've strongly considered it, but I've had relatives who worked in the BVI which is legally a similar situation.

The main misunderstanding people have is what citizenship is, mainly because the law has been chopped and changed so much in the last few years. A citizen of a British Overseas Territory has the right to reside in the UK and is treated as a British citizen - but not the other way around. Moreover there is more to it than simply being a BOT citizen, you also have to be a "belonger" of whichever territory it is in question. The territory sets the rules as to how they determine who can become a belonger, generally if you meet that rule you then become a BOT citizen at the same time (although correct me if I'm wrong if you're already a British citizen you simply become a belonger). So you have to be both a belonger and a BOT citizen to have full rights in whichever territory it is.

The Cayman Islands, the BVI and Bermuda are the toughest. Generally it means marrying someone who is a belonger and remaining married for a very long time, on the Cayman Islands it's 20 years, iirc.