Business Visitors Permits

Local companies registered under the Companies Law (2004 Revision) or a local partnership or firm working in the Islands which regularly employs persons not ordinarily resident in the Cayman Islands on a temporary basis may make a single application in each calendar year to the Chief Immigration Officer for the issue, in each calendar year, of one or more business visitors' permits and for more than one visit.

How do I apply for a business visitors’ permit

To apply for a business visitors' permit the company, partnership or firm must submit the following with respect to each prospective employee for whom a business visitors' permit is sought:

Application form:

A fully completed business visitors’ permit application form

Photographs:

One full face and one profile photograph (passport size)

Cover Letter:

A covering letter explaining the necessity for making the application.

Police Clearance Certificate:

A police clearance certificate from the prospective employee's home district or last place of residence that has been issued within six months preceding the date of the application. The certificate must be signed by the issuing authority and must bear an embossed seal or official stamp. (Nationals from the United Kingdom who have been living there immediately prior to coming to the Cayman Islands may submit a sworn affidavit attesting to good character in lieu of a police clearance certificate. United Kingdom nationals who have been living elsewhere must submit a police clearance certificate from that country).

Fees:

An administrative filing fee of CI$50.00 and the annual fee based on the number of persons in respect of whom the application is made and the number of visits per person in the relevant calendar year. (See fee table below).

NOTE 1:Failure to provide the above, or where the information provided is incomplete, will result in a delay in the processing of the application. It is also especially important that each application states the maximum number of times it is desired that each business visitor be admitted to the Islands in the calendar year in which the application is being made, his/her occupation, and the maximum duration of stay of each such business visitor during each visit.

NOTE 2:No business visitors' permit shall be issued for a stay of more than fourteen days on any one visit.

What will the Chief Immigration Officer take into account when considering an application for a business visitors' permit?

When considering an application for the grant of a business visitors' permit the Chief Immigration Officer is required to take into account such of the matters set out in section 44(2) of the Immigration Law (2007 Revision) as he considers relevant and, when granting business visitors' permits, may impose such conditions and limitations as he thinks fit.

Section 44(2) states as follows:

"In relation to the prospective employer, that -

1. he has demonstrated his genuine need to engage the services of the prospective worker;
2. he has, unless he has been exempted by the Governor or by the Board, sought, by advertising in at least two issues for two consecutive weeks in a local newspaper, to ascertain the availability of any one or more of the following in the order in which they are listed -
   1. a Caymanian;
   2. the spouse of a Caymanian
   3. the holder of a Residency & Employment Rights Certificate; and
   4. a person legally and ordinarily resident in the Islands who is qualified and willing to fill the position; and
3. in the case of an application in respect of a professional, managerial or skilled occupation, the Board is satisfied as to the extent to which he has established adequate training or scholarship programmes for Caymanians."

Must the person for whom the business visitors' permit application is being made possess a valid passport?

Yes.

How long does it take for a business visitors' permit application to be processed?

A minimum of five (5) working days should be allowed for the processing of the application (where all the documentation required above is provided and is complete)

Last Updated: 2008-01-16