Residency seekers need to be vaccinated under new law

By Staff Writer

The public only has a few days to give their input to a Bill proposed by Government to require various categories of ex-patriates provide a vaccine certificate “of any notifiable disease” (which includes Covid-19) when they make their applications to remain on island.

Input on the Immigration (Transition) (Amendment) Bill, 2021, ends this Sunday, 3rd October, and is being requested by Government as it seeks to amend immigration regulations to mandate that people seeking to reside permanently in Cayman, must provide a Covid-19 vaccine certificate.

The categories of people affected by this new requirement include people who have been legally and ordinarily resident for eight years (section 37 of the principal Act) and dependents aged 18 and over and also spouses or civil partners of a Caymanian who applies for an Residency and Employment Rights Certificate (RERC).

Other people who must now provide a vaccine certificate include people of independent means who apply for a 25-year Residency Certificate for Persons of Independent Means and their surviving or former spouses or civil partners and their dependents when they are 18. It also includes people who have applied for a Certificate of Direct Investment and the surviving/former spouse or civil partner of a Certificate of Direct Investment holder who has applied for such a certificate in their own right. People who have applied for a Certificate for Specialist Caregivers for that person’s employee/former employee and applicants for a 25-year Residency Certificate on the basis of substantial business presence must also show that they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

These new legal provisions only apply to people who can actually receive the Covid-19 vaccine. In this regard, the Bill states: “While vaccination certificates for dependants must be provided, the amendments will not apply to dependants who are not eligible for vaccination under the Public Health Act (2021 Revision) or to those persons for whom medical certificates are provided which certify that vaccination would be injurious to the health of the person or a dependant of the person.”