Can a tourist be granted a work permit?

I have a friend visiting. She is in the hospitality industry and was thinking of applying for a couple of jobs. She came in as a tourist. Is she allowed to do this or what are the restrictions?

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Auntie’s answer:  There are actually two different issues at play. A Department of Immigration official explained, “The Immigration Law does not restrict any person from applying for jobs whilst on island but does state restrictions regarding the submission of work permit applications whilst on island as a tourist visitor.”

What that means is that your friend is free to apply for a job while visiting, but if she is then offered a job, she cannot remain in the Cayman Islands while her work permit is being processed. Section 48(10)(g) of the Immigration Law says that an application for an annual work permit can be refused if “the applicant is in the Islands as a tourist visitor or as the holder of a visitor’s work visa”.

In addition, Section 53(4) says that no application for a temporary work permit for anyone who came in as a visitor can be considered “unless the application was submitted after the visitor’s departure from the Islands”, or can be approved “unless the visitor remained off the Islands during the processing of the application”.

However, the official added, if the prospective employer opts to submit a temporary work permit application for someone on island as a tourist, the chief immigration officer must be satisfied that the applicant has met the requirements for granting approval found in the law (see Section 44) and that there are extenuating circumstances for the submission.

The law mentioned in this column can be found on the CNS Library

Tags: Work permit for tourist

Category: Ask Auntie, Immigration Questions