By Baron Laudermilk
After a major revision in the Cayman Island budget, more expensive work permits came into effect on September 13, 2012, and the Island government has confirmed this information.
The changes that were introduced as part of the islands revised budget, which contains the Immigration (Amendment No.2) Regulations, 2012. The work permit fee increases were agreed upon during talks between the local financial services industry and the government. Increasing the fees was considered a superior than a controversial tax on the remuneration of non-resident workers.
Under the new changes, work permit fees for people at the executive level who are engaged in the financial services business in Grand Cayman (such as CEOs, general managers, managing directors and vice presidents) rose from KYD20,500 (USD25,000) to KYD30,375. Work permit fees for key non-executive roles, such as directors of marketing/trading, financial controllers etc. have increased to KYD20, 925 from KYD15,500.
Work permits for highly-skilled financial services roles will generally now range from KYD13,650-KYD20,925, from KYD10,500 previously. This will affect roles including trust officers, senior business analysts/senior financial analysts, trust/fund administrators, and auditor/audit officers, and numerous others.
The rise in price for working permit fees should be of concern to Chinese investors and business owners who were considering starting a business or expanding in the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands historically has been a place where working permits were very affordable, which made the island an extremely competitive island for attracting foreign investment and the establishment of foreign businesses. However, with the rise of these fees, which is a significant hike up, potential investors may decide against sending foreign crews to the nation and establishing offices on the island..
Nevertheless the island is still competitive in a variety of ways. The laws the government has implemented protect investor privacy, and investing in the country is relatively easy. Also registering a yacht or buying property there is much easier and affordable than many other states
