Cayman Immigration Law Changes Will Take Effect on 1 May 2026

On Friday, 27 March 2026, the Government announced that the “Immigration Law changes will take effect on Friday, 1 May 2026”.  It appears that the Act which was passed in December 2025 and amended, prior to coming into force on 25 March 2026, will be the Law of the Cayman Islands as of 1 May 2026. It appears that all the amended sections will come into force on 1 May 2026. This means that it is likely that a further set of Regulations will have to be published between now and 1 May 2026. These Regulations are needed to prescribe in what circumstances a work permit holder can change employer during the first two years of Employment. The new Section 64 of the Act which comes into force on 1 May 2026 sets out that only those work permit holders who satisfy the prescribed circumstances will be able to change employers during the first two years of employment. In the absence of prescribed circumstances, a work permit holder who leaves their employment during the first two years of employment will have to leave the Cayman Islands for a year if they wish to obtain a new work permit.

The absence of Regulations, means that as of 1 May 2026, work permit holders may be subject to the full effect of Section 64 and the mandatory departure requirement, while being unable in any meaningful way to access the exemption regime intended to mitigate its harshness. In effect, subsection (4)–(5) risks being rendered temporarily inoperable, as these were the subsections which provided the exemption from the requirement to leave the Cayman Islands and which the prescription would relate. This raises not only issues of fairness and proportionality, but also legal uncertainty for both employees and employers, who are left without clear guidance as to how applications will be assessed in the interim. Unless and until the relevant regulations are introduced, the new Section 64 may operate in a manner that is more rigid than the legislature may have intended.

Despite the need for Regulations in regard to Section 64, it is not clear why these Regulations are yet to be published. The Government have published new Regulations in respect to Fees in 2026, but not substantive Regulations in regards to this section 64.  Why this is, is not clear but it is hoped that Regulations will be published. Since the Immigration (Transition) (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2025 was passed last year, the issue of Section 64 and the uncertainty surrounding it, has been the area in which the most advice has been provided to clients. The fact we are now a month a way from this law coming into force and are none the wiser is neither fair nor appropriate to employees or employers.