Understanding the Appeals Process

Which Decisions Can be Appealed?

The following decisions made by the Director or any other officer of WORC holding office under section 8 of the Immigration (Transition) Act (2022 Revision) ("the Law"), [this includes the Director’s designates, including Compliance Officers], respectively, can be appealed to the Work Permit Board within 7 days of receiving the decision:

Refusal or revocation of a Temporary Work Permit

NOTE: If a Temporary Work Permit is for Cayman Brac or Little Cayman, the appeal must be heard by the Cayman Brac and Little Cayman Board:

The following decisions made by an officer, can be appealed to the Caymanian Status and

Permanent Residency Board, within 7 days of receiving the decision:

Refusal of a Residency Certificate for Persons of Independent Means,

Refusal of a Certificate of Direct Investment,

Refusal of a Residency Certificate (Substantial Business Presence)

Refusal of a Certificate of Permanent Residence for Persons of Independent Means

 Decisions made under the following Sections of the Law, by the Director of WORC, the Director’s designate, or one of the Boards, can be appealed within 28 days to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal:

Section 37 - Permanent Residence based on Legal and Ordinary Residence

Section 49 - Specialist Caregiver or

Section 56(5) - Director’s decision on the grant or renewal of a work permit; the grant of a work permit under section 66(10); and an amendment to a work permit

 

Steps in the Appeal Process where WORC is the Appellate Body

It is important to note that the following steps apply only to Appeals submitted to WORC (not the Immigration Appeals Tribunal, which is a separate process)

1. Submit Notice of Appeal along with non-refundable CI$100.00 filing fee and a copy of the decision letter.

NOTE: A Notice of Appeal is simply a cover letter notifying the Department of the Appellant's intention to appeal the decision in question

2. The Appeals section receives the notice and drafts an Appeal Statement, which sets out in detail the reasons for the decision that was made and the decision-maker then reviews and signs the Appeal Statement

3. The Appeal Bundle is sent to the Appellant, giving the Appellant fourteen (14) days to provide Detailed Grounds of Appeal ("GoA")

4. Within 14 days of receiving the Appeal Bundle, the Appellant submits GoA to the Appeals/FOI Coordinator by email. The GoA must state that the Appeal is based on any of the following grounds and should provide an explanation as to how/why the Appellant believes any of these grounds apply:

• Erroneous in law
• Unreasonable
• At Variance with the Regulations
• Contrary to the Rules of Natural Justice

[More than one of the above can be used]

5. The Appeals Coordinator forwards the Appeal to the Secretariat of the relevant Board to be scheduled to go before the Board

6. When the matter is before the Board for consideration, if the Board determines that grounds of appeal have been established the appeal will move forward for a hearing. This means that the Board, will review the original application and the Appellant or decision maker can submit new information at that time, should the Board request it

7. The Board will then decide to allow or dismiss the

application and a notification letter will be sent to the Appellant by email from the Secretariat

8. Where the appeal of the decision of a Temporary Work Permit has been allowed, a work permit licence is issued and sent out by way of email to the employer

9. If the Board finds that the Appellant has failed to establish grounds of appeal, the Appeal will not move to a hearing stage and will be quashed (disqualified). A notification letter will then be sent out to the Appellant from the Secretariat

 

General Information

Appeals being submitted out of time (after 7 days from decision notification) will not be accepted by the Department or reviewed.

A request to extend the time to submit Detailed Grounds of Appeal must be addressed to the Chairman of the requisite Board for review, and can be emailed to the Secretary of the relevant Board or to the Appeals/FOI Coordinator.

For details on steps of the process for appeals of all other decisions, you may wish to contact the Immigration Appeals Tribunal at IAT@gov.ky.