While you and your spouse may have the right to live and work here in the Cayman Islands, this may not be the case for your new baby. What do you need to do to ensure your new baby is compliant?

The Situation

Do this sound like your situation? “My spouse and I live and work in the Cayman Islands on work permits. We’ve been here three years and have just had a beautiful bouncing baby boy. His birth certificate states he was born in Cayman, so no Immigration worries, right?”

While we wish it were this simple, we must tell you “No.” While you and your spouse may have the requisite documentation to work and reside here in the Cayman Islands, this is not the case with your newborn. It may be quite a shock to many work permit holders to discover that their newborn does not have immigration status simply through birth.

Getting Your New Baby Regularized

If you have recently expanded your family, you must go to the Cayman Islands Custom and Border Control Department with a copy of your baby’s birth certificate.

The Officer at the “Extension Counter” will land and condition your child accordingly and give ample authorization for the amendment to be reviewed. You will be provided with an Embarkation / Disembarkation card as a substitute for a travel document that will be endorsed until the same has been obtained

This process of regularization is quite a formality, but until you have completed the process, your child has not been legally landed in the Cayman Islands. In other words, your newborn is considered to be living in the islands illegally.

Additionally, you will also need to have your child added to your work permit as a dependent.

Have more questions about different immigration processes in Cayman? Reach out to our immigration team at immigration@cml.ky to see if our team can assist you further.