The government’s immigration reform policy will be built around maintaining the birthright of Bermudian parents and keeping families together
The long-awaited Bermuda Immigration and Protection Amendment Act, 2020 (the “Bill”) was presented in the House of Assembly on Friday and Wayne Caines, Bermuda’s Minister of National Security, began his ministerial statement with a quote from Winston Churchill as he described the Bill as the end of the beginning of immigration reform in the territory.
The minister advised that instead of the complete repeal replacement of the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act, 1956 (the “Act”), the government had decided to proceed more cautiously with a view to bipartisan input and collaboration. The government was also concerned that new legislation would have been untested in the courts which could have resulted in substantial amounts of litigation.
The Bill, which will more commonly be known as the ‘Repatriation and Mixed Status Family’ bill, seeks to address two problems: first, the difficulty Bermudians who live overseas have passing on their Bermudian status to their offspring, and second, correcting the problems created by the Act whereby in some instances members of the same family have different or no rights under the legislation due to the peculiarities of its drafting.
The Bill was drafted based on recommendations made and collated into a report presented by the Consultative Immigration Reform Working Group which had invited public consultation and oversaw 14 town hall meetings held islandwide. Input from a bipartisan parliamentary committee was also used to develop policy proposals in line with Progressive Labour Party’s election manifesto on the basis that Bermuda’s immigration policy should:
- not negatively impact Bermudians;
- be fair;
- address problems in a sustainable manner;
- not lead to the separation of families; and
- ensure that Bermudians have a place of primacy in their homeland.
Repatriation
Some of the amendments will have a prospective effect only. From the date on which the Bill comes into force, Bermudian parents or grandparents of children born overseas will not have to prove they were domiciled in Bermuda at the time of that child’s birth for the child to be eligible for Bermudian status. Going forward, such a child will automatically become Bermudian from birth. This right will extend for two generations but the change does not apply retroactively, and any child born before the legislation comes into force will still have to meet the domicile requirements as set out in the Act. The government intends to change the internal processes of the Department of Immigration in order to streamline and simplify this process to make it less onerous for applicants.
Mixed-Status Families
In terms of the mixed status family issue, the Bill will address situations that have been created due to cut-off dates being included in the current legislation. This has had the effect of bestowing on one sibling certain rights relating to citizenship and residence under the law while conferring on others none simply due to the timing of their birth. The Bill now ensures that any siblings who were previously disadvantaged under the legislation can claim either Bermudian status or permanent residency by virtue of their familial relationship.
Other deadlines in the Act have created situations where although a person had a Bermudian parent, they were precluded from applying for status because they were either too young or too old. The Bill will also correct this issue.
Devolution of Permanent Residents’ Rights
Lastly, the Bill seeks to correct an oversight which exists in the legislation whereby a person holding a permanent resident’s certificate issued under one section of the Act is able to pass this right on to their children, while persons who were granted permanent resident’s certificates under other sections are not. The Bill grants those affected by this discrepancy a two-year window of opportunity from the date on which the Bill comes into force to regularise this issue. The government will continue to work on immigration reform, including issues relating to permanent residency, during this two-year period.
Minister Caines was quick to note that the Bill, while a start, does not represent the totality of immigration reform in Bermuda. He advised that the public should expect further legislation in the near future which will deal with Bermudian status, permanent residency and belongers.
