Cayman lifts visa requirements for some Jamaicans

The Cayman Islands government says it will now allow children and elderly Jamaican nationals to enter the British Overseas Territory without a visa.

Cabinet has approved the amendment to the immigration regulations to allow for Jamaican nationals under 15 years of age or older than 70, to be exempted from having to obtain the official travel pass ahead of arrival in the Cayman Islands.

Government officials said that the required notice of the change had been given to airlines, the Cayman Islands Department of Immigration's Visa Office in Kingston and to the International Air Transport Association.

Governor Duncan Taylor had earlier refused a move by Premier McKeeva Bush to lift the visa requirement for all Jamaicans who already had United Kingdom (UK) or United States visas.

Bush said that the issue underscores the fact that the elected government had no power over the governor on issues of national security.

But Taylor said he had taken advice from the UK on the issue and while most Jamaicans were law abiding citizens, the visa restriction had ensured that the few that were not did not get access to the Cayman Islands.

Taylor said that the introduction of the visa requirement in 2005 led to a direct and significant reduction in the involvement of Jamaicans in crime locally.