Mary

Hi swoopy,
I don’t know a huge amount about childcare in Cayman, but try travelalkonline.com it really is a great website, there are a people who live in Cayman on there who might be able to help you.
I really don’t have the time to say anything to the people who call us “wingers� (after all this is an “expat� forum).

eurotramp

Sorry, I don't mean people who go out in the world in search for a "different" live, but all this...UK is going down and everything sooo bad here......many countries have the same problems or worse.

The UK is a nice place to live and has a lot of things to offer......

Just read this in a different forum That pretty sums it up

CaliforniaBride

Thank goodness it no longer exists.

CaliforniaBride

That question usually means you are. But then if you agree with the original poster in lamenting the loss of the days when being white and British brought you certain entitlements in other countries, then probably you are.

Numpty

I've already said that.

bobbydavro1

Nobody has mentioned Bermuda as an alternative here. OK it's not in the Caribbean, but its in a class of it's own above Cayman and those other crappy Caribbean places, practically zero poverty and crime, loads of jobs for professionals, stunningly beautiful, and its tropical hot for up to 5 months a year. I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to work away for a few years (but not long term), who may otherwise blindly make the mistake of heading to the Caribbean. I've been to Caribbean several times on business while I have been living in Bermuda and am always glad to get back to reasonable temperatures, decent infrastructure and a bit of prosperity. Maybe I've been spoiled, but to me places like Cayman are rubbish once you step out of the hotel. Go and look before you move.

JAJ

The immigration situation is pretty difficult in Bermuda. Cost of living is also high.

http://www.bermuda-online.org


Jeremy

Shish kebab

Hi swoopy91
I lived in the Grand Cayman islands for 5 years and my husband is from there. I have some advise for you on moving to the Cayman Islands. Before you pack up and go you must have a work permit each to work no visa required I am assuming you are British. For your work permit you will need to get a full medical an aids test is a must and some other medical tests. A signed affidavit from the police or judge and about 3 ref form your previous employers 2 or 3 passport pictures. It will take about 7 weeks for all of the paperwork to be processed but you should not go over until it has been approved and you will get stamped in at customs.

Your company that want to employ you should make sure that they stress your services are really needed and they can't find anyone local to fill the jobs that will help with the baby coming over.

You should make sure that your baby daughter is on a permit to come with you as they are really funny about bringing kids into the Island and even if you had a baby born there they have no rights at all even if you are British. Place of birth dose not go into effect in the Cayman Islands.

To cut the story short she would not be able to go to a public school as she is not born Caymanian to Caymanian parents so it would be private schools and they are really expensive. I worked with a woman who had a 3 year old and was on a work permit and just suddenly her babies was denied and she was told he had to be sent home and could not stay and she had one on the way. Her question was who was he to go to if he left they can't just ask you to send away a baby. She thinks there reason was he was getting close to school age so they didn't want him to stay but they appealed an won in the end. It took a while that's Cayman government for you.

There are some good Child care places and it is normally local people and Jamaicans that will look after them but I have never heard any bad reports on them My neighbour sent her dd to one with no worries. I am not sure how many are there after Hurricane Ivan hit last Sept as most of the Island was washed away and a lot of companies did not re open or have not yet. Here is a link to the Cayman Island phone books you could try and ring some of them but as I said some of the numbers may not exist the new books come out in October.
http://www.caymanislandsyp.com/

The salary your earn will be Tax free so every penny is yours. the only thing that will come out of your salary is your pension and your medical that your company have to contribute half by law. These are all mandatory and everyone has to pay them. Your pension you can clam back when you return home after 2 years if it is over $5000 cayman dollars. If it is under that you can get before you leave. you will get all the interest it has made as they should be investing it for 2 years. I don't think this has changed.

It can be expensive to live there accommodation is about $1400-$1900 US and that is min for a 2 bedroom apartment. After the hurricane there was price gouging so make sure you don't pay too much. Then there is your bills on top. Electric, Water and some places trash. The water is on a meter so if you leave the tap running it all counts as cost to your bill. Pay as you use.

Cayman Islands is a lovely place even outside of your hotel. I say this as someone in another post said it wasn't and the people are very friendly. There has been a lot of changes to the island since the hurricane hit bit it is still a great place very laid back.

I hope this will be a help to you and good luck on the job if you need anymore info I will see if I can help.

JAJ

You're correct that being born in the Caymans doesn't give Cayman status.

However since 21 May 2002, children born to British citizens in the Caymans (and every other British Overseas Territory bar one technical exception) are automatically British citizens on the same basis as they would have been if born in the UK.

Between 1 January 1983 and 20 May 2002, British Overseas Territories except the Falkland Islands were 'overseas' for British citizenship purposes. This can cause nationality issues if your child ends up British 'by descent' or perhaps not British at all if parents are British 'by descent'.


Jeremy