Employers are being urged to start thinking now about their expatriate employees will be affected by six-year term limits that are due to kick in next April.

Letters sent to employers this week by the Department of Immigration state that expatriates whose employment began before April 1, 2001 will be required to leave the Island when their work permits expire in 2007 unless they have been granted an exemption.

While a number of job categories ? including registered nurses, chartered accountants, butchers, senior chiefs, insurance brokers, actuaries, senior underwriters and reinsurance modelling analysts ? are automatically exempted due to worldwide shortages in their professions, companies can also seek exemptions if they can prove certain employees are key to the business operation.

Companies can also gain exemptions if they are deemed to be good corporate citizens by demonstrating that they have a culture of hiring, training and promoting Bermudians in all levels of their company consistently and continuously.

The letters, signed by Assistant Chief Immigration Officer Rozy Azhar state that half of the expatriates who arrive in a given year leave within five years. Half of those remaining are still on the Island ten years later and a further half leave within 15 years.

The aim of the policy is to prevent people remaining on the Island and acquiring a ?legitimate expectation? of permanent resident status for themselves and their children, the letter says.

There are currently 8,000 non-Bermudians in the work force and they have about 4,000 dependents.