Immigration officials yesterday denied reports that the international business community are frustrated with the processing of work permits and that there are deep concerns over impending work permit term limits.

Responding to a story in The Royal Gazette on Saturday, Rozy Azhar, an immigration official, issued a statement from the Ministry of Labour, Home Affairs & Public Safety which said: "We have spoken to prominent members in the international community who we regularly meet with and they are as surprised as we are by this story."

Minister Terry Lister and senior advisors from the Immigration department meet on a quarterly basis with an informal committee representing international business. It is headed by Jan Spiering, the chairman of the International Business Forum and also includes representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, the Insurance Advisory Committee, Bermuda International Business Association and the Association of Bermuda International Companies.

A member of this immigration committee, who requested anonymity, said that the Ministry should not be surprised as they had been made aware of dissatisfaction with current work permit processing delays as well as concerns about the impending work permit term limits.

"We have serious concerns about what it will be like to operate under this policy... We've definitely made it clear that our competitors outside the jurisdiction will use this work permit term limit as a marketing tool against us."

The immigration committee member said that international business leaders understand Government's objectives in introducing term limits and do not take issue with the reasons behind the policy, but they have concerns about how the policy will be implemented.

A major concern raised by the immigration committee was a lack of clarity regarding how many staff members may be designated as "key" workers. Work permit term limits do not apply to key employees. Immigration officials declined to confirm yesterday whether there is a limit to the number of staff which may be designated key.

"We have had less than five applications which have asked specifically for the waiver of term limits. We have been told that many businesses are taking a wait-and-see approach to this whole issue. In most of these applications, companies have erred on the side of caution and have identified the majority of their work permit holders as key."

The work permit policy paper of April 2001 states that "key persons can be found at all levels and in all areas of a business and are to be found not only among chief executive officers, chief financial officers and other senior managers.

They can be technical, professional, clerical or service as well as managerial staff. It is up to the employer to make the case to the Minister that a particular individual or post is key to the organisation."

Immigration officials yesterday clarified that term limits will not apply to certain job categories where there is a severe shortage of such persons worldwide. But such categories have not yet been defined.

The work permit policy is silent on the issue of whether there is a limit to the number of applications that a company may make. According to legal sources, this would normally indicate that there is no limit, but chief immigration officer Dr. Martin Brewer indicated on Friday that the Minister does not expect high numbers of key staff in each company. The Minister has also given this impression during meetings with the immigration committee.

Yesterday Immigration officials stated: "While companies would assert that they want to hold on to as many of their staff as they can, the reality is that the reverse is actually the norm, even without imposing work permit term limits.

"Statistics from past Censuses and other employment surveys indicate that by the fifth year, 50 percent of all work permit holders that first came to Bermuda five years before, leave the island; and by the 10th year, an overall 75 percent of the same group .

"Over the last couple of years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, international businesses have regularly lost staff to other local companies, to start-up companies or they leave the island.

"We are aware of, at least, one large insurance company who has lost, on more than one occasion, almost a whole department to other local insurance companies. This company allowed their staff, including senior staff, to leave with only one-month's notice and willingly gave them letters of release to seek other employment.

"This practice makes a nonsense of the argument that such persons would be considered key to the survival of that company."