4.02 Criteria for Working Resident's Certificate Holders The current policies associated with the interim Working Resident's Certificate require that a successful applicant: must not be the spouse of a Bermudian; by 1 August 1998, must have been resident in Bermuda continuously for 20 years; must have worked for 15 years in aggregate during those 20 or more years; provided the work was: full-time; and in the Bermuda work force.

There have been 551 applications for Working Resident's Certificates, to date, from non-Bermudians who have lived in Bermuda for over twenty years and worked for at least fifteen of those years. It is estimated that there are approximately 1,400 people who potentially could be eligible for some form of permanent residency based on the 1991 Census figures. Unfortunately, we do not have a complete statistical profile of all those persons. However, as part of Census 2000, the Government is in the process of conducting a most comprehensive compilation of data. Although we do not yet have the results of the findings of Census 2000, we have compiled statistics based on the applications received for Working Resident's Certificates. These data provide a detailed sampling of the non-resident employment profile and are helpful for any credible analysis in discussing possible options regarding the long-term resident issue.

Of all 551 applicants, 447 have been granted Working Resident's Certificates to date and 91 have had their applications refused. One application was withdrawn and the remaining 12 are being processed.

Please note the tables below. The statistics provide invaluable empirical data which have been useful as corroborative evidence for the recommended options.

4.03 Analysis of Data: Working Resident's Certificate ("WRC'') Applications The first two tables below indicate the percentage of WRC applications by reference to: (Table 1) the age of the applicants; and (Table 2) the number of years the applicants have resided in Bermuda.

Table 1 sets out the percentage of WRC applicants whose ages fall in certain age groupings: Age Range in Years No.

% 40 16 2.90 40-49 107 19.42 50-59 296 53.72 60-69 102 18.51 70 30 5.44 Total 551 99.99 Table 2 sets out the numbers and percentages of WRC applicants who have lived in Bermuda a certain number of years.

Years in Residence No.

% 20-30 445 80.76 31-40 98 17.78 40 8 1.45 Total 551 99.99 Table 3 sets out the numbers and percentages of WRC applicants working in various occupations, which are reported at the Minor Group level of the Bermuda.

Standard Classification of Occupations.

Note: "N.E.C.'' means "Not Elsewhere Classified'' Table 3 -- Occupation Group Code Description No.

% 0/1 Professional & Technical Workers 110 19.96 02/03 Architects/Engineers 13 2.36 05 Life Scientists 1 0.18 06/07 Medical, Dental, Veterinary 18 3.27 11 Accountants 15 2.72 13 Teachers 35 6.35 15 Authors & Journalists 3 0.54 16 Sculptors, Painters, etc. 3 0.54 17 Composers & Performing Artists 9 1.63 19 Professional, Technical Workers N.E.C. 13 2.36 2 Administrative & Managerial 109 19.78 20 Legislative/Govt. Administrative Staff 1 0.18 21 Managers 108 19.60 3 Clerical & Related Workers 41 7.44 31 Government Executive Officials 1 0.18 32 Secretaries, Typists, etc. 26 4.72 33 Bookkeepers, Cashiers, etc. 9 1.63 39 Clerical & Related Workers N.E.C. 5 0.91 4 Sales Workers 16 2.90 42 Sales Supervisors & Buyers 1 0.18 44 Insurance, Real Estate, etc., Sales 6 1.09 45 Salesmen & Shop Assistants 9 1.63 5 Service Workers 143 25.95 52 Housekeeping Supervisors 25 4.54 53 Cooks, Waiters, Bartenders 52 9.44 54 Maids & Related Service Workers 2 0.36 55 Caretakers, Charworkers, Cleaners 34 6.17 56 Launderers, Drycleaners, Pressers 1 0.18 57 Hairdressers, Barbers, Beauticians 3 0.54 58 Protective service workers 25 4.54 59 Service Workers N.E.C. 1 0.18 6 Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, etc. 64 11.62 62 Agricultural, etc., workers 64 11.62 7.8.9 Production, Transport Equipment 68 12.34 Operators & Labourers 70 Production Supervisors/General Foremen 3 0.54 77 Food & Beverage Processors 1 0.18 79 Tailors, Dressmakers, Sewers, etc. 7 1.27 82 Stone Cutters & Carvers 1 0.18 83 Blacksmiths, Toolmakers, Operators 1 0.18 84 Mechanics, Fitters etc. 11 2.00 85 Electrical Fitters & Related Workers 2 0.36 88 Jewellery/Precious Metal Workers 5 0.91 94 Production & Related Workers N.E.C. 1 0.18 95 Construction Workers etc. 22 3.99 96 Stationary Engine & Related Operators 2 0.36 98 Transport Equipment Operators 2 0.36 99 Labourers, N.E.C. 10 1.81 Table 4 showing the numbers and percentages of WRC applicants by their country of origin.

Country of Origin No.

% United Kingdom 208 37.75 Azores 151 27.40 Jamaica 44 7.98 United States 38 6.90 Italy 14 2.54 Barbados 12 2.18 Canada 12 2.18 Germany 11 2.00 Other Caribbean 26 4.72 Other European 23 4.17 South America 6 1.09 Philippines 4 0.73 Other Far East 2 0.36 Total 551 100 POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS 5.01 Bermudian Status Option: Relax the Bermudian status law for the benefit of people who arrived in Bermuda before 1 August 1989 This represents the maximum possible concession that the Government would ever entertain. People who arrived in Bermuda after July 31, 1989 did so without any possible expectation of acquiring Bermudian status based on length of residence in Bermuda.

The Government is not prepared to relax the Bermudian status law to allow all those who arrived in Bermuda, before 1 August 1989, to obtain Bermudian status. However, the Government recognises that these persons had some expectation that they might possibly obtain Bermudian status eventually. The Government is therefore prepared to consider granting them security of employment and residence in Bermuda once such a person has fulfilled the requirements for the grant of a Permanent Resident's Certificate (Please see section 5.03.02 below).

Option: Relax the Bermudian status law for the benefit of existing long-term residents The Government is of a mind that long-term residents should not be granted Bermudian status until the full impact of their presence, as a group, on the country is known. The strict limits on the grant of Bermudian status will be maintained with a view to all citizenship issues being resolved when Bermuda ultimately decides its future constitutional position. Currently the grant of Bermudian status is limited, with a few exceptions, to the spouses and children of Bermudians.

Option: Allow some relaxation of the Bermudian status law to permit non-Bermudians, who are already on the Parliamentary Election Register, to qualify for Bermudian status Having stated the Government's thinking on this subject, there is one sub-group of long-term residents to whom the community may wish to consider granting Bermudian status. These are Commonwealth citizens who were already on the Parliamentary Electoral Register on 1 May 1976. They number about 300.

These persons have, since before that date, voted in General Elections. Many of them already possess the interim version of the Working Resident's Certificate. The rest would certainly qualify if the criteria for the Permanent Resident's Certificate were to be adopted along the lines of some of the options given below.

The non-Bermudian, Commonwealth voters have, or are soon likely to have, all the privileges of a Bermudian except the ability to own any but the most expensive property in Bermuda. The community may want to debate whether these persons should be granted Bermudian status.

5.02 Applicability of the US `Green Card' Model to Bermuda Option: : Introduce a Permanent Residency status similar to the US `green card' for special cases One option is to introduce a similar Legal Permanent Resident status 'green card' for long-term residents. The US system is very restrictive. The applicants are very closely screened for eligibility by reason of close family ties or exceptional employment potential. This is also consistent with proposals in Bermuda to have closer scrutiny on the relationship between parties prior to marriage, to rebut any inference that these are marriages of convenience. Such a system could be applicable to say parents of Bermudians or heads of companies that bring exceptional wealth to Bermuda. Any variant of the `green card' option would certainly not lead to Bermudian status nor would it confer voting rights or permit unrestricted access to land in Bermuda.

The strict `green card' or Legal Permanent Resident model would probably be inappropriate for the majority of long-term residents because of the future extra strain on Bermuda's infrastructure. If applied in a similar way to the US `green card', the end result would be the granting of Bermudian status to `green card' holders after a number of years.

5.03 Permanent Resident's Certificate The interim Working Resident's Certificate will be replaced by a Permanent Resident's Certificate, holders of which are referred to below as Permanent Residents. Possible options are set out below which could be included in the eligibility requirements for the Permanent Resident's Certificate. These options are discussed in the light of issues highlighted by the applicants for the interim Working Resident's Certificate.

5.03.01 The Spouse of a Bermudian There were 8 (1.5 percent) of the applicants for Working Resident's Certificates who were spouses of Bermudians. They were refused because they were accruing superior rights towards the eventual grant of Bermudian status.

Option: Allow the spouse of a Bermudian to obtain a Permanent Resident's Certificate if he or she qualifies in his or her own right.

In retrospect there is no good reason to prevent the spouse of a Bermudian from acquiring a Permanent Resident's Certificate. A person who qualifies in his or her own right should be allowed to acquire the privilege whether or not he or she is qualifying for other, unrelated privileges.

It may be that in some cases the non-Bermudian spouse is seeking to escape from a bad relationship with his or her Bermudian spouse but is reluctant to do so because of the loss of the privileges that that status brings. The ability to acquire a Permanent Resident's Certificate before going through with a separation or divorce could help to bring about a resolution of the problems for the entire family.

5.03.02 Qualifying Date Three (0.5%) applicants for the Working Resident's Certificate happened not to be ordinarily resident in Bermuda on 1 August 1978, twenty years before the arbitrary qualifying date of 1 August 1998.

Option: Allow anyone who arrived in Bermuda before 1 August 1989 to qualify for a Permanent Resident's Certificate once he or she fulfils the remaining conditions.

The interim policy has an arbitrary qualifying date of 1 August 1998. The key date that should not be lost sight of is 1 August 1989. This is the date on which the discretionary grant of Bermudian status was finally abolished. Any person entering Bermuda to work or reside on or after that date has known from the beginning that he or she should not expect any privileges by reason of long-term residence alone. Accordingly, there was no legitimate expectation for anyone who came to Bermuda after 31 July 1989 to believe that they would be granted Bermudian status.

On the other hand, it may be necessary to act with good faith towards all those who arrived in Bermuda before 1 August 1989 and had some expectation of being granted Bermudian status eventually. It can be argued that such persons should be allowed to qualify for a Permanent Resident's Certificate eventually.

5.03.04 15 years in the Bermuda Work Force Twenty-eight (5%) of 551 applications for the Working Resident's Certificate were refused because they did not meet the full-time employment criterion.

Spouses, mostly wives, of Working Resident's Certificate holders feel particularly aggrieved by refusal of their applications on these grounds. They argue that maintaining a home for their family should be recognised as being of as much value to the community as being in full-time employment. The size of the problem is illustrated by the figures that show that of the 447 Working Resident's Certificate holders, 269 (60%) of them have a spouse who does not qualify in his or her own right, or has not applied, for a Working Resident's Certificate.

A further 18 (3.25%) of the applicants were refused because they had only worked part-time. Another 11 (2%) of the applicants were refused because they worked on one or other of the military bases and therefore were outside Bermuda immigration control.

Option: : Replace the requirement to have worked in Bermuda for a certain number of years with a minimum age of 40 years for eligibility It is desirable to restrict the Permanent Resident's Certificate to those persons who have been economically and socially active in the economy for a significant portion of their lives. There would no longer be any requirement for the applicant to have worked for a certain minimum period but rather that the applicant be over the age of forty years in order to be eligible to apply for the Permanent Resident's Certificate. A person who came to Bermuda at the age of seven ought not to expect to obtain the privilege of competing on an even footing with Bermudians from the age of 27 years.

One can see from the tables in Chapter 4 that almost 97 percent of successful applicants were over the age of 40 years when they qualified for the interim certificate.

A change in policy to abolish the requirement to have worked for a number of years and to replace it with the requirement that the applicant must be at least 40 years old to qualify, would solve the problem for a person who: worked full-time in Bermuda but for less than 15 years in aggregate; worked part-time in Bermuda; No caption