A report on immigration reform has been handed over to Walton Brown, the Minister of Home Affairs, after more than 18 months of deliberations by an independent working group.

Mr Brown said he hoped to table legislation as early as February after reviewing the group's findings — although he conceded that might be “optimistic”.

The team, led by chairman William Madeiros, examined the case of mixed status families, permanent resident's certificates, and Bermuda status.

The group was formed as a result of the immigration reform protests which brought Bermuda to a standstill in March 2016.

Mr Brown pledged swift movement on the group's findings.

“We will not allow the report to lay around without action as soon as we possibly can,” Mr Brown said.

Mr Madeiros said that “the people of Bermuda can take comfort knowing that the contents of this report enjoyed the full consensus support of our group, without dispute”.

It was prepared with “collaboration, soul searching, and most importantly, open consultation with all the people of Bermuda”, he added, noting that immigration was “one of the single most challenging topics that any country can deal with”.

The media will be provided with copies of the report after 24 hours, the chairman added.