Unfair for persons to be punished for Labour Dept’s inefficiencies
Labour & Immigration Minister Vincent Wheatley has argued that other government departments should not penalise work permit holders for the Labour Department‘s inefficiencies.
He made that statement during a stakeholders meeting held recently to address labour concerns being faced by employers and work permit holders in the territory.
Persons have complained bitterly that their work permit applications and renewals have been held up for months at a time at the Labour Department with no clear indication of when they will be processed.
That in mind, one resident complained that while employees are waiting for the Labour Department to process their work permits, their immigration time has been expiring.
Furthermore, the employees are faced with additional expenses in having to pay for Immigration extensions during this time.
“With the delays in processing, employees are getting [extended] time from [the] Immigration [Department] but it is expiring before approvals. Can anything be done to avoid the employee keep having to pay for time, or [having to] sit several times in Immigration?” the resident asked.
The person added that they were recently able to get a work permit approved at the Labour Department, but said the first available appointment date with the department would have been after the employee’s extended Immigration time had expired.
The resident explained that this resulted in a lost appointment at the Labour Department and further delays to the process since work permits are not usually processed if persons do not have valid Immigration time.
“I don’t see how you could necessarily punish somebody for that,” Minister Wheatley said in response.
He added: “I would find that to be a bit unfair to someone; that while they’re waiting for one thing for the same government, they’re being punished by the other department because of efficiencies in the system.”
Minister Wheatley said he would consult with Chief Immigration Officer, Ian Penn, to determine how the Immigration Act deals with such situations.
Penn unwilling to grant six-month extensions
Penn, meanwhile, said the Immigration Department sometimes grants extensions up to six weeks or even two months at times for work permit applicants.
He also said that it was concerning that persons sometimes have to be granted renewals for as much as six months.
“I am not willing to give somebody as much as six months or even more so that they can just wait on a permit from the Labour [Department] because if you look to give somebody so much time to be here in the territory legally, some persons could still forget to know that they still have to go to Labour,” Penn said.
He also noted that granting six-month extensions did not guarantee that work permits would be completed within that timeframe either.
Meanwhile, Acting Labour Commissioner Michelle McLean suggested that she normally facilitates persons who face this dilemma.
“I would normally call [the] Immigration [Department] and once they give the OK for the person to go ahead and collect, we will normally go through the process and then they will go over to Immigration and they will deal with them,” McLean said.
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It is intentional and nobody cares. Sometimes they handle you worst than pigs, just for asking a question. The culture is embedded and needs to be gone. The economy is being held hostage for no justifiable reason. And guess what if certain of their supporters want their permits processed, I bet they are done right away.
He is the minister of Labour AND Immigration so be a leader and resolve this problem NOW, no consulting, no backpedaling, no legal excuses, no topic twisting JUST fix it.
We dont need to give out work permits in order to jump start this economy…This is hogwash…
Shut your bs, I have seen businesses that use to function with over 30 employees done to five because they cant find anyone to work and they have to turn people away. So shut your a**. The tourist industry is suffering, mean less money to put back unto the economy.
“I am not willing to give somebody as much as six months or even more so that they can just wait on a permit from the Labour [Department] because if you look to give somebody so much time to be here in the territory legally, some persons could still forget to know that they still have to go to Labour,” Penn said.
Did he say that? Ok, so how would that same person remember to get their permit renewed after a year? Just don’t bother with any work permits and thereby remove the risk of people forgetting, and watch the country fail….
These two independently or jointly are the worst non-functional department in government and each year they worsen.
They need real leadership because these vessels taking in water and rapidly sinking even on dry dock. Every time the heads open their mouths all sorts of shells, boots, hooks, tires — utter rubbish.
I though it would be easier to process the application and approve it or deny it than to call immigration and then walk them over. The way they are talking you would think it is big engineering project that you have to conceptualize, design, test make adjustment an then finalize design plans and drawings.
Yes I have faced the same situation and had to leave ,because my permit expired 4 months,did everthing they asked,got 2 extentions and still was no movement…every month they changed the rules and some of the employers didnt care,you still was working illegally. BVI needs to adopt the other territories like Bermuda system,make the employers handle the work permits in immigration,you dont even have to go immigration and it illiminates people working illegally .Also the black ugly girl in immgration that does cashier duties is very rude and disrespectful to customers..BVI is way behind and the Caribbean people there accept their bs..so act like they aint come from no place..we let the US dollar confused and control us ..facts !!!!
This is done intentional mr wheatley said recently that he as no apology for holding an to work permit now he behave as if he don’t know what is going an i know people who apply for work permit since last year and never get it and the person have to leave because of emergency buy his ticket take it to them that when they grant the man the work permit and guess what he as to pay for the one he did not get last year ,god is watching b.v.i
Mr:Minister,
The cruise ships industry are struggling because they can’t even afford to pay for fuel, because of your ignorance we cant catch ourselves this season, we might not have a season next year, you blaming the head of Labor and immigration, you started this crap. You know some jobs local not going to do it. Period!! You continue to go on with this for months now. Our business is suffering because of you. Can’t wait for you to be gone, we need someone qualified to get this job and run that department.
This is done intentional mr wheatley said recently that he as no apology for holding an to work permit now he behave as if he don’t know what is going an i know people who apply for work permit since last year and never get it and the person have to leave because of emergency buy his ticket take it to them that when they grant the man the work permit and guess what he as to pay for the one he did not get last year ,god is watching b.v.i