Immigration clamps down on unjustified permit applications

With Barbados experiencing a construction boom, the Immigration Department is tightening scrutiny of work permit applications to ensure employers are not bypassing qualified Barbadians.

Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams said the department is working with the Ministry of Labour to rationalise the demand for foreign labour and confirm what skills are actually needed in the construction sector.

“There’s a construction boom going on so a lot of work permits are in the construction sector. We’re working with the Ministry of Labour to rationalise that and to verify what skills are actually necessary in Barbados, what shortages of skills there are in the construction sector and what applications can be properly considered,” Abrahams said.

He recalled that under the Ministry of Labour’s new jobs and skills registry, Barbadians with specific skills are encouraged to register their training and qualifications.

“If you are a trained mason, carpenter or a steel bender, you can register your skill and your qualifications and somebody who is looking to hire somebody with that skill set can go on that registry and check as well,” he said.

“So even where you’re going to be applying for a work permit for somebody, it’s incumbent upon the employer to check through that skills registry, because they’re going to have to justify to the Immigration Department that they found nobody in our registry who fits the bill.”

Abrahams said large players in the construction sector have been informed of the policy and warned against frivolous applications.

“We had a meeting with a number of the large players in the construction sector who have applied for work permits, and we’ve told them not to even bother to send in a work permit application for office assistant,” he said, noting that in limited cases, such as where there is a need for someone with a specific language or cultural skillset, exceptions may be made.

“Sometimes because of the contract, you’ll see a lot of Chinese working on Chinese projects, so you may require a HR person, somebody who speaks Mandarin or who speaks Chinese,” Abrahams said.

“[Other than that], we have a highly trained workforce in Barbados…. You have plenty of human resource personnel in Barbados.”

Where a skill is certified by the Labour Department as being in short supply, applications may be considered, but employers must demonstrate that they have exhausted the registry first.

“You are going to have to satisfy the Immigration Department that you exhausted persons on the list. We want to see who responded to your application. We want to see the notes of your application, why these persons were not considered, before we actually grant you a work permit,” he stressed.

The minister also addressed confusion caused by newspaper ads placed as part of the work permit process.

“I want to assure Barbadians who see the ads in the paper that a person is applying for a work permit that is part of the process. The person has to do that. That does not mean that the work permit has been preapproved. It does not mean it will be approved. They have to complete that process before they can actually be considered for the work permit,” he said.

The home affairs minister further explained that the Immigration Department uses a checklist to assess such applications and he invited members of the public to report questionable postings.

“There is no shortage of office assistants and tree climbers in Barbados. So if it doesn’t make sense to you, chances are it is not making sense for the Immigration Department,” he said.

“And as I said, there are avenues to [make a] report. All those applications come with contact information for the Immigration Department. If you have an objection to it… log it in.” 

shannamoore@barbadostoday.bb