Government back-pedalling on PRC proposals
In a ZBM interview last week, the Minister responsible for Immigration, Jason Hayward, indicated that plans to roll out more flexible PRC options may be put on hold. I include below a link to the video recording, the segment starts at the 2m 30s mark, and I also include some comments of my own on what they might be proposing in the future, particularly a community involvement component.
The Minister in April had said that the Government was still committed to the proposals, but is now saying there has been feedback that Government needs to focus on protecting Bermudian jobs rather than providing further PRC pathways. He says the PRC pathways are not being abandoned, but are no longer a priority and may be considered at a later stage.
In response to questions from the interviewer, the Minister said that community involvement may end up being a factor in the consideration of PRC applications in future. This is worth bearing in mind for people who do not currently qualify for PRC, that a history of community involvement might go in your favour in the future. I emphasise the might, because there is no firm indication that anything will ever come of this suggestion. Such suggestions have been made before but come to nothing.
Furthermore, there are a few considerations as to how a community involvement component might work. It is very hard to speculate on what sort or level of community involvement would be viewed favourably. It is probably fair to say that involvement with a church or registered charity would be more likely to be recognised than informal efforts. It is also unclear how deeds would be viewed compared with donations, and what level of deeds or donations might receive positive recognition. If involvement is the metric, then I would expect deeds to be preferred to mere donations of cash, whatever the amount. It might also be that an applicant would be expected to find Bermudians who attest to a person's community involvement, so this is also worth bearing in mind.
Overall, there are sound objections to introducing a community involvement component. It introduces an element that is susceptible to bias or arbitrariness in deciding who has sufficient involvement. It would also increase the workload to process each application. Overall, I am sceptical as to whether this would come into effect, but is something to bear in mind. It is up to individuals as to whether they take this into account now in terms of their activities in Bermuda.
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