(CMR) Deputy Governor Hon. Franz Manderson is urging Caymanians to stop entering marriages of convenience, stating that criminals have found that the easiest way to stay in the Cayman Islands is by getting married or having children.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, 12 December, DG Manderson explained that his office does checks before decisions on naturalizations are made, and what they have found is shocking.
“We simply call both the spouses at the same time and ask them a series of the same questions,” he explained, noting that if there is reason to believe the marriage is not legit or there has been a breakdown, the matter is referred to WORC for further investigation.
Manderson said, “It's getting worse in terms of what we are seeing in terms of marriages of convenience. We have a case that we are looking at a couple of months ago where we called the Caymanian man who could not tell us the name of his wife. How did we get here?”
DG Manderson said while Caymanians complain of foreigners taking away things from them, this is not the case.
“That's not the case with this; we are giving it away. We are selling it. We have had cases where people say ‘I felt sorry for this person, so I marry them',” he added.
“Ask the RCIPS right now. Some of our most dangerous criminals are people that are married to Caymanians. How did this happen? Who are we going to blame for this?” the Deputy Governor asked.
“Caymanians need to step up and say my birthright is precious, I am not going to sell it to no one…I am going to safeguard my country's reputation,” he continued.
He pointed out that when people become naturalized, they hold Caymanian passports and have the reputation of the Cayman Islands in their hands.
Manderson stated that the government should not have to pass legislation for this as laws will make it harder for those in genuine relationships.
Manderson said for this year, there have been 930 applications for naturalization, 470 by residents, 201 by registration (usually children born in the Cayman Islands), and 259 through marriages.
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