The government is tightening the administrative requirements and legal protocols governing work permit applications to ensure that citizens are granted first preference for domestic employment opportunities.
Government Tighten Work Permit
Speaking at the post-cabinet media briefing yesterday, Director General for Communications Maurice Merchant detailed the administration’s growing concerns regarding current labor market trends, specifically the ongoing importation of foreign labor for positions that could be filled locally.
“Cabinet notes every week that there are some areas within the business sector that requests are being made for the importation of labour for certain types of jobs,” Merchant said. “And Cabinet feels that there is something drastically wrong with that process because they believe that locals can assume those positions. And so why are certain labourers being imported? Why are nannies being imported? Why cooks are being imported and so forth?”
To address these gaps, the executive branch has mandated that the Labour Department and the One Stop Employment Centre (OSEC) implement stricter transparency controls. Moving forward, employers seeking work permits will be legally required to provide verifiable evidence that vacancies were extensively advertised across multiple independent platforms, including local print, digital news outlets, and state media.
Furthermore, the government announced an immediate policy shift regarding the physical location of applicants. Merchant added that the practice of individuals traveling to Antigua to apply for a work permit while already on island will no longer be permitted.
“Another issue surrounding the whole work permit issue is that Cabinet noted that new applications are being made by individuals who are already on Antigua. And that should not be the case,” Merchant explained. “The Labor Department, the Immigration Department, the policies governing the granting of work permits will be strengthened in that regard to ensure that you apply from overseas.”
Under the updated framework, permit approvals will strictly depend on the Labour Department verifying that a position cannot be filled internally after exhaustive local recruitment. The Labour Department has also been directed to expand its own digital platforms and utilize social media distribution channels to ensure that job openings are made visible to the widest possible domestic audience.
