Many of our members have been calling for improvements in the Department of Immigration´s processing of work permits. To this end, we have been assured that they have been working fulltime with three vendors to replace their current computer systems with new technology. While they have not yet completed this initiative, they will be phasing in improvements to their systems.

We are pleased to share information on two new IT services new online services provided by the Department of Immigration for our members: an online Immigration Questionnaire Form [IQF] and the Work Permit Status System.

Rozy Azhar, Assistant Chief Immigration Officer explains:

“The online IQF is located at www.iqf.gov.bm . This form allows the employer to complete as much as he or she can on the form, save the information and then forward the form via email to his or her prospective employee. This process eliminates the need for employers to mail paper forms to their prospective employees for completion before they can start the application process, ensures that the form has been completed correctly and provides a checklist of items specific to the type of permit for which application is being made.
Although the form can be saved electronically as a PDF, it cannot be submitted electronically as yet, although it is intended that this be done in the future. Currently, the form must be printed, signed by the prospective employee and submitted with the documents identified on the checklist.

To use this form, an employer is required to enter his or her email twice and then enter the applicant´s name, date of birth, nationality and whether the applicant is married, has children or any other dependants. Once the employer has selected the type(s) of applications that he or she is making, the system then sends an email to the employer´s email address. Within the email are the application number and a URL which includes a series of characters that is unique to an employer´s application, thereby ensuring that no other person other than the recipient of the email is able to access that particular form. The form is intuitive, that is, (1) The form has two options at the bottom of each section: SAVE which the user can use to save information if he or she wants to complete the form at a later date and NEXT which validates the information in that section and will not allow the user to move to the next section until all required fields have been filled in;
(2) The employer can select one or more permit types and, as a result, the employer will be presented the sections that must be completed; (3)If all the required fields are not filled in, the form cannot be printed until the missing sections and fields are filled in; (4) the user can partially fill in a form and save the information and complete the form at a later date by selecting the URL in the email and typing in the applicable section number; (5) if the user is unsure of how to fill in the form, there is help text that a user can click on to show how the fields in question must be filled in; and (6) when the form is printed, a checklist relevant to the permit type selected will be printed with the form.

The WORK PERMIT STATUS WEBSITE allows employers to review the status of their applications online. This website provides an employer with the current status of all work permit applications in progress as well as recently completed applications. From this site, users can also send application-related email to the assigned Immigration staff member. It is important to note that for those employers who sign up to use this website, all requests from the Department of Immigration for additional information that is required to complete the application will be
communicated, only through this website, to the employer´s contact person who is handling the work permit applications. To access the Work Permit Status website, an employer will need a user account that has been approved and activated by the Department of Immigration. Employer contact persons can register for the user account service at https://www.workpermits.gov.bm/wpsignup and provide the information requested. There is one user name per employer and for the larger employers, this user name can be shared with all persons responsible for submitting and following up on work permits for that employer. If a company is responsible for more than one employer – recruitment agencies and law firms, for example – multiple employers can be linked to one user name. Once an employer has received email notification of activation, he or she will access the Login page at https://www.workpermits.gov.bm/wps . This is a secure site and a company will only have access to work permits for employers associated with his or her account. No unauthorized user will be able to see an employer´s data. As we anticipate that a number of employers will be signing up to use this website, we ask that employers allow five days between signing up and the activation of their account. This period allows the Department of Immigration to verify the identity of user andensure that the information that will be presented to the company or employer is correct.

We are certain that this website will improve our communication with your members and make the staff in the Department of Immigration more accountable to our customers. It will also identify the instances when we cannot process an application because we are waiting for additional information from the employer.

Both systems have been tested by our pilot group of companies and employers and we wish to take the opportunity to thank them for their invaluable input. They include: Ace Limited, BF&M, Bank of Bermuda, Appleby, MarketPlace, KPMG, BermudaJobs, Bank of Butterfield and Fairmont Southampton Princess. We also wish to give special recognition to KPMG ´s Judy Abraham who has been our most enthusiastic user and has always been the first to inform us when there are problems with the systems.

We shall contact your organizations in the New Year in order to set up seminars for any employers who want further training; however, we do not wish to prevent employers from taking advantage immediately of the two websites. Employers are also welcome to reference the WORK PERMIT STATUS USER GUIDE which is attached for distribution to your members.”

Kindly contact Gregory Todd, Business Systems Officer [295-5151 ext 3508; email at getodd@gov.bm] or the undersigned [295-5151 ext: 1443; email mazhar@gov.bm] should you have any questions regarding this communication.

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