The Committee for Home Affairs has agreed that, with immediate effect, short-term employment permit (STEP) holders reaching their three-year cap can apply for a nine-month extension. It will be available to those who reached, or will reach, the cap between April 2026 and the end of December 2027.
The committee said the move would give employers more flexibility while it carried out a wider review of the island’s population policy, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year. The timeframe also aligns with efforts to stabilise the Population Management Office during 2027 and bring greater certainty to permit processing times.
In recent weeks the committee had explored extending STEPS from three years to a full four years, but concluded that doing so would increase the risk of ‘short-term’ permit holders becoming eligible for settlement through length of residency or on human rights grounds.
After feedback from industry – and recognising that processing backlogs had hampered businesses’ ability to plan ahead – it settled on the additional nine months instead.
The change builds on a shorter extension introduced earlier this year, which allowed STEP holders to remain until January 2027. The committee said 60 permits were currently benefitting from that extension, with a further 19 pending. These 79 permits were due to expire at the end of January, but some will now be eligible for the longer extension.
‘I’m very sympathetic to the challenges facing employers, particularly in sectors like tourism and hospitality which are seeing excellent growth in visitor numbers but are struggling to secure enough staff to meet the demand,’ said Home Affairs president Deputy Marc Leadbeater.
He said business feedback had shaped the policy, but stressed the limits of the committee.
‘Committee remains of the view that a four-year permit represents an immigration red line,’ he said. The wider review, which he called for earlier this year, would look at how to improve the system while ‘balancing business need, community expectations and immigration responsibilities’.
You need to be logged in to comment.