3rd April 2017

Guernsey’s new population law comes into force

Guernsey’s new population law came into effect on 3 April 2017, one week after being voted on. The Deputies had passed it with 26 to 13 in favour of the amendment.

The new law replaced the existing housing licence scheme with a system of certificates and permits.

Residence rights

The new residence permit is issued to a householder. It applies to all members of their family who are living in the same house.

Open market resident certificates are issued to owners and tenants of open market houses. Established resident certificates, which last up to six years, allow a holder to live in a local-market or open-market house. They are issued to anyone who has held a long-term employment permit for at least eight years. They don’t give them any right to leave the island and return whenever they choose.

The most flexible certificate is the permanent resident certificate, which allows holders to live wherever they choose, and mix their Guernsey residency with living off-island.

The new law requires anyone who wants the right to live on Guernsey to have been resident on a permit for at least eight years. They’ll then have to remain for at least another six years – 14 in total – before they can move onto and off the island at will without losing their residence rights.

Anyone who was born on Guernsey to a Guernsey-born parent (or who had a grandparent born on the island) automatically has the right to remain.

Employment rights

The residence certificates are tied to four different employment permits. The first three of these, the short-, medium- and long-term certificates. These allow the holder to work for up to one, five and eight years and live in either a local- or open-market property.

The open market employment permit only allows the holder to live in an open market property.

None of the content of this post should be construed as advice. Always seek independent legal guidance.