Government is reforming the Island’s immigration laws — but current priorities do not include cases such as Bermuda-born Laura Roberts, whose mother has struggled without success to secure status for her.National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief told The Royal Gazette: “Individual cases may receive public attention, but the law must suit a majority of the people and accord with what is best for Bermuda.“The need for reform is clear and the Government is keenly aware of that and is working towards a user-friendly, equitable and modern set of immigration laws.”A spokesman for the Ministry added that local law, regulated by the Immigration and Protection Act, has provisions imported from UK law, making matters “more complex”.Government pledged in the 2010 Throne Speech to “a wholesale overhaul” of the Act.Since then, the spokesman said, Government has “considered various options”, including seeking assistance from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.“The option of a resource from the UK is still under discussion and in the interim an open tender RFP [Request for Proposal] has been prepared and may be issued to accord with the next fiscal year.”The Ministry has also sought full-time help from the Attorney General’s Chambers.Other options are taking on “a local, retired jurist to conduct the overhaul”, putting out a limited RFP to the Island’s legal community — or issuing “an open RFP in the public domain”, with a focus on those with experience in the CARICOM region or small island states.In terms of changes to the Act, the Ministry has focused on what the spokesman called “the low-hanging fruit in the area of needed reform”.So far, National Security has dealt with FastPass cards at the airport and phasing out the Immigration arrival form.The Act was also amended last month, to eliminate a law requiring Bermudians married to non-Bermudians to obtain a licence for purchasing a home.Other changes to the Act include the creation of an Immigration Appeal Tribunal, and beginning work on provisions related to the adoption of children under ten, and their Bermuda status issues.Born in 1989 to a US woman and a Bermudian father, Ms Roberts lived nine years on the Island and says considers herself culturally Bermudian.Her father, whose name appears on her birth certificate, did not take part in her early life — but Ms Roberts said she was extremely close to her paternal family and wishes to reside in the place she considers home.Under the Immigration and Protection Act, status is normally automatically granted to children born on the Island to at least one Bermudian parent.However, the Department of Immigration has turned down applications for status, requesting evidence of a relationship between Ms Roberts and her father — which the family cannot provide.Her mother, Helen Roberts, told The Royal Gazette: “I do believe that if Laura’s father and I were married at or after the time of her birth, that there would have been no question of her rights to Bermudian status.”And lawyer and legal blogger Peter Sanderson pointed out that Section 18 of the Act should automatically confer status on a child born in Bermuda to a Bermudian parent.“This is very straightforward and there are no other requirements,” Mr Sanderson wrote, on his new blog Onion Law.“However, some commenters have claimed that applicants are being required to prove that their Bermudian parent was involved in their upbringing.“This is completely irrelevant and should not be required in order to get status. Whether one has a Bermudian parent is a question of fact, and there is no element of discretion as to the involvement of a parent in a child’s upbringing.”