Expatriates hoping to get exemptions from six-year term limits will soon know their fate by the end of December, says Labour and Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess.

He said extra staff were being hired to help Immigration workers struggling to cope with the welter of work permit renewals and key employee exemption applications.

Recently the Bermuda Employers Council complained about delays with hundreds of workers ? under threat of being turfed out in April when the six-year term limit begins to bite ? still waiting to find out if they would get key employee status and the chance to stay for another three years.

Mr. Burgess said: ?Those folks waiting for answers should see answers by the end of December. We made some internal adjustments on that.?

He said Government was in the process of hiring extra staff for up to a year to deal with backlogs in work permits but he wouldn?t say how many.

?It will be sufficient to help in the changeovers. We are becoming computerised. Hopefully by May of 2007, we should be able to turn around work permits in maybe four to five weeks. That?s the objective.?

He said although computers were already used the new method would be entirely computerised.

Mr. Burgess also said applications by companies to be given Good Corporate Citizenship status, which gives them the hope of fast-tracked work permits in return for increasing promotion and training for Bermudians, would be speeded up ?very rapidly?.

Employers had also complained about having to fork out for landing permit fees for employees waiting months for a work permit renewal.

?If it goes beyond the 12-week period we will waive the fee ? if it is our fault.?

He said the waiver was not a new policy. Mr. Burgess said demand had put pressure on staff.

?There are many more work permit holders now than there?s ever been. There are over 10,000.

?When you have a healthy economy such as ours, with a boom in construction, you will have requests to bring in staff.?

And he said Bermuda was always likely to need imported workers in the thousands.

?Countries have problems with unemployment and over-employment,? he said. ?And if you ask any country which one they would prefer to have, they will take the over-employment. They all come with problems.

?But the problems with over-employment are less severe than with unemployment.

?If we had all the Bermudians in positions that we dream of in Bermuda you will still need, on today?s standing, over 8,000 work permit holders.

?We don?t have any unemployment per se when you go by any international standards.

?We have those who are unemployable. Anyone in Bermuda who wants a job should be able to find a job.

?Some would say ?I am unemployed?, and I understand that too. But common sense tells me, and it should tell Bermuda, that if you want one you can find one.?

Those having trouble should contact Government, he said.

Asked if Government was going to drop the idea of unemployment insurance, he said: ?No, that is another ministry.?

Now Government is concentrating on making sure every Bermudian seeking work gets it ? all the way from casual labourers to those with degrees.

A list of Bermudians due to graduate in 2007 will be circulated to employers so they will be hired on returning to the Island.

?So they are not six to nine months without a job. They should walk into a job. When you have over 10,000 work permit holders that shouldn?t be a problem.?