Bermuda Work From Bermuda Certificate

Bermuda’s Work From Bermuda certificate was a one-year residential permit for non-Bermudians who wanted to live on the island while working remotely or studying. The government stopped taking new applications on Feb. 28, 2025, so you can’t newly apply for it now. Older certificates still fall under transition rules and Bermuda has shifted attention to other residence routes.

The program ran under the One Year Residential Certificate policy in the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act 1956. It let approved applicants reside in Bermuda for up to one year while working for an overseas employer, running an overseas business or studying remotely at the post-secondary level. It did not allow gainful employment in Bermuda, which is the part that catches some people out.

It was aimed at two main groups:

• Remote workers: People employed by or running, a legitimate overseas firm that doesn’t operate in Bermuda.
• Students: Non-Bermudian post-secondary students completing research, undergraduate, graduate or doctoral study from Bermuda while enrolled overseas.

That made it different from a normal visitor stay. Visitors are admitted for tourism or short business trips and Bermuda currently allows a cumulative maximum stay of 180 days in any 12-month period under its visitor rules. The residential certificate was built for longer stays and gave a formal basis for remote work or study, even though it still treated holders as long-term visitors rather than work-permit holders.

Applicants had to be at least 18, in good character, show valid health insurance and prove either overseas employment or qualifying enrolment. The official page also required enough financial means or income to support yourself without local work. The listed fee was $275 and the program’s public materials said the application was handled online, with a decision usually issued within about 10 business days.

For anyone looking at Bermuda now, the bigger point is simple: the certificate is closed to new applicants. If you’re planning a stay, you’ll need to look at ordinary visitor rules or separate residence options such as annual residence or investment-based routes, if you qualify.

The Work From Bermuda Certificate isn’t open to new applicants anymore. The government stopped accepting applications on Feb. 28, 2025, so there’s no current way to apply for this exact certificate. Existing holders can still use theirs until it expires, but new applicants need to look at other residency routes, such as Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis.

While the program was open, it was aimed at non-Bermudians who could support themselves without taking a local job. Bermuda framed it as a remote-work or student route, not a general stay permit.

To qualify, you had to be 18 or older and meet the character rules. The government said applicants couldn’t have convictions involving moral turpitude and couldn’t have been convicted of an indictable offense in Bermuda or an overseas offense that would count as indictable in Bermuda.

• Remote workers: You had to show employment with an overseas firm or your own company registered and operating overseas.
• Students: You had to provide evidence of enrollment in a research, undergraduate, graduate or doctorate program.
• Money: You had to show enough annual disposable income or other means to support your household in Bermuda without local employment.
• Health insurance: You needed valid coverage and had to be able to keep it in force.

The official page didn’t publish a fixed income threshold and it didn’t spell out a detailed checklist of acceptable financial documents. It also didn’t list nationality restrictions, though you’d still have to meet any normal visa rules tied to your passport.

Family members weren’t handled as a separate, formal dependants category on the government page. In practice, each adult would need to qualify on their own and the main applicant had to show enough resources for the whole household.

The application fee was $275 per person. Bermuda dollars are pegged to the U.S. dollar, so that works out to $275 USD.

Source

The Bermuda Work From Bermuda or One Year Residential Certificate, is closed to new applicants now. The government page still describes the old rules, so this section is reference material, not a live application route.

The official policy asked for a small set of documents, but it didn’t get overly specific. That’s a bit annoying if you like checklists, because the public page leaves some details to the application form itself.

• Proof of employment or school enrolment: Remote workers had to show they worked for an overseas employer or their own company registered and operating overseas. Students had to show enrollment in an eligible research, undergraduate, graduate or doctorate program.
• Passport photo page: A colour scan of the biographical page in your passport.
• Visa information: A colour scan of any relevant visa information, where applicable.
• English-language documents: Supporting paperwork should be in English where practical. The policy doesn’t spell out certified translation rules.

On money, the government didn’t publish a fixed salary floor, minimum bank balance or monthly income target. Instead, you had to show “means and/or a continuous source of annual disposable income” that would support your household in Bermuda and overseas without working locally.

That means there’s no official number to quote. No $X per month, no $Y per year and no bank balance threshold appear on the public policy page.

The fee was straightforward. The application cost $275 and Bermuda uses a dollar pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, so that was effectively $275 USD too. The policy doesn’t list extra biometrics or processing charges.

Processing was fairly quick on paper. The government said a complete application would be reviewed and a 1-year certificate issued within 10 business days of receipt. Earlier references mentioned a faster target, but the current policy page says 10 business days, so that’s the figure to use.

The certificate itself lasted one year and didn’t carry an automatic renewal right. If someone wanted another year, they had to file a fresh application. It also didn’t give any path to local employment, permanent residency or citizenship.

Source 1 | Source 2

The Work From Bermuda Certificate, officially the One Year Residential Certificate, is closed to new applicants. The government said the program would end on Feb. 28, 2025, so the figures below are the last confirmed official costs, not a live fee schedule.

The core government charge was simple: a flat 275 BMD application fee, which is effectively $275 because the Bermudian dollar is pegged one to one with the U.S. dollar. Earlier references to a $263 fee still show up in older summaries, but that figure was superseded in April 2023.

There wasn’t a published stack of extra government charges for this certificate. The official page did not list separate fees for dependents, biometrics or card issuance, so the best-supported reading is that the application fee was the only direct government cost tied to the certificate itself.

• Application fee: 275 BMD, about $275, per applicant
• Dependents: no discounted bundle or family rate was published
• Other government charges: none were listed on the certificate page

The real extra costs were the private ones. Applicants had to have valid health insurance or buy local coverage and Bermuda doesn’t publish a standard premium for that. The same goes for document prep and translation. The official application asked for proof of employment or enrollment, a color scan of the passport photo page and, if relevant, a color scan of visa information, with supporting documents in English where practical.

Legal help was optional, not required. So were relocation consultants. If you used one, that was entirely a private expense. A family applying separately would have paid the fee for each person, so four applicants would have meant 4 x 275 BMD or about $1,100, before insurance and document costs.

When the program was active, payment ran through the government’s online portal. It’s no longer open for new filings, so anyone looking at Bermuda now needs to budget for a different residence route instead.

Source

The Work From Bermuda Certificate is closed to new applicants. The Government of Bermuda says no more applications are being accepted and the program officially wrapped up on Feb. 28, 2025, so there isn't a current application path for 2026.

For context, the former process was straightforward but very specific. Applicants filled out an online form and sent supporting documents to the Chief Immigration Officer in the Department of Immigration, then got a decision within 10 business days. The launch announcement mentioned a faster five-working-day response, but the later policy page is the better official source.

How the former application worked

• Submit the online form: Applicants completed the residential certificate application online.
• Upload supporting documents: The official checklist was short and the portal asked for proof of employment or school enrolment, a color scan of the passport photo page, a color scan of visa information and supporting documents in English where practical.
• Wait for a decision: The Department of Immigration said it processed applications within 10 business days.
• Pay the fee: The application cost $275. Bermuda dollars are pegged 1:1 with USD in practice, so that works out to about USD 275.

The old certificate had to meet a few basic requirements. Applicants needed to be at least 18, have valid health insurance, show overseas employment or school enrollment and prove they had enough money or annual disposable income, to support themselves without working in Bermuda.

It was a one-year certificate and there was no renewal option. If someone wanted another year, they had to file a fresh application, but that route is closed now. The government’s current residence pages point people toward other residence categories instead, not the old Work From Bermuda program.

The original Work From Bermuda Certificate was a 12-month stay permit. The government described it as a one-year residential certificate and it also said permission to reside on an annual basis could be granted for periods of up to five years.

Renewal was never automatic. The official rule is blunt: holding the 1Yr Certificate “doesn't entitle a person to renewal,” so anyone wanting another certificate had to submit a new application. The application page also said people should apply 1 to 2 months before expiry, which is a narrow window if you leave it late.

That said, the program itself is gone. The Government of Bermuda says Work From Bermuda ended on 28 Feb. 2025 and current holders were given 90 days from expiry to settle affairs and leave Bermuda. There’s no live government process for a new WFB application now.

If you want to stay in Bermuda longer, the government points people toward standard residence routes instead of WFB renewal. The closest current option in the official materials is the One Year Residential Certificate or Permission to Reside, which can be granted for up to five years. That’s a separate immigration track, not a continuation of the old work-from-Bermuda setup.

There’s also no official sign that the Work From Bermuda Certificate itself leads straight to permanent residence or citizenship. The immigration fee schedule does list permanent-resident-certificate applications as a separate category, but the WFB pages I reviewed don’t show a direct path from this certificate to PRC status.

• Original validity: 12 months
• Renewal: Not automatic and a new application was required for another certificate
• Suggested timing: Apply 1 to 2 months before expiry
• Program status: Ended on 28 Feb. 2025
• After expiry: Current holders were given 90 days to settle affairs and depart

One fee item in the government schedule mentions residents who hold or held a work permit and want to keep residing or look for alternative employment, priced at $275. I couldn’t confirm that this category applies specifically to former Work From Bermuda holders, so don’t assume it does without checking the current immigration route first.

Bermuda’s tax picture is simpler than most remote-work destinations, but it also comes with a catch: the old Work From Bermuda Certificate is no longer being issued. The government says it stopped accepting new applications on Feb. 28, 2025 and is moving back to multi-year residency applications.

For individuals, the big headline is that Bermuda doesn't have a general personal income tax. That means there isn’t a normal worldwide income tax return system for former certificate holders. The main direct tax that can touch remote workers is Payroll Tax, which applies to remuneration for services provided in Bermuda.

That payroll tax isn’t the same thing as taxing all your income. Bermuda’s official guidance ties it to Bermuda-source remuneration paid in business, including pay for services provided in Bermuda. It’s charged on employers, self-employed persons and deemed employees, so if you’re working there, this is the tax to pay attention to, not a personal income tax bill.

I couldn’t verify any official rule saying a simple day count, such as 183 days, automatically makes a former certificate holder tax resident in Bermuda for personal income-tax purposes. That’s partly because Bermuda doesn’t run a standard personal income-tax system in the first place.

I also couldn’t confirm any current visa-specific tax break for the former Work From Bermuda Certificate. The official materials point to Bermuda’s general no-personal-income-tax setup and its Payroll Tax rules, not to a special exemption or holiday for certificate holders.

If you do have tax filings connected to Bermuda activity, the administrative side is pretty clear.

• Payroll Tax due dates: Jan. 15, April 15, July 15 and Oct. 15.
• Online filing: required for exempted companies and companies with annual remuneration above $200,000.
• Exemption paperwork: some scheme applications need a Tax Status Certificate issued within 30 days of the application.

On treaty access, Bermuda says its older bilateral TIEA and DTA list has been overtaken for exchange-of-information purposes by the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The government has also said it signed an amendment to its double taxation agreement with Bahrain, so treaties still exist in some form, just not as a simple one-page list.

The short version is blunt: there’s no active Work From Bermuda Certificate regime to plan around, no general personal income tax and no verified special tax treatment tied to the former certificate. Payroll Tax is the part remote workers should actually check.