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Special Entry Permit

BarbadosLong-term residence

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

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Explore pathways in Barbados Read the five questions ↓

What qualifying residence period is required and when does the period begin?

No minimum period of prior residence in Barbados is stated for the Special Entry Permit in the official sources consulted. The application is made on Form B under section 13(3) of the Immigration Act, Cap. 190; Invest Barbados states the qualifying criteria as being over the age of 60 (under-60s may apply for a temporary SEP), assets of US$5 million or more and an investment of US$2 million or more in Barbados.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The absence of a residence-period criterion is inferred from the official requirement lists; no official source states expressly that no prior residence is required (inference, recorded as such).
  • No primary instrument creates or defines the Special Entry Permit. The term appears in law only as fee items 10 and 11 of the Second Schedule to the Immigration (Forms and Fees) Regulations, 1979 (S.I. 1979 No. 178; Schedule as substituted by S.I. 2005 No. 18; L.R.O. 2007), which tie the SEP to an application 'under section 13(3)' of the Immigration Act, Cap. 190; Cap. 190 itself and its amendment Acts 2011-9, 2015-8, 2016-11, 2018-55, 2018-56 and 2019-3 never use the term. Eligibility categories, residence rules and conditions are therefore administrative, set per permit under s.13(4) (Chief Immigration Officer with the Minister's approval) or s.13(7) (Minister's special permission 'on such terms and conditions as he thinks fit'). The Ministry of Labour & Immigration's Green Paper 'Comprehensive Review of Immigration Policy and Proposals for Legislative Reform' (October 2009, para. 89 and Executive Summary) describes special entry permits as 'currently granted' administratively to non-nationals owning residential property, normally retirees, and recommends 'legislating "special entry permits"'; that recommendation was never enacted.
  • The 2009 Green Paper is a policy proposal, its text was obtained by OCR of a scanned PDF, and its description reflects practice in 2009, not a current rule.
  • The 2009 Green Paper (paras 97-98) proposed that retired staff of regional and international organisations could qualify for an SEP after 'ten years in Barbados with the organisation'; this was a proposal for one subgroup, never enacted, and is not a residence requirement of the Special Entry Permit.
  • Invest Barbados is a Government of Barbados statutory corporation (Barbados International Business Promotion Corporation, established 10 November 2005, trading as Invest Barbados) and the national investment promotion agency, not the immigration authority; its page was last modified 2023-05-02 and states no effective date for the criteria.
  • Fee discrepancy: the Immigration Department page states 'Application Fee of BDS $300.00', whereas the consolidated Regulations (L.R.O. 2007) set $50.00 on application and $300.00 on the granting of a special entry permit; no later amending S.I. was found online.
  • The Electoral & Boundaries Commission guidelines (May 2025) record the SEP's validity as '5 yrs or indefinite'; the sources do not say which applicants receive which term.
  • The Immigration Bill, 2026 (Official Gazette Part A, 5 May 2026, cl. 4(12)) refers to 'special entry permits issued under the former Act' and preserves them, but the Bill was not promulgated when checked (referred to a joint select committee; re-introduced after the 2026 election) and is not used as a source.

Which types of residence count fully, partially or not at all where the official rules specify this?

The checked official sources did not provide enough route-specific evidence to confirm which types of residence count towards the qualifying period.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The captured official page does not state this point; this is not evidence that the rule does not exist.

What absence/continuity rules affect accumulation of the qualifying residence period?

Answer not available

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The 'no obligation to live here' statement comes from Invest Barbados, not from the Immigration Department or from legislation. Invest Barbados is a Government of Barbados statutory corporation (Barbados International Business Promotion Corporation, established 10 November 2005, trading as Invest Barbados) and the national investment promotion agency, not the immigration authority; its page was last modified 2023-05-02 and states no effective date for the criteria.
  • The 2009 Green Paper is a policy proposal, its text was obtained by OCR of a scanned PDF, and its description reflects practice in 2009, not a current rule.
  • Under Cap. 190 s.13(4) and s.13(7) the period and conditions of a permit or special permission are fixed case by case (Chief Immigration Officer with the Minister's approval, or the Minister); an individual SEP may carry presence conditions that the general description does not show.
  • No official source states a minimum number of days per year in Barbados, a maximum absence, or any renewal condition for 5-year SEPs; the EBC guidelines (May 2025) only record the validity as '5 yrs or indefinite'.
  • Tax residence is a separate matter: Invest Barbados presents the SEP as working alongside the non-domicile tax regime; physical-presence tests for tax residence were not researched here.
  • No primary instrument creates or defines the Special Entry Permit. The term appears in law only as fee items 10 and 11 of the Second Schedule to the Immigration (Forms and Fees) Regulations, 1979 (S.I. 1979 No. 178; Schedule as substituted by S.I. 2005 No. 18; L.R.O. 2007), which tie the SEP to an application 'under section 13(3)' of the Immigration Act, Cap. 190; Cap. 190 itself and its amendment Acts 2011-9, 2015-8, 2016-11, 2018-55, 2018-56 and 2019-3 never use the term. Eligibility categories, residence rules and conditions are therefore administrative, set per permit under s.13(4) (Chief Immigration Officer with the Minister's approval) or s.13(7) (Minister's special permission 'on such terms and conditions as he thinks fit'). The Ministry of Labour & Immigration's Green Paper 'Comprehensive Review of Immigration Policy and Proposals for Legislative Reform' (October 2009, para. 89 and Executive Summary) describes special entry permits as 'currently granted' administratively to non-nationals owning residential property, normally retirees, and recommends 'legislating "special entry permits"'; that recommendation was never enacted.
  • The Immigration Bill, 2026 (Official Gazette Part A, 5 May 2026, cl. 4(12)) refers to 'special entry permits issued under the former Act' and preserves them, but the Bill was not promulgated when checked (referred to a joint select committee; re-introduced after the 2026 election) and is not used as a source.

What other major conditions apply, how is the status obtained, and what renewal, document-validity, retention or loss rules matter?

The page lists identity, police, property, financial-resources, health-insurance and dependent documents, plus a BDS $300 application fee, but does not state duration, renewal or loss rules.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The captured official page does not state every material condition requested by this question.

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

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