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Good practice Imported

Barbados Welcome Stamp

Barbados · Bridgetown · See the Barbados profile · See the Bridgetown profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 65% 62/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

A 12-month remote-work visa launched in mid-2020 under the Remote Employment Act. By April 2024, 5,164 applications and $6M+ in visa-fee revenue were recorded — but only about a third of approved applicants ever actually arrived and activated their visa.

5164
Total applications received (by Apr 2024)
3058
Applications approved (by Apr 2024)
136
Nationalities represented among applicants
US$6 million+
Visa-fee revenue generated (since 2020)
1516
Approved applicants who never paid the fee (2020-2023)
375
Approved applicants who paid but never activated the visa (2020-2023)
~1,007 ~33% of approvals
Approved applicants who actually took up residence (2020-2023)
Barbados Welcome Stamp

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Government of Barbados (Barbados Immigration Department, Ministry of Tourism and International Transport)
Period
2020–present
Keywords
remote work visa, tourism recovery, digital economy, talent attraction

Context

The Barbados Welcome Stamp is a 12-month remote-work visa created under the Remote Employment Act, 2020, and announced by Prime Minister Mia Mottley in June 2020; it lets non-Barbadian remote workers earning at least US$50,000 a year, plus their families, live in Barbados tax-free on foreign income for a non-refundable fee of US$2,000 per individual or US$3,000 per family.

Objectives

The programme was designed to attract remote workers and their spending to Barbados as part of the country's pandemic-era tourism and economic recovery strategy.

Activities

The visa is administered jointly by the Barbados Immigration Department and the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, which process applications on an ongoing basis and periodically publish uptake statistics.

Results

By April 2024 the programme had received 5,164 applications and approved 3,058, drawing applicants from 136 nationalities and generating at least US$6 million in fee revenue since 2020; however, of the 2,897 applications approved between 2020 and 2023, 1,516 approved applicants never paid the fee and a further 375 paid but never activated their visa, leaving only about 1,007 - roughly a third of approvals - who actually took up residence.

Conclusions

No independent economic-impact evaluation of the programme exists: a 2021 UNDP Accelerator Lab review described the topic as raising 'more questions than answers', and widely cited tourism-revenue estimates are unaudited industry claims rather than government-verified figures; the government's continued publication of detailed uptake statistics years after launch is nonetheless a rare degree of transparency for this type of scheme.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year)
Staffing & skills
Jointly administered by the existing Barbados Immigration Department and the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, with no dedicated new agency created

Conditions for success

  • Simple, clearly defined eligibility criteria (minimum US$50,000 income) and flat fee structure
  • Supporting legislative framework (Remote Employment Act, 2020) enacted quickly
  • Sustained public reporting of uptake statistics enabling ongoing transparency

Common failure modes

  • Large gap between approval and actual uptake: about two-thirds of applicants approved 2020-2023 never paid the fee or never activated the visa
  • Income and fee requirements exclude lower-income remote workers
  • No independent economic-impact evaluation exists; cited tourism-revenue estimates are unaudited industry claims

Where it fits

Governance type
national government (two ministries, standing legislation)
Scale
national programme (small island state)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes Own resources / municipal budget

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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