Want to work from a beach? Welcome to Barbados
Imagine working under swaying palm trees, with a drink in hand, looking into the sea? Classy restaurants and golf courses can be seen at a distance, for your consideration. Water sports and massages can come in handy too, when you need some break at work.
Is it for real? Yes it is. Welcome to Barbados.
Like most of its Caribbean neighbours, Barbados has been good at keeping covid-19 out. Usually, tourism brings in more than half of its foreign earnings. Now, many tourists are banned and the economy is reeling, says a report by The Economist.
The tourism minister, Kerrie Symmonds, puts unemployment at close to 40%, says the report.
That’s when the idea of remote working from Barbados was born. Here comes the “Welcome Stamp” for visitors to “work remotely in paradise” for up to a year, a move proposed by Prime Minister Mia Mottley.
For a fee of $2,000 for one person, or $3,000 for a family, you can do your work in Barbados, while continuing to pay taxes as per the rules of the country you came from, according to The Economist. Earlier, getting a work permit or immigrant status meant an extensive process and workers had to pay Barbadian income taxes.
Applicants must have health insurance, and the head of the family must earn at least $50,000. “All must breathe, in this world and in this country,” says Mia Mottley.