Updated 12 November 2026. Status: passed by Parliament, not yet in force. I will update this page when the law takes effect.
What Barbados just passed
Barbados has passed two laws that change how a foreign family can settle there. The Immigration Bill, 2026 and the Barbados Citizenship Bill, 2026 passed the House of Assembly on 27 October 2026 and the Senate on 4 November 2026 (Parliament of Barbados).
Neither is in force yet. Each starts on a date fixed by proclamation, and the regulations that set fees, forms and the approved investment projects have not been published. Once in force, they give Barbados a permanent residence route for investors and a residence-based route from permanent residence to citizenship. The day-to-day detail for families who want to live there today is on my Barbados permanent residency page.
Why people call it a golden visa, and why it isn't citizenship by investment
"Golden visa" is the shorthand investors and the press use for residence by investment, and the label fits: under the new law, a qualifying investment earns permanent residence. What it does not do is sell a passport. The minister responsible for immigration said it plainly in the Senate: "Barbados does not grant citizenship by investment" (Barbados Today, 4 November 2026).
The sequence is the point. You invest, you get permanent residence, and you can then apply for citizenship after living in Barbados for part of a four-year period. Registration is at the minister's discretion. You can't buy a passport here; you can earn one by living on the island.
The investor route
Section 10 of the Immigration Bill grants permanent residence for a "qualifying investment" of $5,000,000 or more in a project the minister designates by order as an "approved national development project". The bill writes "$" without naming the currency. In Barbados dollars, that is about US$2.5 million at the fixed rate of BBD 2 to USD 1.
The bill defines a project broadly, as "a programme, fund, undertaking, asset or other initiative". The minister has to be satisfied that it serves a public purpose and contributes significantly to the island's development. In practice that reads like infrastructure, tourism or public-private projects the government wants built, but no project has been designated yet, so nobody can say which.
What we don't know yet:
- Which projects. No list exists.
- How long you must stay invested. Residence can be withdrawn if the investment is withdrawn before the "approved period", or the project isn't completed within it. The bill doesn't say how long that period is.
- Fees and forms. These come in regulations.
- Whether a home ever qualifies. The bill doesn't mention real estate, a house or a home anywhere in this route.
The points route
The second route is for people who have spent some time in Barbados already. Five years' lawful residence earns permanent residence. Section 9 lets you make up part of the gap with points: you need at least 180 days' lawful residence in the past three years, and each point counts as six months of residence. The points have to cover the difference between the residence you actually have and five years.
The points come from the Third Schedule of the bill as passed:
| Criterion | Points |
|---|---|
| Age under 50 | 3 |
| Age 50 and over | 1 |
| Barbadian descent (beyond child, grandchild or great-grandchild) | 3 |
| Education, skills and professional experience | Up to 5 |
| Work in Barbados: 1 to 3 years / over 3 years | 2 / 5 |
| Study or training in Barbados: 1 to 3 years / degree or 3+ years | 2 / 5 |
| Service with a diplomatic mission or international organisation | 10 |
| Approved national development project: $1M to under $2M, rising by band to $4M to under $5M | 2, 4, 6, 8 |
| Approved private enterprise or business: $1M to under $2M, rising by band to $8M or more | 1 to 8 |
Source: Immigration Bill, 2026, section 9 and Third Schedule, text as passed, checked 12 November 2026. Amounts as written in the bill, without a currency.
Property does not earn points in the bill as passed. Commentary on the April 2026 draft described points for real property. The Third Schedule that passed has no real-property category at all: the only investment lines are approved national development projects and approved private enterprises. A home, however expensive, doesn't count toward permanent residence on this text.
A worked example
Take a 45-year-old with a university degree and a long career, who has bought a BBD 2 million home on the west coast and spent 180 days on the island in the past three years.
- Age under 50: 3 points.
- Education, skills and experience: up to 5 points, at the minister's assessment. Assume the full 5.
- The BBD 2 million home: 0 points. It isn't in the schedule.
That is 8 points, worth four years of deemed residence. Add the six months actually spent on the island and the total is four and a half years, short of the five the bill requires. Another six months of lawful residence, for example time on a Welcome Stamp, would close the gap. So would putting the same BBD 2 million into an approved national development project instead of a home: that earns 4 more points and passes comfortably. A Welcome Stamp counts as lawful residence for this route under section 9(4)(e), but it doesn't grant permanent residence on its own.
From residence to citizenship
Under section 3(5) of the Citizenship Bill, a permanent resident who is not a CARICOM national may apply for registration as a citizen after at least 360 days' lawful residence as a permanent resident during a period of at least 1,460 days before applying. Spread evenly, that is about three months a year over four years. CARICOM nationals need 270 days within 1,095.
Registration is discretionary. The minister "may" register you, and section 4 allows refusal in the interests of national security and public policy, including for certain criminal convictions. Plan for the calendar, not the cheque.
What happens to people already in Barbados
This is where the bills are more generous than the headlines.
- Pending applications carry over. Applications for immigrant status or permanent residence lodged under the old Act are treated as applications under the new one (Immigration Bill section 43(3)).
- Long-standing residents get a window. For three years from commencement, certain long-standing lawful residents and their families can apply for permanent residence (section 42).
- Existing immigrants can register as citizens. A person who held immigrant status for more than three years immediately before commencement may be registered as a citizen on satisfying the Minister (Citizenship Bill section 3(3)). A person granted permanent residence under the old Act is entitled to registration on application (section 3(2)).
- The Welcome Stamp counts. Section 9(4)(e) of the Immigration Bill lists time on a Barbados Welcome Stamp as lawful residence toward permanent residence.
What the bills do not do is mention the Special Entry and Residence Permit (SERP) by name. Instruments made under the old Act stay in force until revoked (section 43), but the text does not say what happens to a SERP holder after commencement. SERP is the route that operates today, and I confirm its position with the Immigration Department in writing before a family relies on it.
How it compares
In Barbados an investment leads to residence, and residence can lead to a passport. The citizenship-by-investment programmes work the other way round: the passport comes first, with little or no time on the island.
- St Kitts & Nevis: citizenship from US$250,000 through the Sustainable Island State Contribution, or US$325,000 in approved real estate.
- Antigua & Barbuda: from US$230,000 through the National Development Fund, or US$300,000 in approved real estate.
- Dominica: from US$200,000, by contribution or approved real estate.
- Anguilla: residence by investment from US$750,000 in approved real estate, or a US$150,000 contribution for a single applicant. No passport.
The full cost of each, family by family, is in the citizenship cost comparison.
Who it suits
A Barbados residence suits families who want a real second home, not a travel document: Canadian and UK families in particular, for whom Barbados offers direct flights, English common law, schools and hospitals, and a remittance basis of tax for residents who are not domiciled there. Canadians should start with leaving Canada for Barbados and the Canada–Barbados tax treaty; UK families with after non-dom: Barbados residency for UK families. Take advice from your own tax adviser before you move. I am a licensed real estate agent, not a tax adviser, lawyer or immigration agent.
What happens next
Three steps remain: assent, a proclamation bringing each Act into force, and the regulations that set fees, forms, the approved period and the first designated projects. IMI Daily reported on 30 October 2026 that the minister wants the new law in place for Independence Day on 30 November; no date has been fixed. The latest status is in the box at the top of my Barbados permanent residency page, and I'll update this article when the law takes effect.
What I tell clients to do now
If you want to live in Barbados in the next year, don't wait for the new law. SERP operates today, with a property route from US$300,000 of Barbadian real estate funded from outside the island. A Welcome Stamp year is a sensible trial, and the new law counts that time.
If citizenship is the goal, plan for the calendar, not the cheque. Permanent residence first, then 360 days as a permanent resident within four years, then a discretionary decision. Families who need a second passport in months rather than years should look at a Caribbean citizenship program and keep Barbados as the place they live.
If you are weighing the investor route, wait for the designation order. Without a designated project and a stated approved period, there is nothing to evaluate. When the first designations appear I will read them the same week.
Get the update. Apply for private access and I'll let you know when the law takes effect and the first projects are designated.
Frequently asked questions
Is it a golden visa? In the sense the term is usually used, yes: an investment earns permanent residence. It is not citizenship by investment. Citizenship comes later, by registration, after time living in Barbados.
How much does the Barbados golden visa cost? The investor route asks $5,000,000 or more in an approved national development project. The bill doesn't name the currency; in Barbados dollars that is about US$2.5 million. Fees have not been published.
Can I get a Barbados passport? Not by investing. A permanent resident can apply for registration as a citizen after at least 360 days' residence within a period of at least 1,460 days, at the minister's discretion. A passport follows citizenship.
How long until citizenship? Permanent residence first, then at least 360 days as a permanent resident during a period of at least four years before you apply. The law isn't in force yet, and no processing times have been published.
Do I have to live there? For the investor route, the bill sets no prior residence. For citizenship, yes: at least 360 days as a permanent resident within the four-year period. The points route needs at least 180 days' lawful residence in the past three years.
Can Americans apply? Yes, nothing in the bill limits the routes by nationality, but US citizens stay taxed on worldwide income wherever they live; see renouncing US citizenship.
