Hundreds of remote workers already residing in Bermuda, with numbers expected to continue to grow
HAMILTON, BERMUDA — The “Work from Bermuda” certificate that allows foreign workers to live and work in the country for up to one year has been a tremendous success, Chief Executive Officer at Bermuda Tourism Authority Charles H. Jeffers II said in a recent interview with Remote Worker.
Jeffers noted that since the programme’s launch last August, an estimated 700 applications have been received and around 400 remote workers were on the island as of September 2021.
Those numbers are only anticipated to keep growing, he added, as applications were continuously rolling in.
“So, last year, as we all know, when the pandemic hit, our tourism industry was decimated, not unlike many other destinations around the world,” Jeffers told Remote Worker.
A young woman poses for a photo in Bermuda.
“We knew that we had to do something different because even when tourism started back…we knew we needed to do something different to attract people, and we also knew that people were working from home — home that could be anywhere.
“So, what we did was that we offered the opportunity for Bermuda to be their home.”
Jeffers said the government would “love for as many people as possible to come” not just for what he hailed as an incredible experience but also because “from a tourism perspective, it helps because those people then become our ambassadors and…they're talking about Bermuda to an audience that we may not have been able to reach” otherwise.
He also highlighted the benefit for local businesses and particularly the rental accommodations market, including Airbnb properties, which have been able to offer long-term rentals for “Work from Bermuda” certificate holders.
“We have the ‘Work from Bermuda’ certificates that are up to one year, but we also have a number of people who work from Bermuda beyond that and they have their guest workers who work in everything from our reinsurance industry to our hospitality industry,” the tourism expert said.
He outlined several of the programme’s requirements, such as applicants must have a certain level of income to be able to support themselves, and they must already have a job as they are not permitted to take up local employment; but he also assured that the certificate is affordable and invited interested parties to visit the government’s website to apply.
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Links:
“Work from Bermuda” certificate programme — https://forms.gov.bm/work-from-bermuda/Apply