Amendments to the Department of Immigration’s Work Permit Policy

Good afternoon, everyone,

Today, I can advise that the update of the Department of Immigration’s Work Permit Policy 2025 will be available for public feedback for approximately a month, between 5 June 2025 and 4 July 2025.

One of the Government’s goals is to ensure the proper balance between employment and immigration in Bermuda. This includes having in place realistic conditions that enable Bermudians to find work and pursue career opportunities while ensuring that suitably qualified non-Bermudians in specific job categories are permitted to work in Bermuda. 

During the past fiscal year, the Department of Immigration processed more than 10,000 work permit-related applications. Its work is guided by both the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act 1956 (Part V) and the Work Permit Policy. The Work Permit Policy, in particular, provides detailed guidance to employers, work permit holders, and agents who submit work permit applications. It also assists Bermudians with understanding what is expected of employers, i.e., for job promotions, job title changes, and advertisements. Last updated in 2017, the Policy was overdue for revisions to ensure its relevance to the current employment requirements in Bermuda.

With this in mind, the Ministry, in conjunction with the Department of Immigration, undertook a comprehensive review of the Work Permit Policy over the past two years. Input was sought from key stakeholders, including the Board of Immigration, the Department’s Work Permits and Compliance Sections, and industry partners. The review aimed to: 

1. clarify areas where interpretation was too wide and varied, 

2. streamline policies where appropriate, 

3. introduce new policies to address emerging needs, 

4. establish realistic processing timelines, 

5. ensure transparency and fairness, and, 

6. support Bermuda’s efforts to attract new business and stimulate economic growth. 

The revised Policy is intended to improve the quality and completeness of initial work permit submissions, thereby reducing and ideally eliminating the need for resubmissions and processing delays. Ultimately, the Department aims to consistently process all work permit applications within the published timelines.

Without elaboration here, the following new policies are included in the 2025 Work Permit Policy document:

• 1.19 Guidelines for Submitting Photos
• 1.20 Guidelines for Submitting Police Certificates
• 3.7 Family Office Permit
• 4.8 Guidelines for Amending the Dates of a Work Permit
• 5.1 Sponsored Dependents Residing and Working in Bermuda
• 6.4 Applications to Reside
• 7.15 Secondments
• 7.16 Layoffs

Other significant changes comprise the following:

1. Processing of Standard Work Permits (Policy 1.1) has been increased from 20 working days to 30 working days reflecting a more realistic processing timeframe. It was evident that the Work Permits team could not consistently meet 20 working days, leading to a backlog of applications and unhappy customers.

2. The policy also includes, in Policy 1.7, the expectation that employers will fill jobs with Bermudians being placed first amongst all other categories of workers.

3. All persons (not just Portuguese nationals) will be required to have a working knowledge of the English language and the burden of proof to ensure that they do will rest with employers. Refer to Policy 1.8.

4. The policy regulating business visitors has been expanded in Policy 2.2 to include utilizing someone for a non-profit organization, a registered charity or a religious institution, such as a sports coach, clergy, or a speaker.

5. Short Term Work Permits will no longer serve as a bridge for Standard Work Permits. This means that employers must determine their business needs upfront, i.e. whether they need a work permit holder for a short period only (1-6 months) or for a longer term (1 year or more). If an employer is likely to require a work permit holder for more than 6 months, they must apply for a Standard Work Permit of at least 1-year validity. Note that applications may still be made for Emergency Short-Term Work Permits. Refer to Policy 3.1 as read with Policy 3.3.

6. A new Family Office Permit has been introduced in Policy 3.7 in alignment of with Bermuda’s new Family Office Framework.

7. Statutory bodies (Policy 3.12) will have 15 working days to review applications and provide a response to the Minister. The number of days has increased from 10 working days as this timeframe was also not consistently met. 

8. Salary bands for Sponsored Dependents (Policy 5.1) have been enhanced to exclude the work permit holders and spouses from the household profile and a new salary band has been added for households of four or more dependents. It is also made clear that spouses are not deemed to be sponsored dependents. Only unmarried partners and children are classified as dependents. 

The Bermuda public will be aware of the ongoing digitalisation project in the Department of Immigration. Although it is currently in its early stages, its design and implementation will include an assessment of the Department’s business processes so that the resulting automation and digitisation are efficient and effective for customers and staff. The work will be undertaken in phases with the first phase being work permit applications. Ultimately, it is anticipated that processing times for applications will decrease, and customers will be able to track applications through the system via a dashboard. 

I encourage all employers, work permit holders, agents, and the public to participate in the consultative process – carefully read the Work Permit Policy 2025 and submit clear and relevant feedback – by responding through forum.gov.bm between 5 June and 4 July 2025. 

Following the consultation period, all feedback will be considered, and the Work Permit Policy document will be finalised, prior to its coming into effect on September 1, 2025.

Thank you.