Bahamas permanent residency by investment requires placing at least $1,000,000 into qualifying Bahamian real estate or Zero Coupon Bonds from the Central Bank, holding that investment for at least ten years, and passing character, medical, and financial checks. If the Board of Immigration approves your application, you receive a lifetime Certificate of Permanent Residence. The investment floor was raised from $750,000, so older figures you may see online are out of date.1UNCTAD Investment Policy Hub. Tightens Eligibility Requirements for Economic Permanent Residence
What Counts as a Qualifying Investment
Only two asset classes qualify: real estate in the Bahamas, or Zero Coupon Bonds purchased from the Central Bank of The Bahamas.2Department of Immigration. Permanent Residence There is no general business-investment pathway, whatever some third-party immigration sites suggest. Whichever asset you choose, the minimum is $1,000,000 and the holding period is ten years. Selling early is treated as a breach of the conditions attached to your certificate.
If you buy property, the purchase must be recorded with the Registrar General’s Department. Because you are not a resident at the time of purchase, you also need a permit under the International Persons Landholding Act before the transaction is legally valid.3Government of The Bahamas. International Persons Landholding Act The permit application asks for a police record, proof of stamp duty payment, a site plan, and evidence of your finances. Once you hold permanent residency, later land purchases are exempt from the permit requirement.
The bond route is simpler on paper. Your investment sits with the Central Bank and you provide direct confirmation from the Bank as proof. The bonds pay no periodic interest; your return comes only from the discount at which you purchase them, realized at maturity.
Who Can Apply, and Who Can Come With You
You must be at least 18 years old and demonstrate good character. In practice that means a clean police record from every country where you have lived for more than six months, plus two written character references from people who are not relatives.2Department of Immigration. Permanent Residence You also need to show you can support yourself and any dependents without public assistance.
A spouse and children under 18 can be included on the same application so the whole family receives status together. Each family member needs their own police record where age applies, a medical certificate, a birth certificate, and passport photographs. Marriage certificates are required for a spouse, and any foreign-language document must be professionally translated into English.
Documents You Need to Assemble
The application uses Form IV, “Application for a Certificate of Permanent Residence.”4Department of Immigration. Application for a Certificate of Permanent Residence It must be completed in duplicate and notarized by a lawyer or Justice of the Peace. It covers personal details, your immigration history in the Bahamas, employment background, criminal history, financial standing, and the nature of your investment.
Alongside Form IV, plan to submit:
- A police certificate from your home country and every jurisdiction where you have lived more than six months, issued within six months of filing.
- A medical certificate from a licensed physician, dated no earlier than 30 days before submission.2Department of Immigration. Permanent Residence
- A bank reference letter confirming your financial reliability and citing an asset range.
- Evidence of the investment itself: a recorded conveyance for real estate, or Central Bank confirmation for Zero Coupon Bonds.
- Two written character references from non-relatives.
- Certified copies of birth certificates for every applicant, a marriage certificate if including a spouse, and passport bio pages with at least two months of validity remaining.
- Two passport-size photos (2×2 inches) on a white background, taken within six months and labeled on the back.
- A $4.00 Bahamian postage stamp affixed to the application.
Every foreign-language document must be accompanied by a certified English translation that is signed, notarized, and carries a $10.00 Bahamian postage stamp.
How the Application Moves Through Immigration
You file the completed package in person at the Department of Immigration headquarters in Nassau and pay a non-refundable processing fee of $200 by credit or debit card, postal or money order, or bank-certified check.2Department of Immigration. Permanent Residence The department opens a file and begins vetting your documents.
An interview with an immigration officer follows. The officer confirms the information in your Form IV and evaluates your intentions for residing in the Bahamas. Your file then goes to the Board of Immigration, which has the legal authority to approve or deny it and reviews the economic substance of your investment against the statutory requirements. Processing time depends on volume, and no guaranteed timeline is published for standard applications.
Certificate Fees and the Work Rights Decision
The fee you pay upon approval depends on whether you want to work. An Economic Permanent Residence Certificate with the right to engage in gainful occupation in your own business costs $25,000. Without work rights, appropriate if you are retired or earning from outside the country, the certificate costs $20,000.5Department of Immigration. Immigration Fee Scale Both are on top of the $200 processing fee paid at submission.
The distinction matters. Permanent residency alone does not authorize employment; only the work endorsement lets you operate your own business. If your plans might shift, retirement now, a business venture later, the $5,000 difference is worth thinking through before you file, since upgrading afterward is a separate process.
Real Estate Costs Beyond the Purchase Price
Most applicants meet the threshold through property, so budget for the extras. The Bahamas imposes government stamp duty on real estate transactions, scaled by price. For non-Bahamian buyers on transactions above $1,000,000, the rate is generally 10% of the transaction value, customarily split between buyer and seller. On a $1,000,000 property, that could mean roughly $50,000 in stamp duty on your side.
Annual real property tax also applies. Owner-occupied residential property gets the most favorable treatment: the first $300,000 of assessed value is exempt, the next $200,000 is taxed at 0.625%, and value above $500,000 is taxed at 1%.6Inland Revenue Department. FAQ’s – RPT Residential property that is not your primary home (four units or fewer) is taxed differently: a $300 flat fee covers the first $75,000 of value, and value above that is taxed at 0.625%. On a $1,000,000 investment property you do not occupy, expect roughly $5,800 a year in property tax.
The Bahamas also charges 10% Value Added Tax on goods and services, though how VAT applies to real estate transactions can vary. Between stamp duty, property tax, legal fees, and the landholding permit, realistic closing costs on a qualifying purchase can add 7% to 12% on top of the sticker price.
How You Can Lose the Certificate
The certificate is issued for life, but the Board of Immigration can revoke it in specific circumstances under the Immigration Act.7Department of Immigration. Immigration Act The main risk factors are:
- Living outside the Bahamas continuously for three or more years.
- Being imprisoned in any country for a criminal offense for one year or more within five years of receiving the certificate, or being convicted at any time of an offense punishable by seven or more years in prison.
- Obtaining the certificate through false representation or concealment of material facts.
- Failing to observe a condition attached to the certificate, which includes selling your qualifying investment inside the ten-year holding period.
- Conducting yourself in a way the Board considers contrary to the public interest.
The three-year absence rule is the one that surprises people. If you plan to split time between the Bahamas and another country, return often enough that you never accumulate a continuous three-year gap.
If Your Application Is Denied
A denial is not the end of the road. You can request reconsideration by writing to the Director of Immigration within three months of the refusal letter.8Department of Immigration. Reconsideration Request (Requirements) The package requires another $200 non-refundable processing fee, a copy of the refusal letter, a letter to the Director explaining why the decision should be revisited, two current passport photographs, and a copy of your current passport bio page. Foreign-language documents must be translated, notarized, and stamped to the same standard as the original application. Miss the three-month window and this route closes.
Tax Picture and What Residency Does Not Change
The Bahamas does not levy personal income tax, capital gains tax, or inheritance tax. There are no double tax treaties because there is no domestic income tax for a treaty to address. Investment income, business profits, and inherited wealth are not taxed at the national level.
Bahamas residency does not change U.S. tax obligations if you are a U.S. citizen or green card holder. The United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live. You must keep filing U.S. income tax returns, and you may also owe Form 8938 for specified foreign financial assets above the applicable thresholds and FinCEN Report 114, the FBAR, if the aggregate value of your foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point in the year.9Internal Revenue Service. U.S. Citizens and Residents Abroad – Filing Requirements Most other nationalities shed home-country tax obligations once they establish residency elsewhere; U.S. and Eritrean citizens are the notable exceptions. Talk to a cross-border tax advisor before assuming the zero-tax environment covers your full picture.
Does It Lead to Citizenship
Permanent residency is not citizenship, and the distance between the two is real. To become eligible for Bahamian citizenship by naturalization, you must hold permanent residency for at least ten years and actually have resided in the Bahamas for at least six of the years preceding your final twelve months before applying.10Department of Immigration. Citizenship Holding the certificate while living elsewhere does not satisfy the physical residency requirement. Citizenship is a separate application with its own review, and approval is not guaranteed even after you meet the time thresholds.