Barbados Is Offering a 12-Month Visa to Encourage Remote Workers to Stay Awhile

Changing your Zoom background to an image of a blissful, sunny beach might be the closest you can get to working from paradise right now, but Barbados wants to help you swap your virtual experience for a real one.

As Condé Nast Traveler reports, the Barbados government has created a 12-month “Barbados Welcome Stamp” visa that will allow visitors to work remotely from the island for up to a year. Barbados already began to reopen its borders to vacationers on July 12, with American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, JetBlue, and British Airways all expected to resume flights there in the next few weeks. That said, the island is requiring all out-of-towners to test negative for COVID-19 before entry, and the increased safety protocols can deter people from thinking a short trip is worth the effort.

Since Barbados’s economy relies heavily on tourism, the government is hoping the opportunity for a long-term stay will encourage visitors to come anyway—especially considering how many people are working from home lately. For many, that trend may not end even after the pandemic does; Global Workplace Analytics estimates that between 25 and 30 percent of the world’s workforce will have transitioned to remote work for multiple days a week by the end of 2021.

According to Barbados Today, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley announced the pending Welcome Stamp program at a reopening event for Primo Bar and Bistro in the St. Lawrence Gap neighborhood of Barbados’s Christ Church parish. During her speech, she stressed the importance of helping the hospitality industry get back on its feet.

“The people who must keep these towns alive are not just those who come from overseas, as we are learning with COVID, but those who live here and who have a responsibility to make sure that this is the best that can be offered in this part of the world,” she said.

Applications for the new stamp are now being accepted online. Click here to learn more.

[h/t Condé Nast Traveler]