Bahamas Digital Nomad Visa

There is no capital threshold, and the reason is in the nature of the route rather than in a blank cell: this is not an investment route. The authority describes it as a one-year residency permit for professionals and students from overseas to work and study remotely from The Bahamas.

Nothing must be placed into the economy, no property, no bonds — every dollar figure in the FAQ is a fee rather than a threshold, and the FAQ does not mention income.

So the authority sets no minimum income — unlike most digital-nomad routes in this table, where a monthly income figure is the first gate. What stands in place of a threshold is three kinds of document, differing across two branches.

Both branches must submit a valid passport and proof of medical insurance for the primary applicant and all dependents. The work-remotely branch must add a job letter from the current employer, or proof of self-employment where applicable.

The study-remotely branch must add evidence of enrollment in an accredited learning institution, plus proof of sufficient funds to cover living expenses and return travel — and the authority states plainly that this financial proof may include parents' financials.

That is the whole of the money requirement before filing; every other figure in this route is a fee, not capital.

The outcome is an annual residence permit, and its ceiling is stated outright — which is rare, since most routes in this table leave the question of what comes next open.

The authority writes: the BEATS permit is an annual residence permit that expires 12 months from the date of issue, and the very next sentence sets the ceiling: applications for annual renewals will be considered for a maximum period up to three years.

Three years is therefore the end of the road inside this route, and the authority says considered rather than granted — renewal is a decision, not an entitlement.

There is not a word about permanent residence or citizenship, and that absence is worth recording rather than filling by inference: this route leads nowhere but itself.

What is issued is not a card but a code: after successful payment the applicant receives a confirmation QR code to show on arrival in The Bahamas.

The deciding body is the immigration authority rather than the tourism authority, despite the site belonging to the Ministry of Tourism:

All BEATS applications will be reviewed by The Bahamas immigration office for approval, applications are filed through the immigration authority's own portal, and the enquiries mailbox is a state address.

Four periods, three of them unusually short for routes of this kind.

Processing: the authority prints five business days outright on the how-it-works page under the label processing time, and repeats on the FAQ that there is an estimated five day processing time for all BEATS applications — an immigration officer will approve or deny within those five business days.

Validity: the length of permit is one year, expiring 12 months from the date of issue.

Ceiling: annual renewals are considered only for a maximum period up to three years. The fourth period is one that does not exist, and it deserves recording because it inverts the usual assumption: asked about a minimum length of stay, the authority answers verbatim no minimum length of stay required.

The holder therefore need not prove a number of days in the country — unlike residence routes that tie status to presence.

For the student branch the year is defined by the academic calendar rather than the civil one: one academic year, to include fall, spring and summer semesters.

One note on the text's age: the FAQ still carries an intact section on pandemic testing and health declarations, so this is content drafted in that period and not since rewritten, although the footer carries 2026 and the application portal is live.

There is almost no residence condition, and what this route actually sells is the right to move around inside the host country rather than the right to sit in one place.

The authority states plainly what it replaces: a typical visit to The Bahamas requires visitors to show proof of anticipated departure, whereas with BEATS visitors can live and travel throughout the Islands for up to a year.

The scope is given in numbers rather than adjectives: the archipelago holds over 700 islands and cays, of which sixteen are welcoming visitors, and the permit holder may move among all sixteen.

There is no accommodation requirement: no lease is demanded, no registered address, and asked about it the authority merely suggests options ranging from hotels and resorts with extended-stay programmes to home rentals and Airbnbs.

There is no minimum-days requirement.

One point about entry is easily misread as visa exemption and is not: the authority answers that citizens from the USA, Canada, the EU and Britain do not need an additional travel permit beyond the BEATS permit.

A statement about overlapping formalities for those four groups, not a visa-free list, and for other nationalities the authority points to a separate entry-requirements page.

The status granted is residence, not local employment: the work must be remote, for an employer elsewhere or self-employed.

Dependants are admitted and are charged separately, and the authority sets one rule about spouses that applications routinely get wrong at the filing stage.

The structure is a principal applicant plus dependants: the permit fee is 1,000 for the head of household and 500 for each dependent, while the 25 application fee is charged both for the principal and for each dependant — so a family of four does not pay 25 once but four times.

The documents apply to the whole group rather than to the person signing: the primary applicant and every dependent must each produce a valid passport and proof of medical insurance.

The rule most often missed sits here, and the authority prints it as a standalone note: married couples will be required to submit separate applications if both parties intend to work from the Bahamas; however, only one of them need apply on behalf of mutual dependants.

Two working spouses therefore mean two files and two permit fees of 1,000, not one file with a dependant — and filing it the other way leaves the second spouse without the right to work.

For the student branch the authority says nothing about dependants, but opens a door in the other direction: a student's proof of sufficient funds may include parents' financials.

The status this programme grants, whether a visa or a residence permit, does not replace the holder's passport. The holder still travels on the passport of their own country, so the figure below belongs to the Bahamas passport and becomes the holder's only once they are issued a Bahamas passport.

According to the Passport Index of Prosperous Intelligence, on data dated 30 September 2026, the Bahamas passport reaches 168 destinations without applying for a consular visa in advance. The figure combines three forms of entry and does not count an e-Visa that must be obtained beforehand:

It is therefore a measure of how easily the holder travels, not a count of visa-free countries in the narrow sense.

For comparison, on the same source and the same method of counting, the Vietnamese passport reaches 44 destinations. The two lists of destinations do not nest inside one another, so the difference is an indication rather than a list of places newly opened.

Prosperous Intelligence dates its data and advises checking with the destination’s official authorities before travelling.

The authority says nothing at all about tax: the FAQ mentions neither tax nor income.

That silence is worth stating because it falls exactly where a reader most needs an answer: someone working remotely for an employer abroad while resident for up to three years will ask where they owe tax — and this route does not say.

The pages also state no day-count threshold, and a day count is precisely what determines tax residence in most systems, so even an indirect inference has nothing to rest on.

The only thing this source establishes is scope: the permit allows remote work, meaning income arising from an employer elsewhere or from self-employment rather than from a local job.

Anyone needing the real position must open the Bahamian revenue authority's sources and those of the country where they are currently taxed, not this programme's portal.

Every cost here is a fee, with no investment component, and the authority prints each line — but two of its own pages label the currency differently, which must be said before anyone budgets.

The how-it-works page closes with: all fees quoted are in Bahamian currency. The FAQ attaches USD to every line. The Bahamian dollar is pegged at par with the US dollar so the figures coincide, but two pages from one authority naming two units is something to record rather than quietly resolve.

The schedule, per the FAQ: the work branch, an individual applicant pays a total of 1,025 — a 25 application fee plus a 1,000 permit fee; a family application pays 25 for each applicant and 25 for each dependant, plus 1,000 per applicant and 500 per dependant.

The study branch totals 525 — a 25 application fee plus a 500 permit fee. The order of payment is worth remembering because it runs against habit: the application is approved first, only then does the applicant receive an email with payment instructions, and the QR code issues only once payment clears.

A further block of cost sits outside the permit and applies only to students wanting University of The Bahamas services, which the authority itemises in seven lines.

They are a technology fee of 300 covering all three semesters, an id card at 20, library at 125 covering all three semesters, and the Bahamian Cultural Experience Course at 690 for one three-credit course.

The remaining three are an application fee of 50, miscellaneous of 500, and a student activity fee of 100 covering fall and spring.

Taken together, a student using the full package pays several times the cost of their own permit.