Barbados has launched Barbados Welcome Stamp, a one-year work visa that offers foreigners the right to live and work in Barbados while the COVID-19 pandemic is ridden out.
Starting from now, applicants can send their personal information at a portal website. Applications will be processed under 72 hours and they may be approved to come live and work in Barbados.
A non-refundable fee of $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for family is charged for the application and once that is paid, a successful applicant is all set.
While announcing the offer recently, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley said: “You don’t need to work in Europe, or the U.S or Latin America if you can come here and work for a couple months at a time, go back and come back.”
The urge to reside on a tropical island may be a good one under normal situations but a spokesperson for the government managing the program said it makes more sense during the current situation with COVID-19.
The Canadian Director for Barbados Tourism and Marketing Organization, Peter Mayers, during an interview said so far, Barbados has recorded 106 official cases of COVID-19 and seven deaths.
He made it known that the health-care system of Barbados has been able to stay on top of the crisis so far as officials have put in place two facilities dedicated to COVID-19 patients in an effort to keep them out of hospitals. The two isolation wards can house more than 200 people.
He said: “When persons start to consider looking for travel options in jurisdictions that have managed the COVID crisis well, Barbados must be on the radar.”
He also revealed that there are many schooling and daycare options which are not currently closed or limited in any capacity and added that Barbados has the fastest fibre internet and mobile services in the Caribbean.
Suitable house for a family can be gotten for about $1,000 US a month, as such, the program is more ideal for families than individuals.
Mayers said: “It’s a unique opportunity to remedy cabin fever and at the same time help our tourism industry.”
