Working in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
This replaces the general rule for you
No work permit for a citizen of Dominica
Article 12.2 of the Protocol of the Eastern Caribbean Economic Union requires the abolition of any discrimination based on nationality between citizens of Protocol Member States as regards employment, remuneration and other conditions of work and employment. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gave the Protocol the force of law by Act No. 22 of 2011, in operation from 10 August 2011, so a citizen of Dominica works here without the permission non-nationals need from the Prime Minister's Office. Unlike Grenada, Saint Vincent publishes nothing excluding a person who became a citizen of a Protocol Member State under an economic or honourary citizenship programme - and Saint Vincent is the one OECS state with no such programme of its own.
Employing a foreign national is regulated by an Act of 1973, the Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act, Chapter 208, amended in July 2025. Work permits are not handled by the Department of Labour: they sit in the Prime Minister's own portfolio, alongside citizenship, residency and alien's landholding licences, and applications for permission to reside and work are lodged at the Prime Minister's Office in the Financial Complex in Kingstown. Three groups do not need a permit: citizens of the other OECS Protocol states, holders of a CARICOM skills certificate, and since 1 October 2025 nationals of Barbados, Belize and Dominica. Every employee, whatever their nationality, must be registered with the National Insurance Services within seven days of starting.
At a glance
- Statute governing the employment of foreign nationals
- Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act, Chapter 208
Dated 1973 by the Department of Labour. Amended by Act No. 12 of 2025, assented to and published on 30 July 2025. Neither the Act nor the amendment is published.
- Where a work permit is applied for
- The Prime Minister's Office
Not the Department of Labour. The Passport and Immigration Department directs applicants to the Financial Complex in Kingstown, and the Governor-General's assignment of portfolios puts work permits with the Prime Minister.
- Work permit fee
- Not published
No fee schedule for a work permit appears on any Government page we could reach, nor in any Gazette for 2025 or 2026.
- Who does not need a permit
- OECS citizens, CARICOM skills certificate holders, and nationals of Barbados, Belize and Dominica
- CARICOM skills certificate issued by the holder's own state
- 6 months' work
Pending the issue of an upgraded certificate by the Ministry of National Security of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The line is drawn by who issued the certificate, as in Saint Kitts and Nevis, rather than by the form it is in, as in Grenada and Dominica.
- National Insurance registration
- Within 7 days of starting work
The duty is the employer's. The exceptions in the NIS rules are for diplomats and staff of international organisations, not for foreign workers generally.
- Minimum wage
- Set by sector, under regulations of 2004
The Department of Labour publishes a brochure for each of nine sectors and says the complete regulations are sold at the Treasury Department and collected at the Government Printery.
Requirements
- For a foreign national: permission to reside and take up employment, applied for at the Prime Minister's Office, Financial Complex, Kingstown
- For a CARICOM skilled national: a skills certificate, which gives six months' work if issued by the applicant's own state, pending an upgraded certificate issued by the Ministry of National Security
- For a national of Barbados, Belize or Dominica: no permit and no certificate, but registration with the Ministry of National Security and with the National Insurance Services
- For any employee: registration with the National Insurance Services by the employer within seven days of starting work
In detail
The permit is a Prime Minister's decision
In most of the countries in this comparison a work permit is a labour ministry's business and the fee is in a schedule. Here the Department of Labour's legislation page lists thirteen employment Acts, names the Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act of 1973 among them, and says nothing about applying for a permit. The Passport and Immigration Department sends applicants to the Prime Minister's Office. And the Governor-General's assignment of portfolios to the Prime Minister, published in the Gazette of 30 December 2025, lists citizenship, residency, work permits and alien's landholding licences as four consecutive subjects of that office. Residence, work, land and nationality are all decided in the same place.
Three ways past the permit
A citizen of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis or Saint Lucia is a citizen of an OECS Protocol state and is given indefinite stay on arrival; the Protocol has had the force of law here since Act No. 22 of 2011 and Article 12.2 requires the abolition of discrimination based on nationality as regards employment. A CARICOM national with a skills certificate issued by their own government may work for six months while the Ministry of National Security issues an upgraded one. And since 1 October 2025 a national of Barbados, Belize or Dominica needs neither: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that nationals of participating countries may apply for jobs, establish businesses or provide services without a work permit or skills certificate.
What could not be found
No work permit fee is published - not on the Prime Minister's Office pages, not on the Passport and Immigration Department's, not in any Gazette of 2025 or 2026. Neither the Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act nor its 2025 amendment is published, so the conditions an employer has to satisfy, any labour market test, and any penalty for employing without a permit are all unread. The minimum wage regulations are of 2004 and are sold rather than published; the Department of Labour's nine sector brochures are the only figures available.
Country-level policy
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines publishes the fact of its laws and not their text. The Ministry of Legal Affairs puts every weekly Gazette online back to 2016, and each Gazette names the Acts and statutory rules and orders published that week - then says they can be purchased at the Government Printing Office at Campden Park. The House of Assembly publishes a table of every Act passed since 1993, with its long title, its short title, the dates of its readings, assent, publication and any proclamation, and its number. Neither publishes a section of an Act. The Immigration (Restriction) Act, the Immigration (Caribbean Community Skilled Nationals) Act, the Citizenship Act, the Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act and the Aliens (Land Holding Regulation) Act are all unreadable from outside the country, and every one of them governs something on this site.
What applies to you
No work permit for a citizen of Dominica
Article 12.2 of the Protocol of the Eastern Caribbean Economic Union requires the abolition of any discrimination based on nationality between citizens of Protocol Member States as regards employment, remuneration and other conditions of work and employment. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gave the Protocol the force of law by Act No. 22 of 2011, in operation from 10 August 2011, so a citizen of Dominica works here without the permission non-nationals need from the Prime Minister's Office. Unlike Grenada, Saint Vincent publishes nothing excluding a person who became a citizen of a Protocol Member State under an economic or honourary citizenship programme - and Saint Vincent is the one OECS state with no such programme of its own.
- Citizenship of Dominica
What the law says
«An Act to amend the Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act, Chapter 208.»Assented to and published on 30 July 2025, two months before the free movement Acts. What it changed is not stated and the Act is not published.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Parliament's own record. Publishes, for every year from 1993 to 2025, a table of every Act passed: long title, short title, dates of first reading, second and third readings, assent, publication and proclamation, and the Act number. Also publishes the Saint Vincent Constitution Order 1979. This table is the only published index of Vincentian legislation and is what establishes that an Act exists, what it amends, which Chapter it belongs to and exactly when it came into force.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It must never be cited for what an Act says. It carries no text of any Act and never has. It must not be cited for anything before 1993, where its record begins, nor for 2026, for which no table has yet been posted - use the Gazette's weekly legislation notices for that. The proclamation column is empty for almost every Act, which means a proclamation is not recorded, not that commencement did not happen; where it is filled, as for Act No. 22 of 2011, it is reliable. Extraction of the date columns is unreliable: the 2006, 2011 and 2024 tables render some dates as formulas and the 2025 table uses full-width commas, so a date quoted from them should be checked against the PDF. The Constitution Order it publishes is a 21-page scan with no text layer.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«**Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act, 1973** This Act regulates the employment of foreign nationals and Commonwealth citizens in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.»The Department of Labour's own description, and its only statement about the Act. The page gives no link, and its heading note says a copy of the Acts can be purchased at the Government Printery.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes a one-sentence description of each of the thirteen employment statutes it administers, including the Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act 1973, and nine sector brochures giving current minimum wages.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It publishes no text of any Act and no link to one; its own page says a copy of the Acts can be purchased at the Government Printery. It must never be cited for work permits: it does not issue them and does not mention them. Its minimum wage page is headed 2024 but describes regulations of 2004 and says the complete regulations are sold at the Treasury Department, so the brochures are a summary of an instrument nobody can read.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«Non-nationals who wish to take up residence and employment in the state must first obtain permission to do so. Applications should be lodged at the Prime Minister’s Office, Financial Complex, Kingstown.»Residence and employment are treated as one permission, applied for in one place.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The department that stamps passports and issues entry permits. Publishes the periods of stay granted on arrival by nationality, the extension procedure and its charge, the list of countries whose citizens need an entry visa in advance, the visa application requirements and fee, and the list of services the department offers. Also the registration point for nationals exercising CARICOM full free movement.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Everything it publishes is a description of practice, not a citation of the Immigration (Restriction) Act, Chapter 114, which is not published anywhere. It must never be cited as the legal basis for a period of stay, a fee or a visa requirement - only as the administering department's statement of what it does. It is silent on residence and work permits beyond naming the office that decides them, silent on students, and silent on the driving licence exemption its own government announced for full free movement nationals.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Citizenship
Residency
Work Permits
Alien's Landholding Licences»Four consecutive lines of the Schedule to the Governor-General's assignment of 2 December 2025. Immigration decisions in Saint Vincent sit with the head of government, not with a ministry of the interior.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The State's gazette, published weekly and archived online from 2016. Each issue opens with a Legislations notice naming every Act and every Statutory Rule and Order published that week, and carries Governor-General's notices, including the assignment of departments and subjects to each Minister under section 53 of the Constitution. It is the authoritative record that an instrument exists and of the date it was published.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It must never be cited for the content of an Act or a Statutory Rule and Order. The notice says in terms that the instruments 'can be purchased at the Government Printing Office, Campden Park Industrial Estate' - the issue announces them and does not contain them. A handful of Statutory Rules and Orders are posted as separate PDFs beside the 2026 issues; most are not. It must also not be cited for anything before 2016, which is where the online archive starts. File names are not a reliable guide to contents: the file named Gazette_No50_2025.pdf contains issue No. 40 of 30 July 2025.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«CARICOM citizens who possess a CSME certificate, which was issued in their country, would be allowed to work for six (6) months, pending the issuance of an upgraded CSME certificate by the Ministry of National Security of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.»About this source
The department that stamps passports and issues entry permits. Publishes the periods of stay granted on arrival by nationality, the extension procedure and its charge, the list of countries whose citizens need an entry visa in advance, the visa application requirements and fee, and the list of services the department offers. Also the registration point for nationals exercising CARICOM full free movement.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Everything it publishes is a description of practice, not a citation of the Immigration (Restriction) Act, Chapter 114, which is not published anywhere. It must never be cited as the legal basis for a period of stay, a fee or a visa requirement - only as the administering department's statement of what it does. It is silent on residence and work permits beyond naming the office that decides them, silent on students, and silent on the driving licence exemption its own government announced for full free movement nationals.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«An employer shall ensure that every employee is registered with the NIS within 7 days of commencing employment.»There is no nationality condition. The exclusions are for wages under $15 a week, employment by a relative without wages, diplomats, staff of recognised international organisations other than domestic workers, and a spouse.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The contributory social security scheme. Publishes who must be registered and within what period, the exclusions, the benefit list, and detailed accounts of the CARICOM Reciprocal Agreement of 1997 and the OECS Reciprocal Agreement of 1991 including which states are party to each and how totalisation works.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It describes the National Insurance Act rather than publishing it, so registration duties and benefit conditions are the scheme's account rather than a section. It pays cash benefits and must never be cited for access to health care or for what treatment costs. Its account of the two reciprocal agreements is the scheme's own and is not the text of either agreement.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Incoming Nationals who propose to work in St. Vincent and the Grenadines will be required to register with the National Insurance Services (NIS) to become participants and contributors in the NIS system.»About this source
The ministry that holds the CARICOM and CSME portfolio and the national CSME focal point. Publishes the Government's CARICOM Free Movement Regime information note of October 2025, which is the only published statement of how full free movement actually works here - indefinite stay on arrival, registration with National Security, schooling, health care, National Insurance, tools of trade and driving licences. Also hosts the Government's own copies of the Revised Treaty of Basseterre with its Protocol and the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, and an undated CSME skills brochure.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: The information note and the CSME pages describe a regime; they are not the implementing instruments, which are Acts 15 and 16 of 2025 and S.R. & O. 18 and 19 of 2025 and are not published. The skills brochure is undated, names the ministry under a former title and lists skills categories that may no longer match the law. Its visa requirements PDF of July 2020 is about Vincentians travelling abroad and must never be cited for who may enter Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«The following links provide information on the current Minimum Wages and Regulations (2004); however, they do not capture all the details applicable to each employment sector. Physical copies of the complete regulations are available for purchase at the Treasury Department and can be collected at the Government Printery»A page headed 2024 describing regulations of 2004 and pointing to a paper copy for the detail. The nine sector brochures it links are the only published figures.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes a one-sentence description of each of the thirteen employment statutes it administers, including the Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act 1973, and nine sector brochures giving current minimum wages.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It publishes no text of any Act and no link to one; its own page says a copy of the Acts can be purchased at the Government Printery. It must never be cited for work permits: it does not issue them and does not mention them. Its minimum wage page is headed 2024 but describes regulations of 2004 and says the complete regulations are sold at the Treasury Department, so the brochures are a summary of an instrument nobody can read.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The statement that there are only three routes past a work permit rests on the Passport and Immigration Department's visitors' permits page, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' CSME pages and the Protocol of the Eastern Caribbean Economic Union as incorporated by Act No. 22 of 2011. The Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act may contain further exemptions; it is not published and we have not read it.
Registration with the National Insurance Services is the employer's legal duty and carries no nationality condition, so a foreign worker is inside the contributory system from the first week. Contributions made here count towards a long-term benefit elsewhere in CARICOM under the reciprocal agreement of 1997, and short-term benefits travel within the OECS under the agreement of 1991.
- administersDepartment of Labour - Legislation
Department of Labour, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
About this source
Publishes a one-sentence description of each of the thirteen employment statutes it administers, including the Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act 1973, and nine sector brochures giving current minimum wages.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It publishes no text of any Act and no link to one; its own page says a copy of the Acts can be purchased at the Government Printery. It must never be cited for work permits: it does not issue them and does not mention them. Its minimum wage page is headed 2024 but describes regulations of 2004 and says the complete regulations are sold at the Treasury Department, so the brochures are a summary of an instrument nobody can read.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
- administersDepartment of Labour - Current Minimum Wages, 2024
Department of Labour, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
About this source
Publishes a one-sentence description of each of the thirteen employment statutes it administers, including the Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act 1973, and nine sector brochures giving current minimum wages.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It publishes no text of any Act and no link to one; its own page says a copy of the Acts can be purchased at the Government Printery. It must never be cited for work permits: it does not issue them and does not mention them. Its minimum wage page is headed 2024 but describes regulations of 2004 and says the complete regulations are sold at the Treasury Department, so the brochures are a summary of an instrument nobody can read.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
- administersVisitors' Permits, Residence and Work Permits
Ministry of National Security, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
About this source
The department that stamps passports and issues entry permits. Publishes the periods of stay granted on arrival by nationality, the extension procedure and its charge, the list of countries whose citizens need an entry visa in advance, the visa application requirements and fee, and the list of services the department offers. Also the registration point for nationals exercising CARICOM full free movement.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Everything it publishes is a description of practice, not a citation of the Immigration (Restriction) Act, Chapter 114, which is not published anywhere. It must never be cited as the legal basis for a period of stay, a fee or a visa requirement - only as the administering department's statement of what it does. It is silent on residence and work permits beyond naming the office that decides them, silent on students, and silent on the driving licence exemption its own government announced for full free movement nationals.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- issuesGazette of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Vol. 158 No. 69, 30 December 2025
Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Official Gazette, Ministry of Legal Affairs and Justice
About this source
The State's gazette, published weekly and archived online from 2016. Each issue opens with a Legislations notice naming every Act and every Statutory Rule and Order published that week, and carries Governor-General's notices, including the assignment of departments and subjects to each Minister under section 53 of the Constitution. It is the authoritative record that an instrument exists and of the date it was published.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It must never be cited for the content of an Act or a Statutory Rule and Order. The notice says in terms that the instruments 'can be purchased at the Government Printing Office, Campden Park Industrial Estate' - the issue announces them and does not contain them. A handful of Statutory Rules and Orders are posted as separate PDFs beside the 2026 issues; most are not. It must also not be cited for anything before 2016, which is where the online archive starts. File names are not a reliable guide to contents: the file named Gazette_No50_2025.pdf contains issue No. 40 of 30 July 2025.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- reportsRecord of Acts passed by the House of Assembly, 2025
House of Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
About this source
Parliament's own record. Publishes, for every year from 1993 to 2025, a table of every Act passed: long title, short title, dates of first reading, second and third readings, assent, publication and proclamation, and the Act number. Also publishes the Saint Vincent Constitution Order 1979. This table is the only published index of Vincentian legislation and is what establishes that an Act exists, what it amends, which Chapter it belongs to and exactly when it came into force.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It must never be cited for what an Act says. It carries no text of any Act and never has. It must not be cited for anything before 1993, where its record begins, nor for 2026, for which no table has yet been posted - use the Gazette's weekly legislation notices for that. The proclamation column is empty for almost every Act, which means a proclamation is not recorded, not that commencement did not happen; where it is filled, as for Act No. 22 of 2011, it is reliable. Extraction of the date columns is unreliable: the 2006, 2011 and 2024 tables render some dates as formulas and the 2025 table uses full-width commas, so a date quoted from them should be checked against the PDF. The Constitution Order it publishes is a 21-page scan with no text layer.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- administersNational Insurance Services - Employee Programme
National Insurance Services, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
About this source
The contributory social security scheme. Publishes who must be registered and within what period, the exclusions, the benefit list, and detailed accounts of the CARICOM Reciprocal Agreement of 1997 and the OECS Reciprocal Agreement of 1991 including which states are party to each and how totalisation works.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It describes the National Insurance Act rather than publishing it, so registration duties and benefit conditions are the scheme's account rather than a section. It pays cash benefits and must never be cited for access to health care or for what treatment costs. Its account of the two reciprocal agreements is the scheme's own and is not the text of either agreement.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- administersCARICOM Free Movement Regime - Information Note, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Foreign Investment and Diaspora Affairs, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
About this source
The ministry that holds the CARICOM and CSME portfolio and the national CSME focal point. Publishes the Government's CARICOM Free Movement Regime information note of October 2025, which is the only published statement of how full free movement actually works here - indefinite stay on arrival, registration with National Security, schooling, health care, National Insurance, tools of trade and driving licences. Also hosts the Government's own copies of the Revised Treaty of Basseterre with its Protocol and the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, and an undated CSME skills brochure.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: The information note and the CSME pages describe a regime; they are not the implementing instruments, which are Acts 15 and 16 of 2025 and S.R. & O. 18 and 19 of 2025 and are not published. The skills brochure is undated, names the ministry under a former title and lists skills categories that may no longer match the law. Its visa requirements PDF of July 2020 is about Vincentians travelling abroad and must never be cited for who may enter Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
- administersCARICOM Single Market and Economy - Full Free Movement
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Foreign Investment and Diaspora Affairs, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
About this source
The ministry that holds the CARICOM and CSME portfolio and the national CSME focal point. Publishes the Government's CARICOM Free Movement Regime information note of October 2025, which is the only published statement of how full free movement actually works here - indefinite stay on arrival, registration with National Security, schooling, health care, National Insurance, tools of trade and driving licences. Also hosts the Government's own copies of the Revised Treaty of Basseterre with its Protocol and the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, and an undated CSME skills brochure.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: The information note and the CSME pages describe a regime; they are not the implementing instruments, which are Acts 15 and 16 of 2025 and S.R. & O. 18 and 19 of 2025 and are not published. The skills brochure is undated, names the ministry under a former title and lists skills categories that may no longer match the law. Its visa requirements PDF of July 2020 is about Vincentians travelling abroad and must never be cited for who may enter Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source