Where you can move for work if your passport is from Dominica

The general rule it sits on

Two statutes have to be read together and only one of them is legible. The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code, Cap. 27, is what forbids a non-citizen to work without a work permit and lists the handful of people the prohibition does not reach; the Immigration and Passport Act 2014 is what controls whether they may be here at all, and ties the length of their permission to the life of the permit. The Act exempts two classes from needing a permit at all: the holder of a permanent residence permit under section 42, and the spouse of a citizen holding a residence permit under section 47, who may work in any occupation for as long as the marriage subsists. The Labour Code's own exemption list, as it stands in the Revised Edition, does not reach OECS or CARICOM nationals - which is a sharp divergence from Saint Kitts and Nevis, whose Immigration Act exempts them by name.

The general rule it sits on

A work permit is not issued under the Immigration Act at all. It comes from a separate 1968 statute, the Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens (Employment) Act, which makes it an offence for a foreign national or a Commonwealth citizen to work without one and for anyone to employ them. The Minister of Labour decides in his absolute discretion; permits run twelve months and the fee is set by nationality - nothing for a CARICOM skills certificate holder and for a citizen of five named Eastern Caribbean states, EC$1,000 for a short list of CARICOM countries and Cuba, EC$3,000 for other Commonwealth, European and American nationals, EC$5,000 for everyone else. The Ministry's own guidance adds categories, deadlines and an advertising requirement that the Act does not contain.

The general rule it sits on

Work in Jamaica runs on a permit issued by the Minister of Labour under the Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens (Employment) Act, and the permit is issued to the worker in the worker's own name while naming the employer and the place of work - so it does not travel with you to a new job. Both the worker and anyone who employs a worker without one commit an offence. Two groups fall outside the requirement. Caribbean Community nationals exercising rights of establishment, providing services or moving capital are exempted by a Schedule that an Act of 2011 wrote into the Act. Holders of a Caribbean Community skills certificate are outside it under a different Act altogether. Everyone else needs the permit, and the Ministry publishes no fee for it - only the statement that one is payable by the employer on approval.

The general rule it sits on

Work is permit-first and employer-led, and the Act puts a condition on it that most countries put in guidance: the application must be made while the prospective employee is outside the Federation. You cannot arrive as a visitor, find a job and regularise - except on renewal, or where the Minister directs otherwise by Order. The permit itself carries the status: holders are entitled to a work permit holder's residency, and their spouses and minor children can be granted temporary residence. The Minister may also require the employer to post security sufficient to repatriate the worker and the family, and until that security is furnished the permit has no effect at all.

The general rule it sits on

Two permissions, from two Ministers, under two Acts. The immigration officer writes a permit under section 12 of the Immigration Act for the purpose of employment, capped at six months and extendable only to a year from entry. The work itself needs a work permit under Part 6 of the Labour Act, granted or refused by the Minister and cancellable on thirty days' notice. Three groups do not need the work permit: a citizen of an Eastern Caribbean Protocol member state, exempted by Order since 18 August 2014 unless they bought that citizenship; the holder of a Caribbean Community skills certificate, who may not be subjected to any restriction on gainful employment that would not apply to a Saint Lucian; and a person who holds a permit entitling them to reside permanently. The Immigration Act also puts the cost of a failed posting on the employer: if an employee admitted under a contract becomes removable, the first employer pays the whole bill for maintenance, transport and deportation.

The general rule it sits on

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.

The general rule it sits on

Everyone who is not a citizen, not a resident, and not inside the thirty-day window needs a work permit. Regulation 10 of the Immigration Regulations puts the prohibition on the worker and on the employer at once, and makes both of them guilty of an offence if it is broken. The thirty-day window is narrow and exact: one period not exceeding thirty days in every twelve consecutive months, so it cannot be split into two fortnights. The employer applies, not the worker, and for fewer than ten people the application is made online through TTBizLink. The fees doubled on 1 January 2026: TT$1,200 to apply and TT$900 a month for the duration of the permit, subject to a minimum of TT$2,700. A CARICOM national exercising rights under the Skilled Nationals Act is exempt from regulation 10 altogether. So, on the face of the Regulations, is a CARICOM national exercising the right of establishment or the right to provide a service under the Caribbean Community (Movement of Factors) Act - an Act that does not exist in the Laws of Trinidad and Tobago.