Living in the British Virgin Islands

Living in the BVI: through a job

The Virgin Islands government recognises two permanent forms of status: Residence Status and Belonger Status. Residence Status normally goes only to people who have lived on the islands for ten years without a break, never away for more than a year and never absent for more than 90 days in any one year. Add good character, references from locals, a course on the islands' history and culture, and evidence of contributing to the community. The Immigration Board reviews; Cabinet decides.

Until then you live in the BVI on a work permit. The government describes the way in as entry for work: employer and employee must complete their steps before you arrive. An investment-for-residence programme of the kind Cayman, Turks and Caicos or Anguilla offer is not among the routes the government lists.

Tax and land

The Inland Revenue Department collects, among other things, payroll tax, stamp duty and property tax, plus levies on car rentals, hotel stays and licences. A tax on private investment income is not part of that list.

A non-belonger who wants to buy land or a house needs a Non-Belonger Land Holder's Licence; the government lists it among the documents for a later residence application. Allow time for the licence, because without it nothing is registered.

The BVI company, briefly

The BVI Business Company is one of the best-known company forms in the world. The question that decides its tax treatment is where you live. If you live in Europe and own a BVI company, your home country may ask where the company is really managed, and may tax the profits of a low-taxed foreign company in the hands of its resident owner under its own rules. A BVI company without a move is a structuring decision that starts with your home country's law, not with the islands. The company account is the hardest part; see our article on banking in the BVI.

The EU list: Annex II, with a deadline

The British Virgin Islands are not on the blacklist (Annex I), but they are in Annex II of the EU list of 9 October 2026. Annex II gathers jurisdictions regarded as cooperative that still have commitments to meet. The BVI have committed to request and receive an in-depth review by the OECD Global Forum by 15 February 2027, to lift their rating on exchange of information on request to at least "largely compliant".

In practice: if the islands do not keep that commitment, the Council can move them to Annex I at one of its next revisions. The list is reviewed twice a year. Your home country may apply its own defensive rules to territories on the EU blacklist, so a move to Annex I could change how payments to BVI companies, dividends from them and holdings in them are treated at home. If you are building a BVI structure today, keep that date in view. How the list works is on our page on the EU list of tax havens.

Moving to the islands yourself does not end your home country's interest in you on the day you leave. It may tax your company shares on emigration or keep a claim on you for some years if business and assets stay behind. Check that at home first.

Who the BVI suit

As a home: people with a job on the islands, in financial services or tourism for example, who are ready to earn their status over years. Wealthy people without a job have easier doors in the Caribbean, such as the Cayman Islands or Anguilla.

From twenty years of work with the British territories: the BVI are built for structures, not for newcomers. That is not a criticism, just the instructions on the box.

Sources: Government of the Virgin Islands: Apply for Residence Status; Government of the Virgin Islands: Live permanently in the Virgin Islands; Government of the Virgin Islands: Inland Revenue Department; Council of the EU: conclusions of 9 October 2026 on the EU list