Sack off commuting for lazy days on the white sand beaches of Barbados – and maybe a little bit of work…
Most of you are probably pretty used to working from home by now, right? You’ve mastered Zoom calls from bed, spreadsheets from the sofa, and the odd personal development meeting from the kitchen – which means you’re ready to embark on the next level of working from home: working from paradise. The ‘Barbados Welcome Stamp’ has been officially launched by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, and will see overseas visitors invited to set up their home office in Barbados for a year-long stay.
Mottley revealed that the Barbados Welcome Stamp will allow “persons to come and work from here overseas, digitally so, so that persons don’t need to remain in the countries in which they are”. And as the rain falls and the wind blows outside my window – in August, lest we forget – the idea of WFB (Working From Barbados) becomes ever more attractive. It’s a canny move for a nation in which tourism makes a significant contribution to the economy; as short-term trips can be completely upended by the arrival of, oh I don’t know, let’s say a global pandemic, a twelve-month stay encourages “slow travel”, and lets one really explore the destination you’re visiting. With Barbados reopening to tourists from July 12, the need to welcome back visitors and encourage them to spend has become even more pressing. Plus, you can have Zoom meetings on the beach, which is sure to make your colleagues green with envy.
To take advantage of the extremely attractive scheme, guests are required to fill out an application form online, including copies of your passport and other documents, as well as cough up $2000 for the visa – should you meet the application criteria. Sounds simple enough to me. So, if you’ve got a healthy-looking savings account and fancy jetting off to a place marginally more tropical than Manchester, you can check out the scheme here.