Expat Community > Bermuda

XBDA
Joined 2017
Posts: 37

Should you move to Bermuda to work

7 years ago

Bermuda is ok to work at if you just want a change of scene for 6 months or a year. It's lovely to spend evenings BBQing on the beach.

But if you want a longer term career, Bermuda is terrible, mostly because the island's immigration policies are ridiculous.

- most work permits are just one year, which means you never have job certainty for more than a few months. The longest possible permit is five years, and those are very rare.
- unless you marry a "Bermudian" you can NEVER become a permanent resident. That goes for your children born on the island too. So no matter how long you are there (some are there for decades), you know for sure you will be forced out eventually.
- even if you have a valid work permit, they will deport your children when they turn 18.
- expats are banned from owning a home, so you have to rent dumpy apartments at outrageous rates
- promotions require the same convoluted immigration approval as getting a job in the first place, so prepare to be passed over for someone less qualified
- expats are banned from owning more than 40% of a business, so you can never become your own boss
- the work permit only allows you to work one job and they are absurdly strict about it. If your co-worker is sick, forget about filling in for them for one day. If your garage band is asked to play at a wedding, you will have to decline as you don't have a work permit. If a friend asks you to help them move, a Bermudian nationalist might come up to you and ask if you have a work permit as a mover.

The cost of living is very high because of hidden taxes and the local monopolies that exist due to the anti-foreign ownership laws.

You also have to live with frequent water shortages (and buying large quantities of water is insanely expensive), lackadaisical pest control (so your $3000/month apartment gets infested with rats and roaches), as well as the usual inconveniences of living in an isolated part of the world. Oh, and don't forget the ritual humiliation and scam of expats known as the Bermuda Driving Test.

So unless you are getting paid two or three times what you would make elsewhere, Bermuda in the long term isn't worth it.

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Should you move to Bermuda to work

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