Bahamas Residence Card for Homeowners
Bahamas
Residency
At a glance
The Bahamas Home Owner Resident Permit is for a non-Bahamian who owns a habitable home in The Bahamas while maintaining a primary home outside the country and can provide the required landholding, deed, and property-tax records.
- Type
- Property-based residence
- Property fit
- Applicant already owns a habitable home in The Bahamas and a primary home abroad
- Core requirements
- A habitable home, outside primary residence, registered deed, landholding certificate, and current property-tax records
- What to know
- No work right or automatic dependent coverage should be assumed
- Duration
- Annual homeowner residence card
- Renewal / path
- Renewable while the property ownership basis remains in place.
Summary
The Home Owner Resident Permit is a residence document for a non-Bahamian property owner. The Department of Immigration says it is issued under the International Persons Landholding Act and is intended to facilitate entry for a person who owns a primary home outside The Bahamas and also owns a habitable home in The Bahamas.
This is not the BSD 1,000,000 economic permanent-residence route. The official homeowner pages do not publish a minimum property value for this permit, but they do require documented ownership, current property-tax payment and a habitable Bahamian residence. The application is still reviewed; purchasing property does not automatically issue the permit.
Eligibility
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says any non-Bahamian who owns property on one of the islands should be eligible to apply. The Department's newer checklist is more specific and asks for:
- a registered deed of conveyance for a home in The Bahamas;
- proof that current real property tax has been paid;
- an International Landholding Certificate;
- proof of a primary home outside The Bahamas, such as home insurance, mortgage documents or a tax certificate;
- the application form and request letter;
- a medical certificate issued no more than 30 days before submission;
- for an applicant aged 14 or older, a police certificate issued no more than six months before submission and covering five years of residence;
- passport and photograph evidence; and
- corporate good-standing, incumbency, marriage or birth records where applicable.
The Department says foreign-language documents require certified English translations and that a first-time applicant should not be in The Bahamas while the application is being processed.
The official pages are not fully aligned on the processing fee: the newer Department page lists BSD 200, while the older Ministry page lists BSD 100 plus BSD 500 on approval. Confirm the amount directly with the Department before payment.
What This Route Allows
The stated purpose is to facilitate a foreign homeowner's entry and residence in connection with the Bahamian home. The same Department form is used for renewal, so the status is renewable if the person continues to qualify and the Department approves the renewal.
The permit issued to the applicant is the controlling document. Applicants should confirm its exact validity dates, entry terms and any conditions rather than rely on generalized statements about how long each visit may last.
What This Route Is Not
- It is not permanent residence, citizenship or a Bahamian passport.
- It is not a work permit and should not be presented as authority for employment, self-employment, operating a local business or remote work.
- It is not automatically issued with a property purchase.
- It does not automatically cover a spouse or children. The official checklist is written per applicant; ask the Department what separate status each family member needs.
- The official pages do not support promises of a particular maximum stay, waiver of a return ticket, public benefits or a citizenship-residence clock.
- Owning through a company should not be assumed to qualify merely because the applicant is a beneficial owner; the Department requests corporate records where applicable and should confirm the accepted ownership structure.
- The permit does not decide tax residence or tax liability.
Next Steps
- Before buying property for this purpose, ask the Department to confirm that the proposed home and ownership structure will qualify and whether an International Landholding Certificate is required.
- Register the conveyance and keep the real-property-tax account current.
- Obtain proof of the applicant's primary home outside The Bahamas.
- Download the current form from the Department's Home Owner Resident Permit page and assemble the listed identity, police, medical, property and corporate records.
- Confirm the current processing and issuance fees because the two official web pages currently show different amounts.
- Follow the Department's current direction about filing from outside The Bahamas and ask what separate applications family members need.
- On approval, read the permit's validity and conditions carefully. Do not work without separate authorization.
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Sources
- Home Owner Resident Permit — Bahamas Department of Immigration — current purpose, documents, translation rules and form.
- Applying for a Home Owners Resident Card — Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs — official eligibility summary, older process information and published fee information.
- Laws of The Bahamas — official source for the International Persons Landholding Act and immigration legislation.