myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Hi there I just retrurned from beautiful Tobago and am wondering how to get a working visa and or how long am I allowed to stay as a visitor? Where can I look for this info or maybe you have some good insughts for me. thanks

Hi Leslie,

My knowledge may not be the most accurate, but from experience, you can stay for three months and then you need to visit Immigration to see if you can get an extension. You can do this a couple of times, but it does get more difficult. To qualify for an extension, you need to be able to prove various things (depending on which immigration officer you see!!), but most usually, only that you can support yourself while you're here (so bring an up-to-date bank statement if you're planning on being here longer than 3 months!!). There's nothing to stop you doing this two or three times, but it does get harder each time! You also need a valid return plane ticket to your home country, and the stamp on your extension (assuming it's granted!) will be valid until the plane ticket expires. The more expensive flight tickets usually let you make changes without incurring any penalties, so it's worth considering paying more initially, but knowing that you're not going to be charged for moving your return date. When we came over, we paid a small fortune for our fully changeable tickets on Virgin, but were able to move the date each time we went to immigration (and there were several trips!!), then finally, when we were granted work permits, Virgin completely refunded us our return portion of the flight. It ended up working out cheaper than getting a cheap flight that we couldn't move!

As far as working goes, I've known people be granted stays on the island as they're either studying or working in a voluntary capacity for a charity. You DO, from my experience, need a work permit, regardless of how long you're staying for, if you're planning on working. I've also been told that you can work for one month without one, but I've yet to actually see that in practice! If you've good skills that are in short supply here, and you can find someone willing to offer you a job, then you'd need to start the Work Permit application, which takes a minimum of a month, usually nearer two. That way, you can work for a year (or two years, depending on the duration of the permit). Even as a business owner here, if you're planning on actually working, you need a permit.

I hope this helps. As I say - it's only personal experience. It may not be the completely right way to do it - it's just the way it worked out for us!

Lisa.

Leslie, the current regs allow for a foreign person to work for up to 3 months per year without a work permit. If you are going to exceed this then a work permit is definitely needed.

But be warned that the process is onerous. The employer must be able to show that no locals are available, or applied for the job. The process goes roughly like this: the employer advertises the job in the newspapers, with a requirement that applicants also submit a copy to the Ministry of Labour. The employer must then show that no suitable locals applied - this requires the agreement of the Ministry of Labour. The the employer submits the application on behalf of the applicant to the Ministry of National Security, which forwards it to Cabinet for approval. Some of the documentation required includes proof of education and/or professional qualifications, as well as certificate(s) of good character from the applicants local police department. The process can take months!
Hope this helps,
Clyde

leslie, are you from the uk? if so, the process for being granted a work permit (and the reasons for not granting one) are very similar. a point to note is that it is a legal requirement that the employer actively seek to recruit and train a national to do your job during the lifetime of your permit. never seen this enforced but...

a good tip i got given was to apply for your permit on the basis that the job youre to be doing requires skills above and beyond the normal requirements for that post. so for example "nurse" is a bit too simple but nurse with "extra qualifications in emergency rooms" would be quite specific and makes for a stronger application. languages are always good add-ons, especially in the tourist sector. the local ad must state that the special skill (whatever it may be) is a requirement for the post so tell the prospective boss that s/he needs to advertise for, say, a scuba-instructor fluent in mandarin or something.

of course you can extend the visa and thats ok once or twice. gets very frought and anxiety provoking after that. partly as no-one tells you what the process is and so you get called here there and everywhere at differing times and days before you get the stamp. we started one application in scarborough on a tuesday morning and finished it the following thursday evening in the immigrations offices in the airport! i really thought i was going to get chucked out as i just got a message telling me to report to immigration officer X "this evening" at crown point. (turns out hed over-extended the extension and so he just crossed out the stamp and re-wrote it in pen ). strictly speaking you can leave after 90 days and come back in after 91 days and start again but immigration take a dim view of that usually. Proof of income from overseas - pension statements, interest statements from investments etc very handy for those type of interviews.

also, get testimonials from people on island. if you do any charity or voluntary work - get a letter saying so. if you employ local labour - say so. get your landlord to write saying how grateful they are to have you as a tenant - some might even exaggerate the figures a bit for you !! rough up a spreadsheet showing your spend when on island - if you can, show where youre spending ie local business, shops etc. anything that shows you contributing - socially, financially, whatever!, will strengthen your application. if you have a current clear enhanced UK CRB you'll cut out the "good character" hassle as well

as well as having the return ticket i think that you still need to post a bond

worth it though

paul

Thanks Paul for a very informative post. Sounds like you are doing or have done this yourself. Priceless sharing.

Happy New Year

Hugh