the Bahamas digital nomad visa 2026: requirements, tax & how to apply

Overview

The Bahamas does not operate a classic digital nomad visa in the mould of Costa Rica or Portugal — there is no statutory monthly income threshold you must clear. Instead it runs the Bahamas Extended Access Travel Stay permit, branded BEATS, introduced in late 2020 by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and administered through the Department of Immigration. It lets you live in the Bahamas while working or studying remotely for an employer or clients based outside the country.

BEATS is a residence permit, not a work permit for the local market. It authorises you to be physically present and to work online for foreign income; it does not let you take a Bahamian job or serve the local market. The headline attraction is the tax environment: the Bahamas levies no personal income tax, so your remote earnings are not taxed locally while you are there.

Who it's for

BEATS fits people whose income comes entirely from outside the Bahamas and who want a low-tax base without buying property or hitting a salary threshold. It is not a path to local employment and not, by itself, a route to permanent residency or citizenship.

• Salaried remote employees of a company based outside the Bahamas
• Freelancers and contractors invoicing foreign clients
• Founders and self-employed people drawing income from a business based abroad
• Students enrolled at an accredited institution studying remotely (a separate, cheaper BEATS category)

Income requirement (exact)

This is where the Bahamas differs from most nomad-visa countries. There is no published minimum monthly income figure for BEATS. What you must evidence instead is:

• That your work is remote and for an employer or clients outside the Bahamas — a job letter from your foreign employer, or proof of self-employment.
• Sufficient means to support yourself (and any dependents) during the stay, including return travel — typically shown through bank statements.
• Valid health/medical insurance and a clean police record.

Tax treatment: does it make you tax-resident?

The Bahamas has no personal income tax, no capital gains tax, no inheritance, estate or gift tax, and no net wealth tax. So while you hold BEATS and live there, your remote earnings are not taxed by the Bahamas. Government revenue comes instead from VAT, customs duties, business licence fees and real property tax.

Crucially, BEATS does not by itself grant formal tax residency. The Bahamas does not issue income-tax residency certificates in the way high-tax countries do, because there is no income tax to be resident for. If you need a treaty-grade tax-residency certificate to break residency in your home country, the stronger route is annual residence or residency by investment (a minimum US$1,000,000 qualifying property purchase, held ten years, with a US$20,000 government fee), not the BEATS permit.

Your home-country obligations are separate and do not disappear. US citizens and green-card holders are taxed on worldwide income regardless of where they live, and should look at the FEIE and self-employment tax; the Bahamas has no income-tax treaty with the US. Non-US nationals need to confirm they have genuinely broken tax residency at home before assuming their income is untaxed. See our companion guide on how the Bahamas actually determines tax residency.

Duration & renewal

• Initial term: 12 months from the date the permit is issued (an annual residence permit).
• Renewal: renewable annually, up to a maximum of three years in total.
• The permit does not lead automatically to permanent residency; a longer stay requires a separate application under the standard residency rules.

Family

You can bring dependents. Each dependent is added to the application with their own permit fee, and each needs valid health insurance and supporting documentation. A married couple where both intend to work remotely must file separate applications, but one applicant can apply on behalf of shared dependents. Neither the main applicant nor any dependent may take up gainful employment inside the Bahamas during the permit term.

How to apply

1. Confirm eligibility: remote work or study for an entity outside the Bahamas, valid passport, health insurance, and funds to support your stay.
2. Complete the online BEATS application on the Department of Immigration portal and pay the US$25 application fee.
3. Upload supporting documents: passport, job letter or proof of self-employment (or student enrolment), proof of medical insurance, and a police certificate.
4. Wait for review — an immigration officer typically decides within about 5 business days.
5. On approval, pay the permit fee (US$1,000 for a professional; US$500 per dependent; US$500 for a student).
6. Receive your confirmation (a QR code) to present on arrival in the Bahamas.

Cost & timeline

How Expectat helps you get there

The Bahamas is unusual: the immigration route is light, but the real work is proving your remote-income and funds documentation cleanly and making sure the zero-tax base actually holds where it matters — back home. We stop you assuming BEATS breaks your tax residency when it may not.

• We map your situation and numbers: your income sources, the funds you can document, and how a Bahamas base interacts with tax residency where you live now.
• We assess whether BEATS is enough or whether you need the annual-residence or residency-by-investment route to get a defensible tax position and a residency certificate.
• We execute on the ground with vetted local partners, handling the immigration filing, insurance and banking setup on arrival.

Book a strategy call and we will tell you plainly whether the Bahamas is the right base and what it takes to make the tax picture stick.