The Bahamas · Residency by investment
Economic Certificate of Permanent Residence
Reformed
Last verified July 2026
Open, but repriced. The minimum investment rose from BSD 750,000 to BSD 1,000,000 with effect from 1 January 2025, and a 10-year holding condition now applies. The Immigration Board may revoke residency if the investment is disposed of earlier. BSD is pegged 1:1 to USD.
This is one of very few places on earth offering lifetime residency, genuine zero taxation on income, capital gains and estates, and a 50-minute flight to Miami. For a US-adjacent family that wants the tax result and does not need another passport, it is close to unbeatable. But it is a residency play only. There is no dual citizenship, so the naturalisation endgame is closed for essentially every UHNW client.
Qualifying routes
$1M
Bahamian real estate
BSD 1,000,000 minimum, held for at least 10 years. Raised from BSD 750,000 on 1 January 2025.
$1M
Central Bank zero-coupon bonds
BSD 1,000,000 in zero-coupon bonds issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas, held for at least 10 years.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $1M
- Total landed cost
- The government fee runs BSD 20,000 without the right to work, or BSD 25,000 with it, plus BSD 300 per endorsed spouse or minor child and a BSD 200 processing fee. The real cost driver is the 10% VAT on real estate conveyance. It is charged on the full purchase price and customarily split 50/50 between buyer and seller. On a BSD 1m qualifying purchase, that comes to BSD 100,000 of VAT, roughly BSD 50,000 of it borne by the buyer. Budget BSD 1.08–1.10m all-in on the property route, before legal fees.
- Route type
- Residency by investment
- Timeline
- 6–18 months (The interview typically comes at 2–3 months. Law firms and brokers widely cite an accelerated-consideration tier at a higher investment level, but no primary source confirms it. It may also have moved with the 2025 repricing. See watchOuts.)
- Physical presence
- There is no statutory minimum to hold the certificate, but an intention to reside is required, and roughly 90 days per year is the practical expectation. A tax residency certificate specifically requires 90+ days in The Bahamas and no more than 183 days in any other single country.
- Family
- Spouse (see the gender defect in watchOuts)Dependent children under 18
- Permanent residency
- Immediate. This is permanent residency, valid for life unless revoked.
- Citizenship
- 10 years of legal permanent residence, including the 12 months immediately preceding application, plus residence of at least 6 years in the preceding period. Realistically, that means 11–13 years from arrival.
- Language test
- None
- Dual citizenship
- Not permitted. You would have to renounce.
- Requirements
- A minimum investment of BSD 1,000,000 in real estate or Central Bank zero-coupon bonds, held for 10 yearsA clean police certificateA medical certificateCharacter referencesProof of financial self-sufficiencyAn intention to reside
What can go wrong
- Repricing risk here is proven, not theoretical. The threshold has moved from BSD 500,000 to 750,000 to 1,000,000. A client underwriting on today's number should assume it moves again.
- The 10-year holding condition is new, effective post-1 January 2025, and it turns residency into a decade-long illiquid position. Sell in year six and the Immigration Board MAY revoke your status. Grantees from before 2025 are on different terms.
- The real entry cost is the 10% conveyance VAT, not the government fee. On a BSD 1m purchase that is BSD 100,000, customarily split with the seller. Nobody advertises this. Model it in.
- Permanent residence does NOT automatically carry the right to work. The official fee scale prices the certificate at BSD 20,000 without the right to engage in gainful occupation, and BSD 25,000 with it. In other words, the right to work is purchasable for a BSD 5,000 delta, which is remarkably cheap and badly under-advertised. Working in your own Bahamian company additionally requires prior approval-in-principle from the National Economic Council, a political rather than clerical body.
- There is a gender defect built into the statute. Certificates are endorsed to the wife or any dependent child, and practitioners report that female certificate holders currently cannot endorse a spouse. For a female principal applicant, this is a live structural problem. Her male spouse may need his own separate basis of stay. Bahamian constitutional referenda on gender equality failed in 2002 and 2016, so do not assume this has been fixed.
- The tax residency certificate is a CRS tripwire, not a CRS shield. It was introduced in response to OECD criticism that the residency programme was being used to defeat CRS. Obtaining it makes your accounts reportable as Bahamian. That is the whole point of it.
- Dual citizenship is not available after age 21. Whatever else happens, the endpoint here is permanent foreigner status, no matter how long you stay.
- Permanent residence is granted at the discretion of the Immigration Board. There is no appeal as of right, and the good character standard it applies is judged subjectively.
- A proposed foreign owner-occupied real property tax category in the 2026–27 Budget would apply a flat 0.625% with no exemption, capped at BSD 200,000/yr. That would remove the BSD 300,000 exemption that owner-occupiers currently enjoy. It is only proposed, not yet law, but it is aimed squarely at this client profile.
- The accelerated-consideration tier, widely quoted at BSD 1.5m, is not confirmed by any primary source. Confirm it with Bahamian counsel before quoting it to a client.
- The Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax Act 2024 introduced a 15% QDMTT from 2024, but it only applies to MNE groups with EUR 750m+ revenue. It has no bearing on the individual client. The IMF renewed its call for a personal income tax in December 2025, and the Davis administration has repeatedly and publicly refused. No personal income tax has been drafted or proposed.