The Bahamas · Residency by investment
Homeowner's Residence Card
Open
Last verified July 2026Unconfirmed
Open. It is issued under the International Persons Landholding Act, Ch. 140, and is frequently, and incorrectly, described as a residency product.
It is a facilitated-entry card for second-home owners and nothing more. We list it because clients and brokers routinely conflate it with permanent residency, and the distinction is the whole point.
Qualifying routes
$250k
Bahamian residential property
The commonly cited threshold is BSD 250,000+, but this figure does not appear on the official Immigration page. Treat it as unverified.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $250k
- Total landed cost
- Fee sources conflict badly, with figures ranging from BSD 250 to 500, plus a BSD 200 processing fee. Confidence here is low. Confirm with counsel.
- Route type
- Residency by investment
- Timeline
- 1–3 months (The applicant is expected not to be in the country during processing.)
- Physical presence
- None. The card facilitates entry. It does not require residence.
- Family
- SpouseEndorsed minor children
- Permanent residency
- None. This is not resident status.
- Citizenship
- None via this route.
- Language test
- Not applicable
- Dual citizenship
- Not permitted. You would have to renounce.
- Requirements
- a habitable Bahamian residencea primary residence outside The Bahamasan International Landholding CertificateReal Property Tax currenta registered deed
What can go wrong
- This is explicitly not resident status and not a work permit. It lets the owner, the spouse and endorsed minor children enter and remain for the card's validity. Do not let a client confuse it with the Economic Certificate of Permanent Residence.
- It requires a habitable Bahamian residence and a primary residence outside The Bahamas. By design, it presumes you live somewhere else, which makes it useless for breaking tax residency.
- It requires Real Property Tax to be current, along with a registered deed and an International Landholding Certificate.
- Both the BSD 250,000 property threshold and the fee level remain unverified against official sources.