kevin041

Before I begin my thread I just want to mention what a wonderful resource this forum is.

My wife and I are considering moving to one of the Caribbean Islands. I do not have a degree or a quantifiable skill (I am a business owner / entrepreneur). My wife is a Mental Health Nurse (UK).

We want to sell up and leave the UK and we are considering the Caribbean Islands. We are very open minded as to which one that would be. In all honesty, I think the Island will pick us, not the other way round. As much as the lifestyle is important, equally, the Island must welcome entrepreneurs and thus must be open to new business start ups. My wife has a degree in Mental Health Nursing but there does not appear to be much demand for this in the Islands. Therefore we, as family must start a new business venture, and I want to move to an Island that welcomes that, both in terms of immigration and as a matter or principle. The Cayman Islands, for example, would seem one of the more difficult Islands to emigrate to, whilst I have heard somewhere like St Lucia is more welcoming.

I have a young son and so whilst work/business opportunities are important, so is an average (or less) crime rate, good (does not have to be exceptional) education, a child/family friendly environment (for the most part), and also a strong economy.

I have heard, for example, that the Cayman Islands is more for young people, and St Lucia is a poor, declining economy.

Please ask further questions if needed.

I look forward to your feedback.

Kevin

Caruthers

Lots of Colombian import/export opportunities in islands like Trinidad or Providencia for entrepreneurs. Spanish helpful.

Hay muchas oportunidades para un hombre quien puede trabajar de la importacion del polvo blanca.

Orangepants

Panama. Lived in the Cayman islands for 14 years - not just for young people but yes you would need a business partner from the island.

Gordon Barlow

Cayman is pretty much out of the question. We've been here for 35 years, and while it's our permanent home and we're very comfortable here, anything to do with immigration is a huge and unpleasant hassle. I've blogged about this many times over the past three years, so won't go into detail here. Just - don't bother!

MarkPManning

What would Trinidadians want with processed sugar, do they not have any refineries for all the raw cane they grow?

Acabamos de cumplirse, pero por supuesto que vamos a tomar ese peluche en el avión conmigo y lo entregan a su hijo

Pistolpete2

Apart from the still 'independent' islands you can pretty much bundle the rest of the Caribbean (not Trinidad) into the poor declining basket - Barbados hopefully excluded - particularly those that are debt-ridden, completely barren of any vision for growth and alleviation of poverty, and now thumbing their noses at the EU and US for example and moving towards socialist ideologies to ingratiate themselves to perceived opportunities in Latin America .

Pistolpete2

for 'independent' should of course have said self-governing colonies. Sorry!

Caruthers

Don't grow so much any more. Sugar beet destroyed that industry, long time passing. All the cane fields and cane cutters done gone.

anuny

In pure business sense, Cayman Island requires large investment. St. Lucia is much larger and diverse island.

You have not said what kind of business you run/ran ? And the core reason to move to the islands.

Go to cayman, rent a car, drive around and then decide. Can you afford the likes and kind of KPMG or Accenture of advice ? If not, look elsewhere.

anuny

Listen to Pistolpete2, he knows a lot about the lay of the land.

Pistolpete2

Or you could read this for which you might need to be registered with the FT on their free trial:

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/68f43...#axzz2eQXC71HY

I would add that the EU is becoming increasingly annoyed by the fact that the Caricom nations are not living up to their side of the bargain under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which called for free trade, basically, initially, to continue to allow access for those bananas.

The islands, of course, want to tax or control imports of goods and services from the EU, much to the chagrin of grass roots inhabitants one would think, but then most probably don't know the EPA exists or what it really stands for.