raheem

hay guys my wife myself and our 4 year old son would like to live in barbados initially for 1 year. my wife has citizenship and is a british passport holder. I am a uk citizen, as is our son. We do have contacts out there but i would appreciate your views too. 1 of the main points is we want to place our son in primary school for a term or 2. What is the process for doing that and at which school and price if applicable. Also what paperwork would i need, at writing i am not a barbados citizen. Also what other things do we need to consider to make the initial move?
Thanks guys....

Foxy_fromCanada

If I understand the system correctly, you are not entitled to citizenship through your wife. Unfortunately men are not entitled to citizenship by marriage the way women are.

If you are entitled to citizenship by decent, that's different.

If you aren't entitled to any citizenship (Barbados or Caricom), then you will need a work permit to work and make money here. The work permit is organized by your employer.

That's probably where you should start before getting into schools and such. What is bringing you to Barbados?

Good luck.
Foxy

Sunniebgi

A man married to a bajan women is entitled to hold residency, by law,.. how easy this is to obtain, I don't have a clue. However, as I'm typing this, I thought they were working on changing the law, so that you would be entitled to citizenship. if you come here, just tagging along, you would need a work permit to work, but if you are applying for residency, you may not be entitled to a work permit (can you say vicious cycle.).. I would highly recommend contacting immigration re your situation.

You son would be entitled to apply for citizenship by decent through his mother (again, as long as she is a born Barbadian).

Re schools, it would be best to contact some of the private schools directly to see if places would be available for the time you will be here. If the child doesn't hold citizenship, a student visa would be required.

raheem

thanks for your reply, ive been going to barbados for the last 10 years & have alot of friends there and contacts. Also my wifes family is there. i just love the place, also i know the education system there is very good, hence why i want to put my son through some terms there. My wife is uk born but lived and went to school there as a youngster, gained citizenship in the process. I just wanted to know what legal papers are required to come over and stay in bim for a year or so initially, etc and find some good primary schools for my 4 year old? Have you always lived in barbados? if so what made you go there? & how are things...?

grassisgreener

I have citizenship by descent, and my husband got citizenship through marriage a couple of years ago, so it is possible.

Foxy_fromCanada

It sounds like you'll need to look into residency for yourself. I am not sure what is required for that, so you may need to speak to Immigration. Perhaps others on here can comment.

Good luck,
Foxy
p.s. I've been here for just over a year now. It's been an interesting year, and life is pretty good.

Ikon

The application for RESIDENCY is actually a hundred times easier than getting a work permit, dependent on 2 factors:

1. Can you afford to live here without working? (ie. your wife will be able to work as she's a citizen - will she earn enough to support you both?)
2. Can you prove it? (ie. if you're telling them you're dependent on your wife, they will need her financial details and a formal job offer to prove your status.)

Do all this through an immigration lawyer - although the process is simpler, I think it's too complicated to do on your own without expert help.

When you appoint a lawyer, nag him and become his constant telephone buddy - you'll need to be on his case if you want him to focus on your case.

Sunniebgi

You can work with residency, so if the original poster, he can work here. Unless I'm completely wrong. My cousin in law has residency and has worked here for many many years.

Ikon

Erm, I'm not sure. We have 3 years of what our lawyer called 'residency', though I don't know if the official term for our status might be different, or if there are different categories that vary whether you may work or not.

We applied to come here on the basis we didn't need to work and could support ourselves, and as far as I'm aware that's the conditions of our stay - we have 3 years for now, which should be (relatively easily) renewed after that period provided our circumstances are the same. I believe after a certain period of residency, you can apply for citizenship, but I've heard lots of conflicting things on that and not bothered to investigate yet and it's a long way off for us.

My understanding was that residency was for people NOT requiring a work permit - if I wanted to come here to work, I'd have applied for a work permit via an employer, right? I'm confused why people with residency would be allowed to seek work, too, as surely they'd have had to find a job and apply for a permit from the start? I know people with citizenship by descent etc etc can, but I just assumed residency was totally different.

Ikon

Oh and perhaps it's different if residency is granted on the basis of marriage to a citizen???? But I thought that spouses couldn't work, generally?

Sunniebgi

Spouses on Work Permits cannot work.. but for example, I could have gotten residency rather than citizenship, but as a women married to a Barbadian Man, I'm entitled, by law, ti citizenship. A man, married to a Barbadian Women, can only hold residency (again, I have understood that law may have changed, but not sure).

My husbands cousin is married to a Englishman, who has been here for likely 20 years and as far as I know he only holds residency.. and he works.. But again, it may be a different level of residency..

Ikon

It sounds like there must be different categories of residency then, I guess? As far as I knew it, you could either apply to come here via a work permit, or you had to prove you could support yourself and apply for residency.

I guess the difference might be something to do with being married to someone here who's got residency/citizenship? Maybe there's specific laws to do with marriage which wouldn't have applied to me, so I don't know.

Or maybe things have changed over the last 20 years? I'm just wondering with your relatives, if they applied for residency for the first time now and could only support themselves through working, whether it would still be granted? I thought that was what immigration was trying to work against.

Sunniebgi

in thinking like an old Barbadian.. as in "when the laws were written".. a women would not have been expected to work, but she could have citizenship.. The man would be expected to work, but could not hold citizenship, so they gave residency to get over that little hump.. Once Residency was granted, you could do practically anything here except vote. that includes working. I also know people, who within the last 17 years, have come to Barbados, gained residency without being married to a Bajan, and were able to work, own businesses etc..

I am, like everyone, guessing that the rules have changed, but what are the rules and who gets to make those decisions.

Ikon

Definitely sounds like a question for an immigration lawyer, as I guess all any of us know is the circumstances under which we're allowed to be here, so unless someone's in the same position as Raheem then we're all quoting individual cases rather than the hard-and-fast rules (which seem to change daily).

I'd definitely get on the phone to a lawyer and find out the lay of the land, or try to get an answer out of Immigration (if you can get them to pick up the phone lol).

Foxy_fromCanada

Totally agree, Ikon.

I'd put my vote in for getting an Immigration lawyer and having them deal with the Immigration office. Personal experience has found that that gets things done quicker and more clearly.