PeachesandCream

Hi everyone,

I'm new here so apologies if I do this wrong! I'm 29, with a husband, good business, no children. We are both considering moving to Antigua. We usually go about twice a year.
I'm in the legal field (a mediator) my husband is trained in a tonne of things but primarily is a football/soccer coach
We know it won't be like going on holiday but we both just want a new life.

Does anyone have any advice on moving to Antigua?

Thank you
J x

uk_grenada

I considered saying simply dont - but i dont want to stamp on your dreams, but suffice to say i have lived in various caribbean places and i couldnt think of a compelling reason to choose there unless its family. You said yourself its not a holiday, number 1 rule - visit for a year, rent, take no permanent steps till youve lived for a year, and know the local scene, and know the true costs, hardships, difficulties/challenges. Shall we start with 150% duty on something, that some aspect of nature hates you, that cinvenience foods are terribly expensive so you are going to be cooking, that thereis no whipping cream on the island, that the cargo vessel carrying the waitrose and tesco stuff broke down and it all went off, that your neighbour has chickens [cockrel at 3am?] or the water/power is off for 2 days after the road subsidence.

You cannot easily unless you have a link to the country by birth ir marriage which will allow you to become a resident/citizen.

Working without citizenship will require a local company to prove a local cannot do the work, sponsor you and pay for a permit.

Antigua has a CBI program, if you do that its 200k us /person, or 20k/year for a number of years but i think you cant work with that.

I assume you are aware of the high cost of living - some things are very expensive, some less so.

NB there are easier countries, are you particularly linked to antigua?

uk_grenada

The thing to remember - almost all caribbean countries dont want foreigners taking local jobs, or living permanently, unless:

You are truly rich and can pay the government - and realise your CBI investment cannot be your house - its aninvestment and frankly they should be viewed as a fee because returns are not realistic usually. If you run your own 1cman company fine, but beware local taxation in some places, or welcome it in others.

You have a right to be there because your mum or wife is a citizen.

You are a surgeon or large animal vet or power engineer for exampke really wanted by the government or a company that will pay for you

In some other countries retirees are a green industry and are allowed. Similarly if one can live without working, you can after some years acquire citizenship cheaply [not antigua]

lastly all the islands are countries, they differ in many ways, but physically there are flat ones and mountainous ones, and the mountainous ones are greener, have plentiful water, generate their own climates and generally have much better agriculture which is important for ones quality of like.

uk_grenada

https://relocateantigua.com/antigua-work-permit/

https://www.escapeartist.com/blog/re...tigua-barbuda/

PeachesandCream

Thank you uk_grenada

So we just love Antigua. Neither of us rate Jamaica or Dominican Republic (Not for our lifestyle - Nothing against either country just not for us!)
What other countries would you personally recommend?
Or anyone else recommend for that matter?

We have been to St Kitts & Nevis, St Thomas, St Maarten, Antigua...
Thank you all
J x

PeachesandCream

Incase you're wondering a bit about us, I'm 29, he is 45. We've been married 3 years. No babies yet, we want to settle into island life before we do that. We are aware of private school and that is the route we would take anyway, even here in the UK but the house prices are against us here. Renting is getting more and more expensive. We both find we have hardly any time and the weather is a massive draw back. We only see our families at Christmas/Easter... The rest of the time it's a whatsapp call. So nothing that we can't do from abroad.
We definitely don't want Europe. 100% love caribbean life... Just trying to work out how when and where!

All advice welcomed, we're still in the planning stage!

Thank you guys!
J x

uk_grenada

If you need need to work and have no capital to start a business frankly it’s not going to happen. You don’t appear to be in vital professions, and salaries outside finance in the financial places like grand cayman are low and costs high. If you can’t afford London you can’t afford the Caribbean- if it’s on a salary?

Is this what you need to do?

Also don’t assume you can arrive as a tourist and do menial work, he locals will probably give you a bar job just so they can tell the cops. Then you will be expelled and never get into another Caribbean country - they share info.

someone working in a hotel might be on 400 pounds a month or less

PeachesandCream

We can afford to buy a house outright in the Caribbean. Obviously type of house depends on where we look.
I have enough savings of my own to start my own company, I have friends in the Cayman Islands who said it's a needed profession out there however, I've never visited the Cayman Islands.

We will be moving. It's just when and where.

Thanks
J
x

uk_grenada

Cayman isn’t really a great place to live, to work sure, there are wonderful finance roles but read the threads here about the mega bucks you need to live comfortably there.

Wherever you go consider:

Crime - some islands are simply off limits to white/well off people and you will be targeted for crime. If you need gates communities forget it.

Living - can you get a nice house with pool in a nice area close to a nice beach and good stores for ?

Schools - are good ones available for a reasonable price

Cleaners etc - affordable and available?

Cost if importing things - some things like furniture should always be locally sourced insect proof wood (there are horror stories about houses not being properly protected too)

A car might be 175% tax to import, house or car insurance- a thousand pounds each, a tin of beans a pound, a tin of corned beef 4 pounds etc etc etc

Are foreigners shunned or discriminated against? (Barbados)

So being there for a risk free year gives time to learn the places foibles,

I chose Grenada -,very safe, cheap houses, good legally, great tax breaks for foreign investments, expensive import duty but lots of duty free local food and excellent water, next door to the local powerhouse of Trinidad for shopping etc, I fit a passport easily but there is a cheap way - if you don’t need to work for 5 years.

scot47

A "Mediator" Who will hire you in Antigua in that role ? A soccer coach ? Maybe they have enough locals who can do that ? I think you are being unrealistic.

dfjordan

I support the other replies questioning your ideas. I know you say you dont expect “island life” , whatever that may mean, will be the same as being on vacation, from what I know, “ caribbean life” isnt exactly pleasant for the average person. To rule out Europe as a whole, is maybe a little unfair, as by choosing the right place, you can have all the beautiful weather you want, and an unhurried life but with all the niceties of a developed country , not far away.
As others have said, regardless of where you think you may want to live, it’s highly risky shutting up shop and moving there on a permanent basis, without having spent a year there as temp resident.

scot47

Does an island with a population just under 100,000 need a "Mediator" ? Sorry to express my scepticism. Will you get permission to go and settle there ?

StillSearching

Is it really a problem with crime in Antigua?
No issues with crime in Trinidad?
Do you mean that if you are white, a gated community is a safer choice?

What about the furniture?

StillSearching

Just only to compare Grenada with Antigua, I use nationmaster dot com and Murder rate in Grenada is twice as much as Antigua and Barbuda.
Grenada is still safer than many other islands, but I compared with Antigua just because the original post is about Antigua.

uk_grenada

Crime per se is everywhere. In grenada murders are about dumb locals getting drunk or high and chopping people with cutlasses, we have no export drug industry really and the police are not a service - they are a deadly force when they need to be. We had one famous tourist murder - by a guy let out of the mental hospital plus a foreigner who murdered his wife. Trinidad is dangerous if you flash cash in some ghetto areas, but most death is about the drug trade infighting, if you dont use or deal in drugs its reasonably safe in most areas. What you dont want is organised violent theft from rich people and tourists. This is reality in a number of islands and is a reason for tourist downturn in st lucia i believe.

We have a few gated ghettos for rich white scared foreigners, but they are a vanity thing here and no locals or seasoned expats would consider that. If you actually need to live behind a tall fence you are in trouble and a few islands need that. The horror stories of rape murder and violent robbery tend to be lost, but exist. My neighbours have window bars so all windows can stay open, but no fences or gates. Burglary is almost non existant, you are more likely to lose a few mangos to kids which is fine.

All caribbean islands have bugs that eat wood. They prefer softwoods [anything made of chipboard etc is manna] and anything imported must be treated but that doesnt last. Local hardwoods are sometimes insect resistant forever and beautiful too, and locally made furniture isnt expensive so importing most furniture is a bad mistake.