Antigua and Barbuda Visas, Taxes and Money for Digital Nomads

The Nomad Digital Residence (NDR) was created by law in 2020 and run by the Immigration Department. The official NDR site now carries the notice “This program has ended”, and new applications aren’t being accepted. While it ran, it worked like this:

• Who: remote workers aged 18 or over, employed by or running a business outside Antigua and Barbuda, with a clean criminal record.
• Income: at least US$50,000 a year.
• Length: two years from approval. It couldn’t be renewed and could be issued only once.
• Fees: US$1,500 single, US$2,000 for a couple, US$3,000 for a family of up to four, and US$650 for each extra dependant.
• Tax: holders paid no Antiguan income tax.

If you already hold an NDR, it stays valid for the dates shown on it. Contact the Immigration Department well before it expires to ask about any other status you could move to, because there’s no automatic route onwards.

Citizens of the US, Canada, the UK, EU countries, many Commonwealth countries and a range of others can visit without a visa. Others need an electronic entry visa before travelling.

• Entry period: the immigration officer sets your period of stay on arrival, based on your plans and onward ticket. UK government advice puts the maximum visa-free stay at 90 days.
• Documents: a passport valid for at least six months after arrival, a return or onward ticket, and proof you can support yourself. Yellow fever vaccination proof is needed if you arrive from a country with a transmission risk.
• Arrival form: an online arrival form speeds up entry but isn’t mandatory.
• No local work: visitors may not take paid or unpaid work in Antigua and Barbuda. Remote work for foreign clients is the grey area every visitor-based nomad is in.

Visitors who want to stay longer apply to the Immigration Department for an extension of stay before their entry stamp expires.

• Length: up to three months per extension.
• Process: book an appointment with the Extension Division, complete the extension form and attend in person.
• Documents: a passport photo, your passport, a valid onward airline ticket and evidence of your means of support. If you’re staying with friends or family, bring your host.
• Fee: a non-refundable processing fee, which is lower for CARICOM nationals.

The fee doesn’t guarantee approval: each application is decided on its merits, and repeated extensions get harder to justify. Don’t plan a year on extensions alone.

• Residence permit: for people with a lasting reason to live in Antigua, such as owning property, retirement income or a family tie. Apply to the Immigration Department.
• Work permit: for anyone working for an Antiguan employer or local clients, applied for by the employer through the Labour Department.
• CARICOM free movement: citizens of CARICOM countries with a skills certificate can live and work in Antigua and Barbuda.
• Citizenship by investment: Antigua’s investment programme grants citizenship for a qualifying donation or property purchase, with a short residence requirement. It’s a large commitment and has its own agents and rules.

Overstaying your entry stamp is illegal and can lead to fines, detention, removal and refusal of future entry. Apply for an extension before your stamp expires, and keep the receipt with your passport.

This is a general guide, not tax advice. Antigua and Barbuda abolished personal income tax in 2016, so individuals aren’t taxed on salaries or remote earnings, wherever they come from. There’s also no capital gains, inheritance or wealth tax for individuals.

• Other taxes still apply: the ABST sales tax on most goods and services, property tax, stamp duty on property purchases, and withholding tax on some payments from Antigua to non-residents.
• Social security contributions apply only if you’re employed locally.
• Businesses registered in Antigua pay corporate tax.

The government has discussed new revenue measures in recent years, so check that the position hasn’t changed before a long stay. Your home country may still tax you, especially if you’re a US citizen. Our taxes for digital nomads guide explains the general principles.

Antigua and Barbuda uses the East Caribbean dollar (EC$ or XCD), shared with seven other eastern Caribbean states and pegged at about EC$2.70 to US$1. US dollars are accepted in most shops, restaurants and taxis, but change usually comes in EC dollars. Always check which currency a price is in, because restaurants and taxis quote both.

ATMs in St John’s, English Harbour, Jolly Harbour and at the airport dispense EC dollars, and some also give US dollars. Expect your own bank’s foreign fees plus a local charge, and always decline the machine’s currency conversion. Cards are accepted in supermarkets, hotels and most restaurants, but village shops, roadside stalls and minibuses take cash.

Opening a local account is slow for visitors. Banks such as Eastern Caribbean Amalgamated Bank and RBC usually want a passport, proof of address, a reference letter from your current bank and evidence of residence status. Most short-stay nomads use a home account, Wise or Revolut and withdraw cash as needed.