Working in Antigua and Barbuda as a French Citizen: Permits, Contributions and Taxation

France Diplomatie (the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs travel advice service) states that there is no specific visa for business travellers: a French citizen enters without a visa for less than six months, but a stay without a permit does not give the right to carry out paid activity. The right to work rests on a specific document.

• Work permit: the investment guide drawn up by UNCTAD and the International Chamber of Commerce indicates that it applies to any employed or self-employed person who is neither an OECS national nor a resident, that it is issued by the Labour Department, that the employer must show through a published advertisement that no qualified local candidate was found, and that it is valid for up to one year, renewable each year. The file includes a passport valid for six months, the contract or hiring letter, a job description and a recent police record.
• Resident certificate: the Immigration Department states that it allows the holder to take up employment and to bring the dependants declared in the application. A work permit holder can apply for residence after four years of uninterrupted legal stay.
• Student: the holder of a student permit does not work, except for unpaid activity related to their studies; a work placement that is essential to the course and lasts more than three months requires a work permit.
• Spouse and children: the dependants of a work permit holder do not look for employment without a permit of their own.

The procedure should be confirmed with the Labour Department before signing a contract. For details of residence permits, see the page on living in Antigua and Barbuda; the guide to working abroad explains the choice between secondment and a local contract.

The hourly minimum wage is set by the Labour Department; the UNCTAD guide specifies that employers generally pay more. The amount in force was not taken from an official source consulted: it should be requested from the Labour Department before any offer. The Statistics Division page on the labour force refers to survey reports (2015 and 2018) without publishing a wage scale.

• Working time: according to the UNCTAD guide, the week can run to six days, with a maximum of eight hours a day; work on a public holiday is paid at 150%.
• Leave: the same guide mentions 12 days of annual leave and 12 days of sick leave a year.
• Probation period: up to three months; notice equal to the interval between two pay dates, without exceeding 30 days; severance pay for redundancy of one day per month worked.

These benchmarks come from a guide with no publication date; the employment contract and the labour law in force prevail, and the Labour Department is the contact for checking them. For a French employee, pay should also be compared with the cost of the health insurance to be arranged: see budgeting for healthcare abroad.

The taxes presented on the Inland Revenue Department website include the sales tax (ABST), the tax on unincorporated businesses (UBT), property tax, corporation tax and the entertainment tax. The page consulted mentions no personal income tax: deductions from salaries consist of the social contributions described below. The corporation tax rate is 25% and the UBT follows a scale of 0% up to EC$ 42,000, 8% from EC$ 42,001 to EC$ 186,000, then 25% above, according to the UNCTAD guide, which also cites a standard ABST of 17%; the rates should be checked with the Inland Revenue Department (+1 268 468 9473).

On the French side, no tax treaty with Antigua and Barbuda is listed by the BOFiP (the official French tax doctrine bulletin), and the CLEISS (the French centre for international social security links) records no social security agreement. Tax residence is determined by the criteria of French law (home, main place of stay, main activity, centre of economic interests): a French citizen who keeps their home or economic interests in France may remain a French tax resident and declare their worldwide income, whereas an actual departure changes the regime that applies. The status should be confirmed with the competent tax office.

On 31 December 2024 the Social Security Board announced a 0.5-point rise in rates from 1 January 2025: 16% for the private sector, 15% for the public sector, and 10% for self-employed workers, a rate that is unchanged. In the text consulted, the press release does not detail the split between employer and employee, which is shown in an unreadable table: the exact split should be requested from the Board. It also sets the pension age at 65 from 1 January 2025.

• Medical Benefits Scheme: 3.5% of wages for the employee and 3.5% for the employer from age 16 to under 60; 2.5% for the employee aged 60 to under 70, with no employer share; 0% from age 70. For a wage below $400 a month or $100 a week, the employer pays 7% and the employee 0%.
• Self-employed workers: 5% of income from age 16 to under 60, 2.5% from 60 to under 70, 0% after that.
• Education contribution: the UNCTAD guide cites an employee share of 2.5% (taxable income from 6,500 to 60,000) or 5% above that, paid to the Board of Education.
• Sickness: the Social Security Board benefit is worth 60% of the average insurable weekly wage of the previous three months, with at least 26 weekly contributions and eight weeks worked; it is not paid for the first three days, lasts 26 weeks at most and is not open to government employees.
• Retirement: the pension is 25% of average insurable annual income for minimum contributions, plus 1% for each block of 50 additional contributions, capped at 50%; the minimum is $350 a month. An insured person with no pension entitlement but with 52 weeks of contributions receives a lump sum (Social Security Board).

A posted worker kept in the French scheme may also have to contribute in the host country, according to the CLEISS; see the page on healthcare reimbursement in Antigua and Barbuda for how this fits with French cover.

A self-employed person registers with the Medical Benefits Scheme, pays contributions with their smart card, keeps accounts separate from those of their employees, renews their income return each year between October and December at the registration office on Nevis Street, and reports any cessation of activity in writing within ten working days. They pay their social security contributions monthly (the Board’s electronic transfer form) and, for activity carried out in their own name, come under the Unincorporated Business Tax, for which the Inland Revenue Department offers a registration form for individuals.

The right of a non-national to work as self-employed comes under the work permit, which covers employed or self-employed people (UNCTAD guide). Remote work for foreign clients has no status described on the pages consulted. A remote worker should enquire with the Immigration Department before leaving; see also digital nomad insurance and the guide to digital nomad visas.

France Diplomatie describes a service economy (more than three quarters of GDP), with industry at about 21% and agriculture at about 2%; the country long depended on sugar production before turning to tourism and offshore financial services. Tourism accounts for about 60% of GDP and 40% of investment, and the economy was hard hit by the 2008-2009 crisis and by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Statistics Division records visitor air arrivals every month, which illustrates the weight of tourist hospitality in employment and activity.

The currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar, pegged to the US dollar at EC$ 2.70 to US$ 1 since 1976 (France Diplomatie). The outlook depends on tourist numbers and on resilience to hurricanes from June to the end of November; the updated indicators are in the “Economic indicators” block above. France Diplomatie mentions an OECS investment portal and a national investment agency for project promoters.