Working in the British Virgin Islands as a French National: Permits, Salaries, Taxes and Contributions

The Department of Immigration, which administers and enforces the territory's immigration laws, groups its services under two headings: entry into the territory for work and permanent stay. The Department of Labour and Workforce Development regulates labour relations and protects wages, working conditions, safety, health and the well-being of workers by enforcing the territory's labour laws. In practice, the foreign worker depends on two administrations: one for the entry permission, the other for the work permit.

The Department of Labour specifies that work permit renewal applications are submitted through the Labour Management System (LMS) and must include the existing Immigration Entry Permit Form, a recent digital photo, the passport identity page and a copy of the immigration stamp in the passport. Incomplete files may be delayed. The detailed conditions of a first application, the processing times and the work permit fee schedule could not be read on the pages consulted: the employer or employee should ask the Department of Labour (labour@gov.vg, 284-468-4780) and the Department of Immigration (284-468-4700). The guide on working abroad recalls the points common to all countries.

The provisional permit (conditional permit) is aimed at holders of an entry permit who wish to remain in the territory while they change permit category or after the recent loss of their job (dismissal, resignation, sale of the business, death of the employer). The file includes the termination letter, a bank reference, proof of housing, the passports of the holder and dependants, and if possible a letter of intent to hire. The fees are $100 (about €89) on application and $250 (about €223) after approval; the validity period is not indicated on the page and should be requested from the immigration enforcement unit (immenforcementunit@gov.vg).

Resident status requires ten consecutive years of stay, with no absence of more than a year and at most 90 days of absence a year; the file includes proof of income and bank statements for the last three years. Immigration indicates that the spouse and children under 18 may be included. Belonger status follows separate routes (long-term residence with twenty years of stay, family link, exceptional circumstances); the spouse of a Belonger may apply after five years of living together in the territory. The sources consulted do not indicate the employment conditions of the spouse of a work permit holder: they should be requested from immigration.

The Department of Labour announces that the territory's minimum wage is raised in stages, following an approach recommended by the Minimum Wage Advisory Committee, created under section 38 of the 2010 Labour Code. Paying less than the prescribed rate is an offence under section 79 of the Labour Code, punished by a fine of up to $5,000 on summary conviction. The following stages of the schedule are not indicated on the page consulted: the amount in force should be confirmed with the Department of Labour (468-4790).

The official sources consulted publish no up-to-date median income or pay scale by sector: these figures are therefore not given. The unemployment, inflation and GDP per capita figures appear in the “Economic benchmarks” block above. The government tracks, in its budget address, population growth. The conversions on this page are based on the ECB reference rate, the US dollar being the territory's official currency.

The 2010 Labour Code Act, amended in 2020, sets the framework of labour law: minimum wage set by order (Labour Code (Minimum Basic Wage) Order 2025), permit exemptions (Labour Code (Work Permit) Exemption Amendment Order 2024), labour inspectors and an arbitration tribunal. The Department of Labour, located in Road Town (Ashley Ritter Building, open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), receives employers and employees. The details of working hours, leave, notice and severance pay could not be read on the pages consulted: the full text can be consulted on the territory's laws website and the LMS publishes guides for job seekers, employers and employees.

A written contract specifying the role, pay and duration makes the permit file and registration with the social schemes easier. The question of the applicable law is separate for a seconded French employee: see the guide seconded or expatriate.

The Inland Revenue Department describes its mission as collecting payroll tax, stamp duty, vehicle tax, hotel accommodation tax, property tax, liquor licences, cheque tax and service fees. The list includes no personal income tax. The payroll tax scale, the share borne by the employee and the thresholds could not be read on the pages consulted: they should be requested from the Inland Revenue Department (bvitaxes@gov.vg, 284-468-2155 in Tortola). The government indicates in its budget address an expected increase in payroll tax revenue thanks to the SIGTAS 3.0 system and the rise in the minimum wage.

On the French side, the BOFiP list of tax treaties does not include the British Virgin Islands. The two States are linked by a tax information exchange agreement, signed on 17 June 2009, in force since 18 November 2010 (decree no. 2011-29 of 7 January 2011): it does not allocate taxing rights. French domestic law applies. Tax residence remains in France if the home or main place of stay, the professional activity or the centre of economic interests is there (article 4 B of the French General Tax Code); a single criterion is enough. The territory does not appear in the list of non-cooperative States and territories, revised regularly.

The National Health Insurance (NHI) levies 7.5% of an employee's insurable earnings: 3.75% paid by the employee and 3.75% by the employer. The insurable earnings cap is raised periodically. A self-employed worker pays 7.5% of their insurable earnings, a voluntary contributor 7.5% of the earnings set by the board, and an employee whose spouse has no job pays an additional 3.75% for them. The employer remits contributions within 14 days after the end of the month, with a 10% surcharge per month of delay (according to the office).

The BVI Social Security Board collects contributions from employers and employees to fund retirement, disability, sickness, maternity and survivor pensions. The rates, the cap and the conditions for opening rights could not be read (the body's website was not accessible at the time of consultation): they should be requested from the Social Security Board through the government customer service (284-468-3701). For a seconded employee, CLEISS (the French centre for European and international social security liaison) recalls that retaining affiliation to the French scheme does not exempt from the contributions existing in the country of activity; an expatriate on a local contract comes under the local scheme and leaves the French scheme, with no account taken of local periods when calculating the French pension. See healthcare reimbursement in the British Virgin Islands.

For a self-employed worker, the sources consulted indicate only one precise point: the NHI contribution of 7.5%, the NHI having a registration form dedicated to self-employed workers. No remote work regime or visa dedicated to remote workers was found on the government pages consulted: carrying on an activity in the territory comes under work authorisation, and the Department of Immigration is the point of contact for any status not described. The guide to digital nomad insurance helps compare cover.

The government describes a service economy driven by tourism, with about one million visitors a year, and by financial services; it presents the territory as a global hub for charter yachting. The US dollar, the official currency, is considered by the government “a reliable and stable economic anchor”. It expects steady real growth; the figures for the forecasts appear in the “Economic benchmarks” block above.