Bermuda
Bermuda Work from Bermuda Certificate (closed) / Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis: health insurance requirements
Yes: health insurance is required
Bermuda no longer has a live digital nomad visa. The Work from Bermuda one-year residential certificate, which was the remote-work route, closed to new applicants on 28 February 2025. The realistic path for a longer stay is now Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis, granted for up to five years, which allows remote work for overseas companies but bars local employment. There is no published minimum income, though the Work Permit Policy points to household thresholds around US$60,000 to US$125,000.
The requirements at a glance
| Minimum policy duration | The full period of residency requested. Visitors: none required. |
|---|---|
| Local-licensed insurer required | Yes: international IPMI alone is usually rejected |
| Accepted proof | The residency application asks for evidence of a local health insurance policy covering the period of residency requested. Bermudian law requires cover from a locally licensed insurer and overseas insurance is not accepted, so an international plan supplements the obligation rather than satisfying it. Visitors are not required to hold anything. |
Work from Bermuda certificate closed to new applicants on 28 February 2025; existing holders had a 90-day grace period after expiry. Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis requires applicants to be 18+, show good character and adequate financial resources, hold valid health insurance, and not seek local employment (remote work for non-Bermuda companies is permitted). It can be granted for up to five years; fees are about US$275 for one year or US$1,215 for five years, with roughly a 12-week processing time. A separate Economic Investment Certificate route exists for a US$2.5 million investment.
The Work from Bermuda one-year residential certificate, Bermuda's digital nomad visa, closed to new applicants on 28 February 2025, leaving Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis (up to five years, no published minimum income) as the main longer-stay route.
Our take
Bermuda's headline digital nomad programme is gone: the Work from Bermuda certificate stopped taking new applicants on 28 February 2025, so do not buy a policy to satisfy a visa rule that no longer exists. If you are coming as a visitor, you are entering visa-free for up to 180 days and insurance is your choice, not a legal requirement.
If you pursue Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis instead, valid health insurance is a stated condition, but Bermuda publishes no minimum coverage figure. Treat that as a floor, not a ceiling: on a one-hospital island the real exposure is the air-ambulance flight off the island, so insure for high private bills plus strong medical evacuation and repatriation rather than a token policy.
What happens if you get it wrong
Assuming the digital nomad visa is still open. It closed on 28 February 2025, and planning a move around it will leave you with no valid status; the current options are short visa-free stays or Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis.
Buying minimal cover because no figure is mandated. Bermuda has one hospital and serious cases are flown to the US east coast by air ambulance, an uninsured cost in the tens of thousands, so a policy without genuine evacuation and repatriation cover is the gap that bites.
Interactive
Verified pricesWhat would it cost in Bermuda without insurance?
Gravel on a bend outside town. Road rash, a broken forearm, and a night or two before they discharge you.
| Ambulance | $1,167–$1,211 |
| Emergency room, on arrival | not verified here |
| X-ray on the forearm | $91–$139 |
| Two nights on the ward | $5,400 |
| At least | $6,658–$6,750 |
One step in this bill has no verified price for Bermuda yet, so the real total sits above this one. We would rather leave the line blank than guess at it.
That is the bill you carry alone. Insurance exists for exactly this.
See what cover costsTypical private-care estimates for illustration, not a quote. Actual bills vary by hospital, city and severity.
FAQ
No. The Work from Bermuda one-year residential certificate, which was the digital nomad route, closed to new applicants on 28 February 2025. For a longer stay you would now apply for Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis, which allows remote work for an overseas employer.
Yes. The closed Work from Bermuda certificate required valid health insurance covering you in Bermuda, and the replacement route, Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis, also lists valid health insurance as a requirement. No official minimum coverage amount is published.
The government publishes no specific minimum for Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis; it asks for adequate financial resources. The Work Permit Policy points to household thresholds of roughly US$60,000 for two people, US$100,000 for three and US$125,000 for four or more, so treat those as a guide and verify with the Department of Immigration.
Yes. US, British, Canadian and Australian visitors enter visa-free, generally for up to 180 days. You need a passport valid for your stay (the US advises at least 45 days beyond departure), proof of return or onward travel, and a completed free online Bermuda Arrival Card before you land.
It can be granted for up to five years, with fees of about US$275 for one year or US$1,215 for five years, and processing takes roughly 12 weeks. It permits remote work for companies outside Bermuda but does not allow you to take a local job.
What policy actually satisfies this visa
Bermuda does not publish a minimum figure, which sounds permissive and is not. It means you are judged against somebody's unwritten idea of adequate, and the safe reading of adequate is enough to cover a serious hospital admission in Bermuda, not the cheapest policy that technically exists.
The hard constraint here is the insurer. This visa is only satisfied by a policy from an insurer licensed in Bermuda, which disqualifies international plans outright, however comprehensive they are. Check this before you buy rather than after, because it invalidates the whole purchase rather than requiring a top-up.
Repatriation is not named as a condition, though it is the benefit you would most want to have if the worst happened, and it costs very little to add.
The dates are the other thing that gets applications rejected: the full period of residency requested. visitors: none required.
Ask your insurer for a certificate of cover that states your full name as it appears on your passport, the exact policy period, the territory covered, and the benefit amounts. That is a normal request and any decent insurer issues it without fuss. The insurance being real and the paperwork still failing is a more common way to lose an application than being uninsured.
The visa tells you the minimum. It does not tell you what to actually carry. Those are different questions, and the paperwork minimum is nearly always the smaller of the two answers.
Get a policy that satisfies this visa
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