Let us share our top Barbados expat tips for travel to Barbados.

Below are the – not so exciting but absolutely necessary legal bits you’ll need to plan and arrange ahead of your gap year travel.

12 MONTH WELCOME STAMP VISA

In June 2020, a very forward thinking Barbados Government opened its door to visitors worldwide; to live and work remotely on their captivating Caribbean island.

The 12 month welcome stamp is available to any visitors and their dependents, provided they can meet the visa requirements stipulated below. These financial assurances are in place to protect the island’s limited resources. It ensures any visitors granted the visa have the means to support themselves (and any dependents) during their stay and are committed to investing in their economy. For this reason you will need to meet the following criteria:

If you meet the above criteria, then wait no further and complete your application to paradise here.

Read on to find out more about further cost considerations should you accept your invitation to live in Barbados.

ESSENTIAL HEALTHCARE PLAN

Once you have been accepted for a 12 month visa, all visitors are required to purchase and provide proof of a private healthcare policy – for a minimum of twelve months regardless of the duration of their stay. This is a relatively new stipulation, of which we were totally oblivious, so it was a little panic inducing when we started to investigate costs online via google searches. Thankfully we had various contacts on the island who were able to point us in the right direction of some great Insurance brokers; who offered us family insurance plans with varying levels of cover at an affordable price.

After extensive research for the most comprehensive and cost effective plan, we would recommend Gallagher Insurance Brokers. We paid $3280USD for all three family members to have basic cover for health and dental care for a twelve month period. This was arranged from the UK via email with their friendly team. The application forms can be a little confusing, but the team are available to respond to any queries you may have and will check that your forms have been filled in correctly.

It is worth noting that the healthcare is expensive in Barbados and UK citizens perhaps feel the pinch to a greater extent – as we are accustomed to a free NHS service and are therefore blissfully unaware of the actual costs for consultations and medication alike. So we would advise that it is worth purchasing a fully comprehensive plan, especially if you are travelling with young children. We have already utilised the policy for Arlo’s dental and medical care on a few occasions. It is worth reading the small print as an excess usually needs to be reached before you can start to claim.

WHAT TYPE OF SERVICES CAN YOU EXPECT?

EMERGENCY GP SERVICES

When we were on vacation over Christmas, my son, who was rarely out of water had inevitably caught an ear infection. We were able to go to our local walk-in clinic Elcourt. It was, however, a frustrating experience as they did not operate a triage system – it was a first come first served policy. So despite my four years olds obvious discomfort as he sobbed inconsolably in the waiting room, we had to wait over three hours before he was finally seen by a Doctor. The consultation itself was efficient and most surgeries have chemists on site for simplicity. Arlo also had an allergic reaction to antibiotics so we visited our local surgery Sunset Crest – one of the providers listed by the Insurance company. The service here was pretty slick, so we were only required to wait forty minutes or so before he was seen. We did however, have conflicting diagnosis from three different doctors as to Arlo’s condition ,but managed to get him back to full health after changing his drugs. They offered good aftercare here also.

With GP emergencies it is simple enough to get an appointment the same day, but dependent on how busy the surgery is – you should prepare to wait as a time is not allocated.

EMERGENCY DENTIST SERVICES

Arlo suffered from acute toothache and we found it problematic getting him emergency dental attention, as due to his age we were only permitted to see a Paediatric Dental Surgeon, so after calling twenty or so dental surgeries on the island, we were required to wait three days before an ‘emergency’ appointment became available, which was disconcerting especially when a child is in pain.

Oasis Dental were incredibly busy with a six to eight week waiting list for emergency procedures, so they were only able to perform a temporary filling on the day. We found the consultation and investigations incredibly thorough when compared to the service you would receive with a general dental practitioner in the UK, so they come recommended – but expect to pay for the works.

After an assessment of the scan, they recommended a long-term plan for root canal and crowns. We were unable to follow up on this as we were leaving the island. When we returned to the UK the temporary filling had fallen out, so we discussed what had been proposed with our local Dental Practice. They felt this was excessive, as in the UK they have a tendency to remove baby teeth if problematic, so simply gave Arlo a filling.

A few months after our return to the island Arlo’s filling had fallen out again and I had a similar experience to before – contacting almost every dental surgery on our insurance provider list – with the majority having waiting lists of four months, even for emergencies. Thankfully we had a Secretary at Tender Dental Services (living up to their name), who took pity on us and squeezed Arlo in the next day.

The service was great and he even got to choose from a treasure chest of toys to take home. Not the standard sticker he was used to collecting! We were pleased that we opted to pay extra for dental care on our insurance plan, so were only required to pay approx 20% of the bill and a one off payment of $50bds.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

After comparing a number of travel insurance companies, we chose to purchase a family annual trip comprehensive policy with Staysure for £140 – which was rated as one of the best in terms of Coronavirus cover at the time back in December 2020. We hadn’t realised that our annual travel insurance was only valid for the first ninety days per trip, as we were just outside of this period, unfortunately we could not claim for any of my sons consultations. I would therefore stress that you read the small print of your insurance policy to ensure that you are covered for the duration of your trip, especially if your travel plans change from two weeks to six months, so you are not caught out like we were!

After these incidents with my son, we purchased some additional last minute nomad travel insurance with Safety Wing which covered a child under the age of 10 for free, for the remainder of our trip.

If travelling with children, we would most definitely advise getting a comprehensive plan, as they tend to readily pick up illnesses and injuries – so it can be a costly business without sufficient cover, as we discovered.

If you’re here for the full term, the 12 month Welcome Stamp Healthcare Cover should be adequate for your stay. You can purchase travel insurance in addition, for the periods you will be on the move.

COVID-19 VACINATION & TESTING

COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS

There is currently no requirement to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter Barbados.

If vaccinated, we would always advise that you download the NHS App (if you are a UK citizen), so you have proof of vaccination to hand. There may be some activities on the island that will require you to be vaccinated, (e.g. when people are in confined spaces together). You should check with your tour provider in advance.

FIT TO FLY PCR & RAPID ANTIGEN TESTING

There is currently no requirement to have a COVID-19 test to enter Barbados.

Should the COVID-19 protocols change once again, and you require a test before entering Barbados when travelling from the UK, we would highly recommend a drive through PCR test facility at one of the larger local airports – we used the one at Birmingham Airport.

It was such an easy procedure as you simply drove to the test point and a person came to take your swab. It is an efficient service with no queues and the results are returned within 24 hours. At £59 per person it was also a lot cheaper than the city and town centre test facilities.

If your home country requires a PCR test for your return journey, there are some drive-through test centres in Barbados where you can obtain a PCR or express antigen test. Please note that these have been reduced considerably, since the rules have relaxed. The centres tend to be closed during bank holidays, so ensure you’ve checked if there are any national holidays that overlap with your travel dates. You can contact a COVID-19 information hotline for advice, or a list of testing facilities near to you on the following phone number: +1 246-536-4500.

With the constantly changing regulations concerning PCR testing; please check the updated Protocols here before you fly.

TEST PACKAGE FOR UK ARRIVAL

If you require a test after entry into the UK, we had a good experience using Testingforall.org. They are a not-for-profit organisation, so one of the best in terms value. The test kits were waiting on our doorstep on arrival to the UK. The instructions were simple for administering the test yourself and posting back via a Royal Mail postbox.