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Bermuda Citizenship

Given to law-abiding non-Bermudians after they marry Bermudians, live together locally and then wait 10 years

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By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us) exclusively for Bermuda Online

To refer to this web file, please use "bermuda-online.org/citizenship.htm" as your Subject.

Introduction

Bermuda citizenship, being Bermudian, is effectively in two parts. One is to be a British Overseas Territory member, meaning that all who are Bermudians by both birth and Bermudian parentage are British Overseas Territory citizens. But this is under British UK laws, not Bermuda laws. The other part is that both parents or one qualifying parent of a child born in Bermuda must also be Bermudian by birth and descent, including having other family members born in Bermuda - or by formal award of Bermuda status awarded by the Bermuda Government.  This is covered under Bermuda laws (see references to "Acts" below) and is what Bermuda citizenship means.

Many British United Kingdom nationals and British Overseas Territory members live and work in Bermuda. Most are welcome but all are treated as foreigners. Britons - those from Great Britain or non-Bermudian British Overseas Territory members - do not have the same freedoms here in residing and working without restrictions as they have in Great Britain, Ireland and rest of the European Economic Community. Britons visiting Bermuda on business or vacation or as professional newcomers cannot get Bermuda citizenship or vote or buy real estate at the same price as Bermudians - unless they marry Bermudians (see below) and wait 10 years. Any children born here are not Bermudian unless one qualifying parent is Bermudian, so they cannot apply for any local scholarships or grants for further education abroad (but many have, as non-citizens, been conscripted illegally into the Bermuda Regiment), or work without a Work Permit, or operate their own business in Bermuda, or reside without an appropriate residential certificate, or buy any property except the top 5% in market and assessment valuation.

Many Bermudians do not regard themselves as British - despite this being their only official nationality - but as Bermudian. 

The Bermuda Government-mandated Acts concerned include:

Many parents and grown children have been on restrictive Work Permits for more than 20 years. If as expatriates they marry a Bermudian spouse, they must wait for 10 years to get Bermudian status and pay a hefty fee. In contrast, Bermudians can apply for a UK passport, get full United Kingdom and European citizenship immediately they get the passport and live, work, vote and buy any property they wish there. This one-sided arrangement was a British Government decision taken without any referendum from the British people. 

For decades now, it has not been sufficient for persons born in Bermuda to be regarded as Bermudian, unless one parent is also Bermudian (which does not include having Long Term Residency). Elsewhere, such as in the USA, Canada and UK, citizenship applies automatically to all children born there. But not in Bermuda - automatic citizenship does NOT apply to all children born here. Children born in Bermuda, without either parent being Bermudian by birth or status at the time, are not Bermudian unless they got Bermudian status and a Certificate to prove this in their own names and in writing in the period in the 1950s through 1991. Prior to 1991 - but no longer - a limited number of persons not born in Bermuda. or with parents not born in Bermuda, and without Bermuda spouses were given Bermuda Status in writing. Technically, it is the equivalent of full citizenship by law, while one lives in Bermuda. But it has term limits and persons once given Bermuda Status hare deemed to have lost it after more than the stipulated length of time living and working abroad.

Under Bermuda law, the only people who are irrevocably Bermudian are those born here with at least one Bermudian parent who was born in Bermuda. Those persons born in Bermuda with a Bermudian parent don't lose it - and some persons born to a Bermudian parent in Canada or USA - such as the Hon. Paula Cox (born in Canada), or last children of the late Hon. Frederick Wade (born in USA), or a daughter of Dame Lois Browne-Evans (born in USA), may not lose it either, depending on the laws of their country of residence, or when/if dual nationality is permitted . In the democratic countries beyond Bermuda, citizenship once given cannot be revoked unless at the particular request of the applicant.

The author's attention has also been drawn to a report that some people apparently had Bermudian Status until age 22 years  then, because they did not live in bermuda for 5 years before age 22, lost it and could not apply for the grant of Bermuda Status. These people are apparently children of Bermudian parents but they - the children - were born outside Bermuda. Those concerned now appear to have - or had - a "Bermudian Connection" under  the 1994 bermuda immigration and protection amendment. They have to be domiciled  in bermuda for 10 years in order to regain Bermuda Status. If this is true, it seems very wrong compared to the unrestricted citizenship rights of the democratic countries. (However, it should be noted that in the UK, British citizens who live not in the UK but in the EU outside the UK have electoral rights - but not citizenship rights -  denied after 10 years).

Those not born here from a Bermuda-born parent may have had conditional Bermuda status, if they got documentation in writing to say so, otherwise they do not, not even when born here. They must have received Bermudian Status officially before 1991 (no longer issued except in the special cases to spouses and children of Bermudians) by virtue of residence up to that time. If, after getting a Certificate of Bermuda Status,  they have spent more than a certain number of years (believed to be a maximum of 7) living and working away from Bermuda, their conditional Bermudian Status or citizenship is deemed to be revoked, even if they visit Bermuda on holiday (vacation) after that expired time. 

Adult Bermudians not born in Bermuda of a Bermudian-born parent, or born in Bermuda from a parent or parents not born in Bermuda, or born abroad to a Bermudian will only be regarded as Bermudian if (a) they are on the registered voters list; (b) are on the Register of Bermudians; and (c) - like all Bermuda-born persons who have at least one Bermudian parent - if they have a Bermuda or British-UK passport which includes a stamp certifying they hold Bermuda status.

It is technically possible for someone not Bermudian to get a Bermuda passport, but it does not make them Bermudian. In most other countries, persons of good character who wish to become citizens can do so after 2-5 years, do not need a qualifying local connection; can buy any real estate they wish, at any price; and do not have to be a particular age.

See the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act. In contrast, some non-Bermudian residents with unblemished continuous residence have been there for periods exceeding 20 and 30 years yet have not been given citizenship. It means they are not allowed to vote, or to register to vote, in any election after they become 18 years old,  even when they have been model residents for years. Those in this category are mostly from the USA, Britain, Canada,  Caribbean and Europe, but some are from Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines and elsewhere. Without citizenship, persons also cannot buy any real estate as Bermudians can if they can afford it; are limited to the top 5 percent of property in assessed value and a particular kind and type of property only and must pay a substantial purchase tax on top of other taxes; cannot obtain any local scholarships from any organization; if of employable age are not allowed to take any employment but are limited to the kind of employment on a Work Permit approved by the Immigration authority of the Bermuda Government; and may not under any circumstances be an executor or executrix of any Bermudian-owned property not in the top 5% of Annual Rental Value.  Their attorneys are required to tell them this and would-be executors are expected to know this. They should also check with the Bermuda Government to see if it is permitted or not for them to benefit in any way financially from any Bermudian-held estate. They may only be executors of Bermuda property which is presently in non-Bermudian hands and as such is in the top 5% in Annual Rental Value. Nor are they - or any other non-Bermudian - allowed to be sole owners of a business in the local marketplace. 

They are are not allowed, as non-Bermudians, to hold shares in Bermudian companies as Bermudians.

They are prohibited from employing any ruse that will enable them to overcome this restriction. If they were once but are no longer Bermudian by Status and hold any Bermudian companies' shares in their names or on behalf of their mother or father or siblings - it is their legal responsibility to declare these to the companies concerned and if required by Bermuda Immigration to divest themselves of these holdings as all Bermudian companies are required by law to keep an exact and up-to-date register of Bermudian and non-Bermudian shareholders and to ensure that at least 60% are registered as Bermudian shareholders.

Citizenship - Bermuda Status - is not given to any non-national unless he or she marries a Bermudian - and then only if they qualify.

A non-Bermudian who marries a Bermudian and wishes to apply for local citizenship (Bermuda Status) must (a) have been married to the same Bermudian for 10 (ten) continuous years; (b) during that marriage, been ordinarily resident in Bermuda for at least seven (7) years, the last two (2) years of which must be continuous to the date of application; (c) have been living together with the Bermudian spouse as husband and wife continuously for the two (2) years immediately before the application; and (d) be of good character and conduct. 

When the application is made, the Bermuda Government issues a public notice in a local newspaper of record giving notice of the application, the name and address of the applicant. Any person who knows if any of the provisions have not been fulfilled, or why Bermuda Status should not be granted to the applicant, should send a written statement to the Chief Immigration Officer, Department of Immigration.

In comparison, countries that give citizenship after 3 (three) years to non-nationals who marry citizens include USA, Canada, UK, European Community members, Australia, New Zealand.

Countries that give citizenship after 3-5 years to non-nationals who do not marry local citizens include Grenada (3 years); Australia (3 years); USA, Canada, UK, European Community members, Australia, New Zealand (all after 5 years).

A well-known Human Rights barrister (lawyer, attorney) is Cherie Booth Blair, wife of the former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Tony Blair. She has gone on record as stating the rights of the individual must be protected. Mr Blair's Government informed Bermuda on 21 May 2002 - but not the general UK public - that Bermudians since 21 May 2002 can get full British/EC passports but Bermuda does not come under EC laws); can live and work in UK and any EC country; buy any property they can afford; can register there to vote immediately and can do so in any UK or EC election; and if they physically live in the UK instead of returning to Bermuda on holiday, can get internal UK educational fees and more. But Britons and European Economic Community (EEC) citizens do not have any of the same rights in Bermuda to live, be domiciled, be employed and retire here as they do in the United Kingdom or EEC. For those who want to work in Bermuda, Work Permits apply just as much in every way to Britons and Europeans as to Philippine nationals or Mongolians. Britons who are not also Bermudians have none of the rights that Bermudians in the UK now have if they apply for UK passports. It was the UK Government - and presumably the EEC too - that approved quite recently that Bermudians could have, on application, a UK passport and be treated as full UK nationals in every other way, but that Britons in Bermuda who are not also Bermudian would not have reciprocal rights.

If and when Bermuda obtains political independence from the UK,  only those Bermudians born in the UK or with a UK grandfather or possibly a grandmother are likely to remain British. 

For persons who have been here for 5 years or more but are not citizens

 There is no equivalent in Bermuda of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. A search-engine check under "Long Term Residents" - see below  - for which they can apply - will reveal how they are treated compared to Bermuda's Long Term Residents (not treated nearly as well legally as they are in Europe). 

Permanent Residents Certificates (PRCs)

Persons who apply for the PRC are usually referred to as Long Term Residents.  Bermudians who object to them becoming citizens despite their long continuous period of residency - which would more than qualify them by international standards - can refer to the Coalition for the Rights of Long Term Residents. It is believed to include members of the Bermuda-Portuguese Association, West Indian Association and others. 

Minor concessions were granted in 2002 to some non-Bermudians with over 20 years of continuous residence and demonstrated good character and conduct. They were given Permanent Residents Certificates (PRCs).

They took effect on October 31, 2002 with the enactment of the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act 2002.  Having a qualifying Bermudian connection is key to getting Bermuda Status (citizenship) after 20 years. Otherwise, there is no  chance at all of getting it, even if born here, unless a parent is also Bermudian. Those whose brothers and sisters are Bermudians, or who were registered as voters on the Parliamentary Register before May 1, 1976 are entitled to apply for Bermuda Status if they qualify. All others can apply for Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) if they qualify. So far, some 800 persons have done the latter. Application criteria include being ordinarily resident in Bermuda before 31 July 1989 and for a period of 20 years immediately before application; are at least 40 years of age; and are of good character and conduct. Their full names, addresses, parishes and postal codes are published in the Official Gazette. Those with a Working Resident Certificate (WRC) - introduced in 1998 - must still apply for a PLC as some years have passed since they proved their eligibility. Having a PRC will provide security of employment and residence to long term residents. But having either a PRC or WRC does not entitle any non-Bermudian to buy lower or mid-priced real estate. They too are limited to the top 5% in price and Annual Rentable Value (ARV). 

All other applicants for the PRC must also demonstrate good character and conduct and must prove that he or she was ordinarily resident in Bermuda before August 1, 1989 and be at least 40 years old on the date of application.

Olympic and Commonwealth & Island Games eligibility

According to the Bermuda Olympic Association, only persons who are Bermudians in their own right can represent Bermuda at the Olympics, Pan Am Games or Central American & Caribbean Games. But this qualification is denied those persons not born in Bermuda or born in Bermuda but not with a Bermudian parent or married less than 10 years to a Bermudian; and not given citizenship in 3-5 years as in all other UN-member countries.

Voters

Bermuda voters in general and other elections or referenda are at least 18 years old and are either Bermudian by birth or status, or if non Bermudians, citizens of the (British) Commonwealth of Nations who were otherwise registered and qualified to vote in 1979, have remained residents since then - and, like Bermudians - have registered annually to vote.

 Although there have been numerous non-Bermudian incomers since 1979, all British Commonwealth of Nations nationals including Australians, Britons, Canadians, New Zealanders and West Indians and all other non Bermudians of good character and reputation who have been long term residents of Bermuda for 20 or more years but were refused Bermuda status if they applied for it and were not registered to vote in 1979, are NOT allowed to register to vote. There is no longer any mechanism providing for any other individuals who may be also be long term residents of Bermuda, but who do not have close family ties with Bermudians, to become local citizens. Without this designation, they can never vote. And because they cannot, nor can they ever own mid priced real estate by Bermuda's standards. They are limited to the top 5%  in price and Annual Rentable Value (ARV).

For more details of or clarification on any of the above

Refer to the Bermuda Department of Immigration, Chief Immigration Officer, Ministry of Labor, Home Affairs & Public Safety, Government Administration Building, 30 Parliament Street, Hamilton HM 12, Bermuda. 

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Last Updated: September 5, 2010
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