VisaBritish Virgin Islands work-permit renewals require the existing Immigration Entry Permit Form
A follow-up explains the August upload requirement, occupation-specific records, salary-change evidence and the separate route for immigration questions.
Official source date: 2026-08-17
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
The August requirement adds a specific immigration record
The British Virgin Islands Department of Labour and Workforce Development says all work-permit renewal applications submitted through the Labour Management System must include the applicant's existing Immigration Entry Permit Form. Its bulletin was issued on 17 August 2026 with immediate effect. This is a follow-up on that requirement, not a newly announced November restriction or a claim that every applicant needs a new entry permit before starting a renewal.
The bulletin requires the existing form alongside a recent digital passport photograph, a clear passport biodata copy and a clear copy of the immigration stamp. The form and stamp are separately listed: uploading a passport page should not be assumed to satisfy both items. Applicants and employers should check that each record is attached in the correct place and legible. Labour warns that missing or incomplete evidence can delay processing; the notice does not publish a nationality exemption or guaranteed decision period.
Upload occupational evidence in the format the system expects
The LMS Documents to Upload resource identifies the passport photograph as a JPEG and the immigration stamp, passport biodata and work-permit card as PDFs. Use that document list to prepare files before working through the application, rather than assuming one combined image can be used in every field. It also lists separate resident, Belonger and exemption cards, which should be selected only where they genuinely apply.
Occupation-specific entries include Shipping Registry endorsements for captains and STCW validation, diving licences, food-handler permits and registrations from medical, dental, nursing and midwifery authorities. Financial-service entries include Financial Services Commission registration and licence-renewal receipts. The list is an upload menu spanning different occupations, not a demand that every renewal applicant obtain every listed licence. For example, a captain should organise the applicable maritime validation; an unrelated office worker should not invent one simply because the menu contains that option.
A changed salary or job needs more than a routine renewal label
The government's work-permit service page identifies several avoidable causes of delay: an incorrect job title or salary frequency, an inadequate job description, poor copies and missing immigration stamps. For renewals, it specifically flags a reduced salary without an explanation and a signed agreement between employer and employee. Where pay has changed, prepare those records instead of leaving the assessment to infer why the new salary differs.
That service page states a non-refundable US$50 application fee for work-permit applications, an additional US$150 for expedited service and a US$75 identification-card fee. It separately displays salary-based permit charges. The application fee therefore is not the complete work-permit cost. Obtain the assessment for the actual application and pay through the official process. Its general processing estimate for new applications should not be relabelled as a guaranteed renewal turnaround or proof that paying for expedition ensures approval.
Keep Labour, technical support and Immigration enquiries separate
The LMS employer instructions explain that employers can track applications through their dashboard and receive notifications electronically. They distinguish technical system issues, directed to [email protected], from case matters requiring a Labour Officer, including processing enquiries, salary errors and mismatches involving passport or permit information. Use the appropriate channel and application details to identify the correction needed; opening another application is not an established substitute for resolving the existing record.
Those instructions direct immigration questions to the Immigration Department. Its separate October 2025 notice introduced Saturday appointments for entry-permit extensions for workers and dependants, and landing-permit extensions for visitors, from 1 November 2025. It gives appointment hours of 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and explicitly excludes walk-ins. Confirm current availability through the published Immigration numbers, 284-494-4700, 4703 or 4705, before attending. This is a distinct service from Labour's renewal submission: do not assume that uploading the existing Entry Permit Form automatically extends its validity. Check the expiry shown on the actual immigration permission and obtain the Department's instructions where it may expire while Labour is processing the renewal.
