VisaSolomon Islands long-term workers must confirm the manual visa channel
Current follow-up: October’s digital-border briefing does not mean every employment category is online, and sponsors must prepare a Labour permit and continuing obligations.
Official source date: 2026-10-08
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Digital-border reforms have different implementation dates
Employers bringing long-term foreign staff to Solomon Islands should confirm the current application channel before treating the e-Visa rollout as a fully online employment service. A government briefing published on 8 October 2026 distinguished the Border Management System installed in July 2024, the e-Visa launch in October 2025 and the electronic payment gateway introduced on 23 August 2026. The latter enabled online short-term visa applications and payments.
The Immigration Division’s current visa overview says long-term categories, including working residents and accompanying family, are still accepted through paper applications at its visa service counter, with payment at Finance and Treasury. Its individual long-term employment page also contains online-application language. These instructions need reconciliation with Immigration for the actual case; an online payment description alone does not establish the correct filing channel.
This is a follow-up on the current implementation, not a claim that a new November work route has opened. Ask the local sponsor to confirm where the complete employment file must be lodged and how an applicant abroad receives the approval. Do not assume that a short-term portal account replaces a long-term paper submission.
Obtain the Labour permit and assemble the worker’s evidence
The long-term employment resource requires a valid work permit from the Commissioner of Labour, an employment contract, passport information, recent police and medical reports from the country of origin, and a covering letter from the Solomon Islands company or organisation. It describes permission linked to the terms of the approved work permit, with multiple entries and a stated two-year visa category.
The same page says applicants must apply from outside Solomon Islands and warns about passports with less than six months validity. Check the actual employment and intended arrival dates against both the Labour permission and the immigration application. A work permit and a visa perform connected but separate functions; holding one is not evidence that both have been granted.
An extension is described as an in-country application using the extension form, payment receipt and Immigration counter. The resources do not establish a guaranteed processing interval or a universal advance renewal deadline. Plan before the individual permission expires and obtain current instructions rather than assume that filing or paying a fee automatically extends employment or residence.
The sponsor has obligations after the application
Immigration’s Form 16 is the employment and special-purpose sponsorship document for companies, public bodies, international organisations, NGOs, educational institutions and other identified entities. It asks why the sponsor needs the foreign worker rather than a Solomon Islands citizen. The sponsor therefore should prepare a substantive recruitment explanation, not merely sign an unexplained supporting letter.
The form says the sponsor must support compliance with visa conditions and departure before expiry. It requires notification to the Director of Immigration within two weeks if employment ceases, the contracting relationship ends or the entity wishes to change the sponsored arrangements. A termination or proposed contract change should therefore trigger an immigration action alongside the employer’s internal personnel process.
The form also requires responses to written requests for information and warns about non-compliance and misleading information. Assign responsibility for the sponsorship record, decision documents and expiry dates before the employee arrives. A later change of manager should not leave the organisation unable to identify the undertaking it signed or the date that starts a reporting obligation.
Resolve the fee discrepancy before making payment
The current long-term employment webpage lists US$450 for the visa, a separately labelled US$50 online fee and US$500 for an extension. The downloadable Form 5 instead lists SBD600 for application and SBD2,500 on grant, with an additional SBD10,000 item for conversion from a visitor or business visa. These differently denominated and structured figures should not be added together as a verified universal invoice.
Use the official Form 5 to identify the application and sponsorship structure, but ask Immigration and Finance and Treasury which current charges apply to the selected channel. Its historical conversion-fee wording also does not override the current webpage’s instruction to apply abroad. Do not enter as a visitor intending to convert solely because an older form mentions a conversion charge.
The practical next actions are to establish the correct long-term channel, secure the Labour approval, complete the sponsor undertaking and confirm the payment instruction. Short emergency work is a separate category with its own purpose and conditions; it should not be selected simply to avoid the ordinary employment process. Nationality-based visitor arrangements, where available, do not establish eligibility for the proposed job. Obtain the required grant before relying on permission to travel for employment.
