‘Bermudian-only’ jobs

As an appendix to my earlier post on finding a job in Bermuda, one thing I didn’t go into detail on was the list of restricted and closed job categories that non-Bermudians are not eligible to apply for.

The list of ‘closed’ jobs is as follows:

• Airline ground agent
• Floor supervisor (making sure the floors don’t get up to mischief?)
• Labourer, general
• Office receptionist
• Painter
• Salesperson
• Taxi driver
• Wall paper technician (my personal favorite for its randomness and lack of opportunity – I have only seen one room that was wallpapered, in a reinsurance office, that’s it!)

Minster Wilson

However, the new Minister is charge of immigration issues, Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, Kim Wilson (former Attorney General under Ewart Brown), is reviewing this list of closed jobs. Already proving to be a welcome departure from her dogmatic predecessor, Colonel Burch.

So, non-Bermudian wallpaper technicians, stand by your beds. Bermuda might need you to wallpaper some reinsurance boardrooms.

View full details on this page of the immigration website.

What not to wear

This isnt my luggage!

Weather-obsessed Brit as I am, when friends come to stay the main topic of conversation beforehand is what to wear – imagine packing for a year! The temperature information is slightly misleading as it doesn’t factor in the humidity. Humidity means that hot weather is hotter and cold weather is colder than the temperatures would suggest.

I brought Summer clothes will me… and then realised it got cold. Luckily ASOS saved the day with their cheap international delivery charges, large selection of leggings, tights & cardigans (I couldn’t find any in Bermuda) to help me Winter up my wardrobe. Don’t forget that as well as delivery ($10.50 I think), you also have to pay 25% duty when you collect your package from the post office.

So I have devised a new scale of climate information for Bermuda. What is nice is that the temperature is fairly constant, so it doesn’t suddenly drop 10 degrees, it eases you into the cold months. It is always colder on a scooter and can get very cold in the Winter months – Helly Hansen is a popular choice here but so expensive!

UPDATE: Just a note that this was written after Winter 09/10, which was cold and long. Winter 10/11 has been considerably warmer and shorter (and more usual) – I haven’t worn my boots since February!

Month	What to wear (or not)
January	Autumny clothes. Boots. Light coat unless on scooter, then gloves & ski jacket/waterproofs required.
February	Autumny/wintery clothes. Layer up. Boots. Heavier coat if you have one. Arctic jacket if on scooter.
March	Springy/Autumny clothes. Boots, maybe sandals on some days. Light coat (scooter rules apply, as above).
April	Springy/Summery clothes, with leggings & cardigans. Phase out boots, bring on the sandals. Light coat perhaps.
May	Summery clothes, leggings & cardigans for evening. Sandals.
June	Summery clothes, lose the leggings & cardigans. Sandals.
July	Begin sweating in light cotton dress!
August	Continue sweating, wear as little as possible. Sun hat. Sun screen.
September	Begin to stop being quite so sweaty in light cotton dress. Summery clothes. Sandals. Sun hat.
October	Summery clothes, begin introducing leggings & cardigans for evening. Sandals.
November	Summery clothes with leggings & cardigan/light jacket. Sandals.
December	Autumny clothes. Maybe put the sandals away now. Light coat unless on scooter, then ski jacket/waterproofs required.

Another temperature scale is what it’s like at night and what you might need to buy or bring with you. Bermudians tend to sleep all night with the AC on in the Summer, but we coped by switching it on when needed and trying to turn it off before going to sleep to save on the BELCO bill.

Month	What to sleep in
January	Duvet*, possibly reverse AC on heat if you have it.
February	Duvet & blanket, reverse AC on heat if you have it.
March	Duvet, reverse AC on heat if you have it.
April	Drop down to sheet with blanket.
May	Sheet only.
June	Phase out sheet to nothing. Occasional AC.
July	Nothing. AC on.
August	Nothing. AC on full blast.
September	Nothing. AC on.
October	Phase in sheet.
November	Sheet, sometimes blanket. Get duvet out in preparation.
December	Duvet.

*A duvet is called a comforter here, and sometimes comes in patterns so you don’t need a duvet cover. Bed linen is stupidly expensive so buy it at home – get your Mum to order it from John Lewis and send it to you!

Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Finding a job in Bermuda

Royal Gazette employment section

All employers in Bermuda have to advertise the ad in the newspaper for a minimum of 3 separate days so a good place to start would be the two local papers – The Royal Gazette & the Bermuda Sun. As the Bermuda Sun only comes out twice a week (Wednesdays & Fridays), most people choose the Royal Gazette to place their ads, although government currently don’t advertise with the Royal Gazette (this could change with the new Premier) and many use both papers.

• Royal Gazette Jobs (they only show the ads that were in today’s paper)
• Bermuda Sun Employment

There are also some local websites and I believe you can register as an office temp and get a temporary work permit although I’m not sure about that – it would be worth calling Bermuda Executive Services or Expertise about that.

• Bermuda Executive Services
• Bermuda Jobs is run by Expertise
• The Ladder
• Caribbean Jobs covers Bermuda too

Of course, there will be other websites that are industry specific, but checking the papers every day would mean that you wouldn’t miss out on anything.

Immigration rules are strict and whilst there are jobs for ex pats you can’t just turn up and look for work, skilled or unskilled. If you do come here to look for a job, you would still only be able to stay on your tourist visa for 3 weeks and still there are rules about seeking employment.

Immigration Rule 1: Tourists

We welcome tourists, for 21 days, maybe longer

Someone asked me whether it was possible to come to Bermuda on a tourist visa and look for work while here. Er, no way Jose! As a tourist you can stay for three weeks (with the possibility of extensions as detailed below), but you absolutely can’t look for work regardless of whether you are skilled, non-skilled or desperately needed.

Tourists get 21 days

To visit, you need a return or onward ticket and a machine-readable passport – see Bermuda Tourism website for more details. You don’t need a visa if you’re coming from the UK, U.S. or Canada but quite a few countries do – this list was updated on May 10th 2010 and apparently has more countries in it than previously.

Extending your stay

The immigration website states that you can stay as a visitor for a maximum of 6 months although it also says that extensions are normally given for no more than a total stay of 8 weeks.  In very exceptional circumstances, extensions may be given for up to 5 months. I think that means 5 months continuous stay and 6 months if you keep coming back.

To extend your tourist visa while you are on the island, you have to make an appointment with an Immigration Inspector at the immigration department, which is on the 2nd floor of the Government Administration Building on Parliament Street in Hamilton. Sounds scary!

The site also states: There is no fee for extensions of a stay of up to three months in total.  For stays beyond three months there is a fee ($25.00 in 2002: fees are revised from time-to-time) for each extension. Warning! This information could be 8 years old and might have changed!

I have never heard of anyone applying for it, it sounds complicated! I have read that getting it approved is the exception rather than the rule. And as they haven’t updated the information since 2002, then it would probably be wise to phone ahead if you’re thinking about holidaying here for longer than 21 days!

Pretty complicated, and we haven’t started on work permits, key workers, term limits and good corporate citizens yet…

Immigration: The Form

It takes a while to get to this

No two ways about it, getting the immigration application form filled out before you get here is the single most complicated thing you will have to do in your life. And there is little information out there to help (well, that’s why we’re writing this).

The information contained on www.immigration.gov.bm has definitely been updated in the past year, but it still doesn’t help that much – it’s badly written and doesn’t make much sense to anyone but the person who wrote it. There used to be a link to the actual form, but the link I had is broken – let me know if you have one.

www.bermuda-online.org/employwp.htm has a LOT of information about work permits, so I’m not going to repeat it, it looks useful.

Permission to Reside for Partners and Spouses

There is very little information on bringing a partner or spouse to the island, but it can be done. There is such a thing as a Permission to Reside. You have to supply lots of additional information such as both sets of bank details, and the working partner has to write a letter stating they will kick their partner off the island if they split up. A note of warning though, once a partner has this type of visa, they will not be able to look for work or even get a Permission to Reside and Seek Employment form. Spouses are ok though, they should be able to get the Permission to Seek Employment.  

Chest X-Rays

There are a series of strange requests that take time and effort to get, and are met with strange looks. Our experience with getting a chest x-ray was odd. The first stop is to go to your GP, but ours didn’t understand why we needed this and I had to go back three times to get the right green form. You then have to go to the hospital and pay around £65 to get a copy of it – the hospital seemed to understand what you need so it’s fine once you get there.

Notarised copy of passport & certificates

I paid a fortune for notarised copies from an actual notary (http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/) – bear in mind it costs about £100 for each certificate and you have to get your GCSE certificates notarised! But it turns out you just need a solicitor to sign that it is a true copy which costs about £3 per document.

Police Certificate

Again, pop in to your local police station to get this form and they don’t know what you’re on about! There is a downloadable form on this website: www.acpo.police.uk/certificates.asp 

Things might have changed, but we applied for a different type of police certificate, which I think was slightly cheaper and had no option of the express service, but I’m sure this one would be fine!

How long does all this take?

Anywhere between 6 and 10 weeks, less if you get a temporary visa. But is always talkes longer than they say it will, particularly during the summer months.