A common topic in the Belize Facebook groups is working while in the country. Many people ask: “Are there jobs there?” “Can expats work?” And “What's involved in receiving a work permit?” However, ask questions about working in Belize with caution, as incorrect wording will surely make you the recipient of some standard invectives: “It’s illegal to work without a permit!” or “Don’t take jobs from Belizeans!”
While I don't condone either, online work often gets overlooked as a way to navigate those concerns in Belize. Whether you call it remote work or being a ‘digital nomad,’ holding a job outside of Belize offers a viable option for any expat wanting to work while in the country—though it does fall into a bit of a gray area.
Changing Careers as Part of Your Move Abroad
Changing careers is a challenge wherever you are in the world, and doing so while relocating to Belize only adds another hurdle to the moving process. If you have longer-term plans for getting here, consider transitioning to online work beforehand. If you can learn a new industry and skills to secure a fully remote gig that doesn’t restrict your location, you can seamlessly take your work with you without a significant loss of income.
If you choose to make the career change after you’ve moved, then be sure to factor in how long it will take you to enter a new online profession. Depending on the extent of the change, it can take anywhere from several months to more than two years to secure a position in a new industry—this was certainly the case for me— with an average of eleven months.
Working in Belize While Not Working in Belize
Not everyone is retired when they move to Belize, so finding reliable and consistent work is essential for financial planning and longevity. Depending on where you settle and how you choose to live, the cost of living may not be any cheaper than in your home country, emphasizing the importance of finding work in Belize. But that doesn’t have to mean working in Belize while working in Belize. A remote job is an excellent alternative to a boots-on-the-ground job and will likely pay better. The average hourly wage in Belize is around BZD 5 or 2.50 USD. I don't know about you, but that is a significant pay cut from what I made back home and what I currently make remotely.
If I Can Do It, So Can You
Before I moved to Belize, I was a general contractor in residential renovation and construction. I closed my business shortly after leaving Canada as attempting to complete physical projects wasn’t possible for me from afar. I am now a freelance/contract web content and SEO writer.
How to Transition into a New Career
I am not an expert in career changes, but I have experience doing so (and am still in the process). I suggest leveraging as much of your previous work experience as possible when transitioning to online work. I leaned heavily on my construction and renovation experience when I started writing professionally. I self-published Home in Good Hands: A Homeowner’s Guide to Construction and Renovation, which won the Finalist Award in the Readers' Favorite International Book Awards. I used this experience and accolade to get a job writing SEO articles about home improvement and maintenance for a real estate brokerage on Vancouver Island. That job helped me land a client for whom I provide web content for their customers in the building supply industry. That snowballed into SEO content writing for a digital marketing start-up in LA, writing for their clients on various topics I'm unfamiliar with. I'm still acquiring clients and writing gigs but making significant progress. All these jobs are done from my home — surrounded by screaming toddlers, barking dogs, and two cats jumping all over me. Joking aside, it's great: I write articles with a beautiful view out my window, watch my kids grow up, and spend lots of time with my wife. All I need is my laptop, electricity, and an internet connection.
Remote Work for All!
This type of work isn't just limited to writers. There are many remote online work opportunities, from web design and telehealth to education, tutoring, minute-taking, AI training, graphic design, and more. Just think of a position; a company will probably offer a remote version of it. Some restrictions and limitations exist, like the type of work, residency, and banking requirements, but many options exist.
You can find these jobs on numerous employment websites, such as Indeed, Fiverr, Wellfound, Upwork, LinkedIn, and Flexjobs, just to name a few. Filter your search for remote work on these platforms and sign up for email notifications for job positions that fulfill your requirements. Be sure to upload your resume and credentials to as many as possible, especially the free ones. Yes, it takes time to rejig your resume and input your info into all the various sites, but it's worth the effort.
Persistence is the Key to Finding Remote Work as an Expat in Belize
If you decide to do something quite different from what you did in the past, as I did transitioning from on-the-job construction to remote writing, my advice is to get into the nitty-gritty of the work and regularly chip away at it. Sign up for free courses, even if they are essentially sales pitches, and take what little nugget you can get from them and expand that knowledge. If you enter a creative field, like writing, graphic design, web development, video editing, etc, then live it. Ensure you’re engaged in the work daily, especially in the early stages when you aren’t making money: it's the only way to build skills and expertise in the new field.
Scam Awareness
Be aware of scams on some platforms —Upwork in particular— however, the employer screening processes are improving, and most are good. Scams (short contracts and one-off projects) are most prevalent in gig work, so use your best judgment when applying for and taking on this type of remote work. Don't do anything that doesn’t make sense, like sending the employer money in order for them to pay you. Also, don't over-commit to anything. Secure a retainer or deposit for big projects or otherwise schedule some early deliverables that require the employer to pay for the services rendered. This way, if the job is a scam, you haven’t lost too much time or resources.
Working Remotely in Belize
Don't Belize Everything You Read Online (except this Blog, of course!)
While researching for this article, I came across a bunch of information* about a “Digital Nomand Visa” for Belize. My initial thought was, “bullshit!” but I wanted to be sure. A quick visit to the Belize Immigration website, precisely the visa types page, failed to produce anything on said topic. With the smell of cow dug lingering, I decided to inquire further and contact a couple of government of Belize email addresses these questionable sites provided in their description of the ‘digital nomad visa.’ As of this writing, four days have passed with no response. Some might say, “That's Belize bureaucracy for you,” and they may be right. Still, I can't help but feel that there is no such thing as a ‘digital nomad visa’ in Belize. I’ve dealt with numerous government agencies over the last few years (BTB, CBA, Belize Immigration, the Environmental Authority, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and BAHA), and most are quite responsive unless you are inquiring about something they know nothing about. It's common to email someone in the Belize government who is not directly related to the matter of inquiry and have them ignore you. I suspect this is happening here —a “digital nomad visa” does not exist, so no one feels obligated to respond.
Is the Digital Nomad Visa for Belize Bullsh*t?
In short, yes. Even if it turns out to be real, it doesn't seem worth applying for. The dubious information I gathered on this visa, also known as the “Work Where You Vacation Program,” claims to allow individuals to live in Belize for up to six months. Open to citizens or permanent residents of the EU, UK, USA, or Canada, applicants must be employed or have proven income outside Belize. The required minimum annual income is USD 75,000 for individuals or USD 100,000 for those with dependents. Applicants must provide various documents, including a job letter or proof of self-employment, proof of income, a notarized banking reference, a clear police record, and certified passport copies. Travel insurance with a minimum health coverage of USD 50,000 is also required. Successful applicants and their dependents cannot work within Belize during their stay. The estimated fee was ambiguous, varying widely across sources, from as little as 300 USD to as much as $900. The theoretical cost most likely wouldn't include a lawyer or assistant fee, which many expats employ to speed up and smooth out their work permit or residency application process.
If this is true, it appears to be a lot of work to apply for a 6-month stay, especially when you are wholly unfamiliar with the Belize Immigration office and its processes. If you had considered this an option**, applying for a regular work visa, valid for 12 months, would make more sense. It also seems quite intrusive: this visa requires you to provide more personal information than required when extending your monthly visitor permit.
It's best to avoid oversharing information regarding your finances when you are new to a country, especially a developing one like Belize. I am not saying that you’re at risk when doing so, but scams exist, and corruption is rampant throughout all levels of the Belizean government. I advise sticking to the basic monthly visa renewal process, where you usually don’t have to reveal much if any, information about your work status.
What is the Source of the Digital Nomad Visa in Belize?
So, I’m not sure where this information comes from. Perhaps it's old information the government websites have since removed, but other sites still contain it and piggyback off it. Or maybe it's a straight-up fabrication produced by an AI-generated content hallucination (yes, that is a thing) that no one has thought to correct. Nevertheless, the prevalence of this information, which is very recent, by the way—one source produced a blog post on this topic as recent as Aug 7, 2024— proliferates the internet. There are numerous Google search results pages about this, none of which are official Government of Belize websites, mind you. Despite its abundance, I wouldn’t give this information much weight***.
*I considered providing links to these websites but didn’t want to support their SEO with a quality backlink.
**If any readers have applied for this visa, I would love to hear from you so that I can update this post.
***I plan to update this post if I receive a response to my email and can finally determine the validity of the digital nomad visa.
Keep a Simple Life, Simple
If you're considering working remotely from Belize, it's essential to understand the current situation: there's likely no official process for the phantom digital nomad visa. Since there isn’t information on the immigration website, and no government official has provided info, let sleeping dogs lie; it's Belize, after all, and there are many snoozin’ pooches. Be wary of other websites, blog posts, or information claiming otherwise, as they may be inaccurate.
Truthful but Tight-Lipped
Regarding your remote work status, it's best to keep things low-key. Don’t push for anything beyond the standard work permits offered by the immigration office. Since there isn’t anything official about remote work, keep it that way.
My wife and I have been doing monthly visitor permit extensions for the last two and a half years. From the first visit, I’ve claimed to be self-employed (the truth) —writing it on the application form— and haven’t had a single issue. I get the odd inquiry into what I do. When I first arrived, I told them I had a construction company in Canada (the truth), and most recently, I told them I was a freelance writer (also true). These inquiries are few and far between, and the line of questioning is brief.
Quietly Go About Your Biznas
Sometimes, the best approach is to ask for forgiveness, not permission. If questioned about your work status, for example (this is 100% hypothetical), and an immigration officer tells you it's illegal to work remotely without a visa, I’d advise you (*I’m not a lawyer, by the way) to sincerely apologize and ask for more information. If the official can't provide concrete details, an information package, or an application, then continue as usual, as there probably isn't anything they can do. They are just giving you a hard time —it happens, and just another version of the Gringo Tax; in this case, it's your time, not money. If they provide you with resources outlining an established process, then by all means, follow it.
The above may all seem like I'm being dishonest and trying to hide something, but I'm not. I'm just doing my part to not stir the pot, draw attention to myself, or change this country in ways it doesn’t need. The thing is, many expats come here and attempt to impose their customs and standards. It happened with building permits for residential construction. When my wife and I first came to Belize in 2020 in search of property, building permits weren’t a thing. When we arrived to build our home two years later, they were a requirement. A local Mennonite man explained that this resulted from foreigners inquiring with the government about building permits. As the saying goes, “Ask, and you shall receive” …and subsequently, pay.
If you wish to come here and work remotely, do so quietly, and all will be well for you and everyone else, too.
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