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Tourist Landing Permit

British Virgin IslandsShort stays and visits

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

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Explore pathways in British Virgin Islands Read the five questions ↓

For the relevant traveller scope, is a visa, electronic authorisation, visa on arrival or no advance visa normally required?

For Tourist Landing Permit, the reviewed Act says a person generally needs an immigration officer’s leave to land and normally lands at an authorised port; the officer examines the person and can grant time-limited leave. The 2025 amendment expands the section 20(2)(b) exception to include section 21(1)(j). These landing rules alone do not decide whether this traveller needs an advance visa, electronic authorisation, or a visa on arrival.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • No reviewed nationality matrix or competent-authority visa instructions establish an advance-visa rule for this named route and traveller; that central R1 field remains unresolved.
  • The statutory general landing rule is not proof that the Tourist, Business Visitor or Other Visitor category uses the same advance-clearance process.
  • The reviewed 2025 amendment changes the section 20 exception; other visa regulations and operational conditions are outside the cited provisions.
  • 2013 revision, section 20(1)-(2)
    20. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act a person shall not land in the Territory from any place outside the Territory or embark in the Territory for any destination outside the Territory— (a) save with the leave of an immigration officer; and (b) elsewhere than at an authorised port of entry or at such other place as an immigration officer may in any particular case allow. (2) An immigration officer may on the examination of a person who enters or seeks to enter the Territory— (a) refuse him or her admission into the Territory, except where the person falls within any of the categories enumerated in section 21; or (b) admit him or her into the Territory subject to a condition restricting the period for which he or she may remain in the Territory with or without conditions for restricting his or her employment or occupation in the Territory, except where the person falls within a category specified in section 21(1)(a) or (b). (Substituted by Act 11 of 2006)
  • 2025 Act, section 7, section 20(2)(b) amendment
    Section 20 amended 7. The principal Act is amended in section 20(2)(b) by substituting the phrase “21(1)(a) or (b)”, with the phrase “21(1)(a), (b) or (j)”.

What short-visit purposes does this route cover?

For Tourist Landing Permit, the reviewed Act establishes a general employment boundary: a person may not seek gainful occupation without a valid section 31 permit unless an applicable section 30(2) exception applies. The 2025 amendment adds the section 21(1)(j) class to those exceptions. This law does not itself define the permitted visitor activities for the named Tourist, Business Visitor or Other Visitor landing-permit category.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The positive activities permitted under this exact named visitor category, including any meetings, conferences, study or family visit, are not established by the reviewed statute.
  • The 2025 fee schedule separately names a Business Visitor Permit as work-permit-exempt under the Labour Code (Work Permit Exemption) Orders of 2017 and 2024. That label does not define every permitted business activity or extend the exception to Tourist or Other Visitor.
  • The exact route-specific work conditions and the scope of the Labour Code exemption need the governing order and competent-authority process.
  • 2013 revision, section 30(1)-(2)
    30. (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall seek to engage himself or herself in any gainful occupation in the Territory unless he or she is in possession of a valid permit issued in accordance with the provisions of section 31 permitting him or her to do so. (2) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person who comes within any of the categories set out in section 21(1)(a), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g). (3) Any person who seeks to engage in any gainful occupation in contravention of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence.
  • 2025 Act, section 10(a), section 30(2) amendment
    Section 30 amended 10. The principal Act is amended (a) in section 30(2) by substituting the phrase “21(1)(a), (c), (d), (e), (f) and “(g)” with the phrase “21(a), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g) and (j)”; (b) by inserting immediately after subsection (3) the following subsection: 4 “(4) An employer who enables a person to commit an offence under this section commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $5000.”.

What maximum stay, rolling-period rule, validity and entry rules apply?

For Tourist Landing Permit, section 23(2) gives general landing-period rules, not a separate route-specific entitlement. If a person produces a permit issued under section 31, the period is the period specified in that permit. Under amended section 23(2)(b), a person without that permit who is not within the other stated classes may be granted a period of no more than six months by the immigration officer, subject to ministerial directions. Amended section 23(2)(c) instead covers persons in section 21(1)(c) to (j) while they remain in those classes; new section 23(2)(d) provides 10 months for a holder of a valid Non-Belonger Land Holder’s licence. These statutory classes do not establish the ordinary initial stay or a guaranteed period for this named landing-permit route. The individual grant may be shorter.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The reviewed statute does not establish the ordinary initial admission period or a separate maximum for this named route; applicable ministerial directions and the individual grant are not established here.
  • The cited section 23(2) provisions do not establish a rolling-period limit, a limit on number of entries, a minimum gap between visits, or the separate validity period of a landing permission. These fields remain unresolved.
  • The 2013 revision is superseded in part by the commenced 2024 and 2025 amendments; this answer applies only the cited section 23(2) provisions and does not certify other unreviewed amendments or entry-visa rules.
  • Immigration and Passport Act, 2013 revision, section 23(2)(a)-(c)
    (a) where such person produces a permit issued to him or her under section 31 permitting him or her to remain in the Territory, the period specified in that permit; (b) where such person does not produce to the immigration officer such a permit, such period not exceeding 6 months as the immigration officer may, subject to any directions of the Minister determine; (c) where such person is a person who falls within any of the categories enumerated in section 21(1)(c) to (i), such period as the person continues to be a person who falls within any of the categories enumerated in section 21(1)(c) to (i). (Inserted by Act 11 of 2006)
  • Immigration and Passport (Amendment) Act 2025, section 8(b)-(d)
    (b) in subsection (2)(b) by substituting the words “10 months” with the words “six months”; (c) in subsection (2)(c) by substituting the phrase “21(1)(c) to (i)” wherever it appears with the phrase “21(1)(c) to (j)”; (d) by inserting immediately after subsection (2)(c) the following new paragraph: “(d) where such person is a person who holds a valid Non-Belonger Land Holder’s licence, a period of 10 months.”.

What important funds, accommodation, invitation, insurance, onward-travel or passport evidence may be required?

For Tourist Landing Permit, section 23(1) states general checks before a landing grant, except where the person falls within the section 21(1)(c)-(j) classes after the 2025 amendment. For a person subject to those checks, the officer must be satisfied about a ticket or other means of travel to a country the person can enter, or a valid section 31 permit; gainful occupation must stay within any valid permit; and the person must be able to support self and dependants for the permitted stay. The section also lists character and public-health exclusions. Under section 37(1), an immigration officer may require inspection of a passport, visa or other identity or entry-permission document in the traveller’s possession.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • Section 23 gives no numerical funds threshold. A route-specific funds amount or required supporting documents are not established by the cited law.
  • The reviewed statutory sections do not establish whether this named route requires accommodation proof, an invitation or sponsor letter, travel or health insurance, or a particular passport-validity period. Silence in these sections is not an exemption.
  • The 2025 amendment changes a section 23(1) category reference; other current operational document requirements are not certified by the statute extracts.
  • 2013 revision, section 23(1)
    23. (1) Subject to the other provisions of this Act an immigration officer may grant leave to any person to land and remain in the Territory for such period as the Immigration Officer may determine in accordance with subsection (2), upon being satisfied that that person is a person who falls within any of the categories enumerated in section 21(1)(c) to (i) or— (a) has in his or her possession either a ticket, or some other means of travelling to some other country which he or she will be able to enter, or a valid permit, not having been obtained by fraud or misrepresentation, issued to him or her under section 31 permitting him or her to remain in the Territory for the period specified therein; (b) will not engage or seek to engage in any gainful occupation other than occupation which is specified in a valid permit, not having been obtained by fraud or misrepresentation; (c) is not likely to behave in a manner prejudicial to the peace, order and good government of the Territory; (d) is not suffering from a mental disorder nor is mentally defective; (e) is not suffering from any contagious or infectious disease which, in the opinion of a medical practitioner appointed under section 5(1)(e) makes his or her presence in the Territory dangerous to the community; (f) is not a person who is reasonably believed to have come to the Territory for any immoral purpose, or who is not believed to be a prostitute or to have come to the Territory for the purpose of prostitution; (g) has not been convicted in any place of, or admits to having committed, an offence of a nature punishable in the Territory with imprisonment for a term of 3 years or more who by reason of such conviction is deemed by the Chief Immigration Officer to be undesirable; (h) is not addicted to the use of any drug; (i) has not been convicted of an offence under any written law relating to dangerous or narcotic drugs whether in the Territory or in any state or country outside the Territory; 21 LAW OF VIRGIN ISLANDS Immigration and Passport Act Revision Date: 30 June 2013 (j) has not at any time advocated— (i) the overthrow by force or violence of the lawful Government of the Territory or of any other state or country or of all forms of law; (ii) the abolition of organised Government; or (iii) the assassination of any person or the unlawful destruction of property; (k) has not been a member of or affiliated to any organisation which entertains or teaches any doctrine specified in paragraph (j); (l) is not a person whose name is for the time being entered in the stop list; (m) is not a member of a class of persons declared by the Cabinet, by Order, to be a prohibited class of persons for the purpose of this section; (n) is not a person whose presence in the Territory would in the opinion of the Chief Immigration Officer and on the direction of the Minister be undesirable and not conducive to the public good; (o) is not a person who is incapable of supporting himself or herself and his or her dependants during such time as he or she may be permitted to remain in the Territory; and (p) is not the dependant of a person who is precluded from being granted leave to land by reason of any of the provisions of this section. (Amended by Act 11 of 2006)
  • 2013 revision, section 37(1)
    37. (1) Every person intending to land in, or as the case may be, depart from the Territory shall if required to do so by an immigration officer produce for inspection any passport, visa, document evidencing nationality or identity or any document evidencing permission to enter any country, in his or her possession.

Where/how is permission obtained when required, and under what important circumstances can a stay be extended or changed?

For Tourist Landing Permit, the general Act requires an immigration officer’s leave to land. After a person receives leave under section 23(1), the Chief Immigration Officer may for good cause vary its period; an extension is subject to a fee. Schedule 3 Part IV of the 2025 Regulations, in force from 1 October 2025, sets the general fee for extension to a landing permit at $50 for the first extension, $100 for subsequent extensions, and $25 for extensions for a child or spouse of a BVIslander or Belonger. Where an immigration officer refuses leave under section 23, the Chief Immigration Officer may separately give written special leave under section 24. The commenced 2024 amendment adds an appeal to the Immigration Appeals Board within 21 days under its stated refusal and confirmation conditions; this is a refusal appeal, not an extension procedure.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The reviewed law and regulations do not establish the exact application channel, form, submission deadline or evidence checklist for extension of this named category.
  • The Chief Immigration Officer’s power to vary a period for good cause does not guarantee extension. The 2024 appeal provisions concern refusal of landing leave and do not answer how an extension application is lodged.
  • The Schedule 3 Part IV rates are general statutory landing-permit extension tariffs; whether a particular traveller qualifies for the child or spouse rate requires individual classification, not inferred from this route name.
  • 2013 revision, section 20(1)
    20. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act a person shall not land in the Territory from any place outside the Territory or embark in the Territory for any destination outside the Territory— (a) save with the leave of an immigration officer; and (b) elsewhere than at an authorised port of entry or at such other place as an immigration officer may in any particular case allow. (2) An immigration officer may on the examination of a person who enters or seeks to enter the Territory— (a) refuse him or her admission into the Territory, except where the person falls within any of the categories enumerated in section 21; or (b) admit him or her into the Territory subject to a condition restricting the period for which he or she may remain in the Territory with or without conditions for restricting his or her employment or occupation in the Territory, except where the person falls within a category specified in section 21(1)(a) or (b). (Substituted by Act 11 of 2006)
  • 2013 revision, sections 23(3) and 24
    (3) When a person has been granted leave to land and remain in the Territory for a period under subsection (1) the Chief Immigration Officer may, for good cause, vary that period and any extension thereof shall be subject to the payment of the fee prescribed. (4) Any person who, without lawful excuse, the proof of which shall be upon him or her, in the Territory harbours, maintains or employs a person who has landed in contravention of any of the foregoing provisions of this section, 22 LAW OF Immigration and Passport Act VIRGIN ISLANDS Revision Date: 30 June 2013 and whom he or she knows or has reasonable cause to believe to have so landed, shall be guilty of an offence. Special leave to land 24. Where any person is not granted leave to land in the Territory by an immigration officer under section 23 the Chief Immigration Officer may, in his or her discretion, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, permit such person in writing to land and remain in the Territory for such period and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed or as the Chief Immigration Officer may deem fit to impose.
  • 2024 Act, sections 12-13, refusal appeals
    Section 23 amended 12. The principal Act is amended in section 23 by inserting immediately after subsection (4), the following new subsections: “(5) Where a person is not granted leave to land under subsection (1) by the immigration officer or the Chief Immigration Officer, after exercising his or her discretion under subsection (3), confirms the decision of the immigration officer under subsection (1), the person may appeal to the Immigration Appeals Board, within 21 days of the refusal to grant leave to land in such form as the Immigration Appeals Board shall determine. (6) The person may appeal to the Immigration Appeals Board on the ground that (a) the immigration officer or Chief Immigration Officer misinterpreted or misapplied the provisions of the law; (b) or any other ground that the person considers reasonable.” Section 24 amended 13. The principal Act is amended in section 24 by renumbering the provision as subsection (1) and inserting the following new subsection: “(2) Where a person is not granted leave to land in the Territory by an immigration officer under section 23 and the Chief Immigration Officer, after 11 exercising his or her discretion under subsection (1) confirms the decision of the immigration officer, the person may appeal the decision of both the immigration officer and the Chief Immigration Officer to the Immigration Appeals Board within 21 days of the refusal to grant leave to land on the ground that the immigration officer or Chief Immigration Officer misinterpreted or misapplied the law, made a procedural error or other reasonable ground.”
  • 2025 Regulations, Schedule 3 Part IV, landing-permit extension fees
    2. For the issue of an Extension to a $50 – First Extension Landing permit $100 – Subsequent Extensions $25 – All Extensions - Child or Spouse of a BVIslander/ Belonger
  • 2025 Regulations, regulation 1(3), Schedule 3 Part IV commencement
    Citation and commencement 1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Immigration and Passport (Amendment) Regulations, 2025. (2) These Regulations shall come into force on the 27th day of June, 2025. (3) Notwithstanding subregulation (2), the fees prescribed in regulation 10(a) for the purposes of Schedule 3 Part I paragraphs 1, 1a, 2, 9, 10, 11 and 12 shall come into force on the 30th day of June, 2025 and the fees prescribed in regulation 10(b) for the purposes of Schedule 3 Part IV shall come into force on the 1st day of October, 2025.

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

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