F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 7 Issue 1 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR : An Unexpected Welcome C O U N T R Y F O C U S : Dominica Pioneering: Education and Schooling Sniff Test: Health and Medical Care Culture: Carib Heritage:All That Jazz! S P E C I A L F E A T U R E S Spicestyle Change:Moving to Grenada Ten Ways to Caribbean Estate Agents A Tale of Two T'ings:Buying in the BVI Concrete and Steel:Prefab in Antigua P I C K O F T H E M O N T H Buy a Thriving Business in St. Maarten Stunning Beachfront Land in Belize 47-Acre Farm and Ranch in Costa Rica

February 2007

So you think that you would like to relocate and buy a home in in the British Virgin Islands?

There is an old saying: If you need to ask the price of a fancy item, you can’t afford it! There is a lot of truth in this and it can be applied to the situation in the British Virgin Islands, particularly with respect to buying property. In the BVI, if you need to ask the price of a house here, you can’t afford it, and if you want to know how long the process will take, you can’t spare the time!

Having decided that all of the above do not apply, the first step is to find a suitable property. One way is to take a vacation and simply look around, but that is not likely to help, since most of the desirable properties are fairly well off the beaten track on Tortola. And then there are several developments on some of the smaller islands, such as Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke that you just cannot get to without prior arrangements and a boat or a plane. Moreover, sometimes you can get lucky for a cool twenty or thirty million and actually find a complete private island on the market. But let's keep our feet on the ground.

Finding your Dream Property

So the sensible route is to contact some of the sixteen (more or less) real estate agents offering properties and land. But beware: many properties are listed exclusively with one agent. So be prepared for some heavy duty research, or go online and check out some of the better websites.

Now, of course, you will suffer from information overload, because realtors are no different here than elsewhere and want very much to ensure that you not only buy as expensive a house as possible, but that you buy it through them. So you sit down with reams of paper and/or the computer screen and try to cut through the hyperbole to the underlying facts. Don’t forget to ask the existing owner why they are leaving? The stunning views and rum punches on the patio won’t always make up for situations with bad neighbourhoods, nearby construction, insecurity or problems with government.

Some months and several visits later, you have decided on your dream home in the tropics, negotiated with the owner, had a survey done, re-negotiated with the owner about all of the things the surveyor found and finally settled on a price for all of the little bits and pieces as well as the main property.

You think you are nearly there? All you have to do is pay up? Not at all. This is where the BVI Property Purchase 'Torture Programme for Aliens' kicks in.

The Next Step

Most offers to purchase go along with a ten percent deposit indicating that you are in earnest, and a Sale and Purchase agreement is signed. Amongst the conditions of this agreement will be a clause stating that completion is contingent on you obtaining a 'Non-Belonger’s Landholding Licence'.

Anyone who is not a citizen of the BVI must have permission to buy property, with one exception: where a property has been foreclosed and is being sold by a bank. However, this sort of event only occurs occasionally and is not heavily advertised, so it is difficult to spot.

However, most of the process is the same and starts, with your lawyer, by gathering the following items.

• A licence-filing fee of $200 per person, or $500 per company named on the application. Once granted, a further fee of $600 per person or $1000 per company (and $600 each for directors and shareholders) named in the licence must be paid
• An outline of the manner in which the applicants wish to hold the specified property
• A copy of the record from Land Registry relating to the ownership of the property
• Two character references
• Two financial references from the applicant’s current bank, employer or financial manager, indicating the applicant’s ability to purchase the property and to carry out any planned development or improvement
• A financial statement reflecting one consecutive year of banking practices
• A police certificate from the police at your current residence
• One coloured passport size photograph for each applicant
• Four consecutive local newspaper advertisements showing the name and date of the newspaper, relating to the particulars of the property
• A letter sized version of the cadastral survey map showing the acreage and names of the adjacent landowners
• An excerpt survey map showing the position of all buildings and structures on the property
• If self-employed, a copy of the current trade licence
• A valuation report of the property from a recognised BVI surveyor (this will also need to contain photographs of the property in question and must clearly state the number of bedrooms and bathrooms)
• If rental permission is the desire of the applicant, then proof of rental history for a developed property

If the property is being sold by a non-belonger, a copy of the registered licence and registered instrument of transfer document granted to them is also required.

If you are applying for land as a company incorporated outside the BVI, then the following will be needed:

• Certificate of incorporation;
• Certificate of registered office;
• Articles of association;
• Memorandum of association.

If buying in the name of a BVI Cap 285 company, you will also need a certificate of good standing and a copy of the annual return.

Chasing your Dream (and your Case File!)

Having now taken a deep breath and started on the task of obtaining all of the items listed, you might be forgiven for thinking that you are almost there, but most buyers find that this is not, by any means, the case.

Armed with what will by now quite a formidable file, your lawyer will take your request to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour, where a clerk will take delivery of, and file, your request. In a month or two, you or your representative will ask the Ministry about the progress of your application, and will be told that it is with Ms. I-am-a-BVI-Government-Official-with-no
-sense-of-humour-so-you-just-mind-your-manners, who is off-island at a training course, on extended leave or is out to lunch... but will be back soon.

So you wait patiently and in another month, you ask again. Now, of course, Ms.I-am-a-BVI-Government-Official-with-no-sense-of-humour-so-you-just-
mind-your-manners is back. But her recent training has opened up new career opportunities for her and she has been transferred to The Chief Minister’s Department. So far, no one else has been allocated to your case and you will be informed when then happens.

Eventually, months later and with unflagging persistence (this is not for the faint hearted), you find out who is now on your case and contact them. Wonderful, but unfortunately your file has now gone missing. But, with great presence of mind (and having read this article) you kept copies of everything, and provide the Ministry with a complete second set of the relevant documents. Sharp move, but now unfortunately your police certificate is out of date and a fresh one must be obtained.

Variations on this theme continue. Then one glorious day you strike lucky and are told, when you ask, that your application is with the Minister. At this point you will discover that the Minister is having a bad day and so has added a new wrinkle before he approves your application. He wants you to supply him with proof that your Grandmother’s sister’s cousin really had a bee keeper's licence when he broke his leg, which has absolutely nothing to do with anything... but remember, the Minister is having a bad day and someone has to suffer. Today, it's you!

When this has been done, there will probably be further consideration given to your case over a further period of time until finally, when your last nerve is beginning to break, you discover that you have been granted your Non-Belonger’s Landholding Licence.

Having finally achieved possession of the coveted Non-Belonger’s Landholding Licence, you are now able to complete your purchase, always assuming, that is, that the seller hasn’t got tired of waiting and either gone elsewhere or withdrawn from the deal. Even worse, during the 12-18 months you have waited for the licence, a BVIslander may have stepped in and matched your offer, in which case the seller was obliged by law to sell immediately to the BVIslander!

But, as I said in the first place, if you need to ask the price, you can’t afford it, for now come the extras. The lawyer’s fee will be of the order of 2% of the first $50,000 and 1% on the rest, and it is well worth negotiating in the first instance when starting the whole business. Stamp duty must also be paid before closing, and this is currently 12%. So having paid the extra 13 or 14 percent of the sale price, you can now move in? Or can you?

Nope! For while negotiating the trials of getting the Non-Belonger’s Landholding Licence, you should also have been tackling a different task, namely that of getting permission to actually live in the BVI.

Permission to Enter

This is by no means an easy thing to do, for, if you want to work in the BVI, then there are other requirements. The obvious one is a job, whether self-employed or otherwise, and in order to do it, you will need a Work Permit from the Labour Department and an Entry Permit from the Immigration Department. These can be almost as big a task as the landholding licence, and it is well worth noting that one of the conditions written into a visitor’s entry permit is that you are forbidden to seek work while here on holiday. Hence any work application has to be undertaken from outside the territory in the first place.

Of course, attending job interviews, etc., is another matter, but has to be noted on the entry form which must be handed in to Immigration when entering the islands, otherwise Immigration can get very sticky. On the other hand, if given all relevant information and asked what the correct procedure is, they can sometimes be extremely helpful.

If you are not intending to work, then, not only will you have to satisfy Immigration as to whether you are able to support yourself and family, but may well only be given permission to live in the BVI for six months of the year.

What about Building?

Sometimes, instead of buying an existing property, people will buy land with a view to building their own dream home rather than buying someone else’s dream home. This will still involve the process of getting the non-Belonger’s Landholding Licence, but then, if you are planning on building a house, you will be required to make a “development commitment” which will commit you providing at least a $250,000 capital outlay for a single family dwelling. The actual level of the commitment will increase with acreage and you will be given between two and three years to complete the work. Should the development not be done, then a penalty can be imposed, which can be as much as 40% of the development commitment or 40% of the sale price, whichever is greater.

During the purchase process, you will also need to be finding a builder and an architect. As in anywhere else in the world, builders and architects come in several sizes and capabilities, so research will be needed here. There is no form of registration or qualification for builders or architects in the BVI, so anyone who wants to, can say he is one, as long as he fulfils all of the BVI requirements for someone to run a business. So tracking down previous customers and getting the straight dope from them will be an essential job.

Now, where have we got to? The Non-Belonger’s Landholding Licence is signed, sealed and used to complete the purchase; the various disbursements have been made; a work permit granted; permission to bring in your wife and children (by no means an easy thing) given; an architect engaged and a builder standing ready if you are going to build.

Oh yes, if school age children are involved, then schooling will be needed. This will almost certainly mean a private school, of which there are several, since the public school system is constantly on the verge of bursting due to the number of qualifying children.

Once started, building will take from at least twelve months upwards, depending on size and complexity of your finished design, so somewhere else to live will be necessary during this time, as will a site manager unconnected with the builder if you are not able to be present in person for much of the time. Once again, local research from previous clients will be essential in order to get a satisfactory person to be your representative.

But it's worth it!

If you have finally reached the end of this long journey with everything still intact including your dreams, then you are worthy of a place to rest your head in the British Virgin Islands. And if you didn’t count the cost in time and money then welcome to our lifestyle: spectacular views, tropical sun, rum punches and a dip in the jaccuzzi at sunset! We like it!

Watching the sunset from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.