Jersey residence: immigration, housing and business routes

Permission to enter is only the first layer

Establish the immigration position for every person moving. British and Irish nationals do not need a Jersey immigration work permit; other applicants need their particular permission or exemption checked. A visit, an existing permission elsewhere in the Common Travel Area and permission to carry out the proposed work must not be treated as interchangeable.

Jersey’s Control of Housing and Work system then determines local work and accommodation rights. The current official guidance lists six statuses: Permanent Entitled, Entitled, Licensed, Licensed for Lease Only, Entitled for Work Only and Standard. Older four-category summaries can therefore be misleading.

The updated CHW rules took effect on 14 September 2026. In particular, Standard replaces the older Registered status terminology. A property can still be described as Registered accommodation: the property category and the renamed personal status are different things.

Check the property and the household together

Domestic accommodation is classified as Qualified or Registered. Your status and the conditions attached to it determine which property you may occupy or transact. Licensed permission is tied to an agreed role; Licensed for Lease Only has a different property scope. Approval for one main home should not be read as general investment-property permission.

Before paying a non-refundable sum, have the agent or lawyer confirm the property category and the eligibility of each intended occupier. Ask what happens to occupation if the qualifying employment ends, and align the lease break provisions with that risk.

Active business: ordinary licensing or Skilled High Earner

An owner relocating an operating business needs the business licence and any associated staffing permission assessed on the real project. Incorporating a company is a different procedure. Outline the activity, customers, anticipated staffing, premises and economic contribution before choosing the entity.

The Skilled High Earner route requires an applicant who is not already ordinarily resident, does not own Jersey residential property and has no existing residential status. The published criteria include active earned income through the applicant’s business, more than 25 hours of work weekly, £250,000 annual taxable income and economic or social benefit. The income commitment runs for ten years or until Entitled status, if sooner. A purchased or leased property must be valued at least £2 million. An alternative permission after leaving the route needs a new application and is not guaranteed.

High Value Residency is a different proposition

High Value Residency requires approval based on the applicant’s financial position and contribution to Jersey. The government expects annual worldwide earnings well above £1.25 million, capable of supporting the minimum tax contribution over the stated ten-year period. Property guidelines are more than £3.5 million for a house or more than £1.75 million for an apartment.

This is neither a passport purchase nor a substitute for immigration clearance. Assess the annual tax floor, property commitment and continuing approval conditions together. An attractive first-year projection is insufficient if liquidity and income are uncertain in later years.

A family needs more than the principal applicant’s approval

Prepare a person-by-person matrix: immigration permission, relationship evidence, housing eligibility, work plans and education. CHW guidance recognises qualifying marriage, civil partnership and enduring-relationship circumstances for partner status; an enduring relationship requires evidence and the published continuity test. That local status analysis is not itself an immigration-family decision.

Check an adult dependant’s position separately. Do not assume that the principal applicant’s route automatically authorises every family member to work for a different employer or remain after the principal’s circumstances change.

Build a file that can support each decision

Use the application-specific checklist as the controlling list. The following is a preparation framework, not a promise that every authority requests the same documents. Resolve name differences, translations and gaps in the funds history early; these are easier to correct before a time-sensitive transaction.