Four CARICOM member states — Barbados, Belize, Dominica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines — are preparing to implement full free movement among themselves, beginning on 1 October 2025.
This landmark initiative will allow nationals of the four countries to enter, leave, and re-enter each other’s territories; move freely; reside, work, and remain indefinitely without the need for work permits or residency permits. Additionally, they will be able to access emergency and primary health care, as well as public primary and secondary education, in the receiving country within its available resources.
The move follows a decision taken by regional leaders during the 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government earlier this year. Officials from the participating states have since been collaborating to ensure all necessary systems and measures are in place for the rollout.
This free movement initiative falls under the new Enhanced Cooperation Chapter of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. The chapter allows groups of at least three member states to deepen integration among themselves if the CARICOM Conference agrees that the intended objectives cannot be achieved within a reasonable time by the wider community.
The four pioneering states are now on track to become the first within CARICOM to fully implement this free movement regime.