Jamaica visa and residence guide

Jamaica's Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) handles entry, extensions of stay and permanent residence, while the Ministry of Labour and Social Security issues work permits. PICA's visa table sets the rule by nationality: Commonwealth citizens such as Canadians, Britons and Indians need no visa, many other nationals need none for 30 days (for example France, Japan or Spain) or 90 days (for example Brazil, Germany or Mexico), US citizens can stay six months, and nationals such as Nigeria, Pakistan or Vietnam need a visa in advance. Visitors can extend their stay with PICA up to six months in total (twelve months for Commonwealth citizens); each extension costs JM$10,000 and is processed within three working days.

Longer stays are managed as categories of extension of stay: students register with PICA within two weeks of arrival, employees have their passports endorsed after obtaining a work permit, spouses of Jamaicans extend on the basis of marriage, and dependants of foreign workers extend as dependants. Non-Commonwealth nationals over 16 who stay more than six months register with PICA for JM$2,000.

Permanent residence is available after more than three years of work, on retirement, through marriage to a Jamaican or as a dependant of a permanent resident, for JM$100,000, usually within three to six months. This guide does not cover asylum because no PICA page describing the procedure was found.