Moving to Gibraltar

Gibraltar's Department of Employment says that persons who are not entitled to work in Gibraltar - it gives non-EEA nationals as the example - need the prospective employer to request a work permit BEFORE employment begins; the employer must meet various conditions before approval, and a permit is issued for a period not exceeding 12 months. Swiss nationals do not require one. Separately, every employer must register a vacancy before seeking to engage a worker, notify the engagement not later than the day it begins (a 'Notice of Terms of Engagement'), and notify a termination within 7 days; these duties do not depend on the worker's nationality. Fixed penalties range from GBP 750 (approx EUR 860) for failing to register a termination to GBP 3,000 (approx EUR 3,450) for failing to register a vacancy or engagement or to request a work permit. Permit fees are on a separate Fees page that was not read for this review.

The employer must satisfy the Finance Centre Director that the appointment will promote and sustain economic activity of particular economic value to Gibraltar and that the individual will earn more than GBP 160,000 (approx EUR 184,000) a year. The Income Tax Office adds that conditions on residential accommodation and previous non-residency apply. The benefit is tax treatment, not a separate visa: the individual is charged to tax on only the first GBP 160,000 of assessable income, under the Gross Income Based System only, and as rates stand the annual liability is GBP 39,940. Residence and work permission are separate matters, handled by the Department of Immigration and Home Affairs (permits of residence) and the Department of Employment (work permits). Application fees were not published on the pages reviewed.

Three conditions must be met for each year of assessment: approved residential accommodation in Gibraltar available for your exclusive use for the whole year; not resident in Gibraltar, and not having been resident in the previous five years; and holding a certificate from the Finance Centre Director qualifying you as a Category 2 individual. The benefit is a tax cap: liability to income tax on the first GBP 118,000 (approx EUR 135,700) of assessable income only, with a FLOOR of not less than GBP 37,000 (approx EUR 42,550) of tax due and payable in any year of assessment - so this is an annual cost, not a one-off. The Government's press release 469/2026 (18 June 2026) gives the minimum net wealth for new applicants under the Qualifying (Category 2) Individuals Rules 2004 as GBP 2 million and the application fee as GBP 1,233, and says it intends to raise them to GBP 5 million and GBP 5,000, with existing holders grandfathered and no commencement date given. The same release says a person who does not maintain Category 2 status will have no right to continue to be resident in Gibraltar. Permits of residence are handled separately by the Department of Immigration and Home Affairs.

The Department of Immigration and Home Affairs issues ID and civilian registration cards for residents, processes permits of residence and manages applications for Permanent Residency Status; it also handles visa applications for Gibraltar and nationality and Gibraltarian status matters. Eligibility criteria, permit duration and processing times were not published on the official page reviewed; the Department's Table of Fees is a separate document that was not read for this review. The Government of Gibraltar describes a UK-EU agreement concerning Gibraltar's future relationship with the European Union and the Schengen area (press release 469/2026), so frontier and third-country entry arrangements may change; its terms were not read for this review.