Registration in Bermuda: your residence document, the social insurance number and the Dutch consul
In Bermuda you do not register with a municipality. Your proof that you may live there is the document from Immigration: your work permit and work permit card, or your permission to reside. If you work, you apply online for a social insurance number. You report changes to Immigration in writing. For a new Dutch passport you go to the embassy in London; the consul in Hamilton only helps in emergencies.
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In Bermuda you do not register with a municipality as you do in the Netherlands. Your proof that you may live there is the document you get from Immigration: your work permit with the card that goes with it, or the letter with your permission to reside. If you work in Bermuda, you also apply for a social insurance number, the number for your pension contributions. Since 24 February 2025 that is done online.
Which documents and numbers do you need?
| What | For whom | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work permit and work permit card | anyone who works | Immigration, applied for by your employer | the card is made automatically; a new card $160 |
| Entry/re-entry permit | partner and children of a permit holder | Immigration | $275 per person |
| Confirmation as spouse of a Bermudian | anyone married to a Bermudian | Immigration | $190 |
| Permission to Reside | anyone living on their own income | Immigration | $275 a year |
| Social insurance number | everyone who works, from age 18 | online, socialinsurance.gov.bm |
We did not come across a population register like the Dutch BRP or a national identity card in the Bermudian sources. Your passport and your document from Immigration are your identification.
What is the social insurance number?
The social insurance number is your number with the Department of Social Insurance, which runs the Bermudian pension. Everyone who works in Bermuda and is 18 or older needs one. If you work with a work permit, you register with your passport and your work permit. Your employer pays your contribution every month and withholds your half from your salary. In 2026 that is $39.25 a week.
An exemption is possible if you work at most four hours a week, study full time or earn less than $3,000 a year. You apply for the number through socialinsurance.gov.bm. For questions call 1-441-294-9242. More about the contribution is in working in Bermuda.
If you live on your own income and do not work in Bermuda, you do not need the number.
Must you carry your documents?
If you work in Bermuda without Bermudian status, you always carry proof of identity while working. The police or Immigration may ask for it. Anyone who cannot show it commits an offence (section 66 of the immigration law). In practice that is probably your work permit card; ask your employer what he expects.
What do you report to Immigration?
You report to Immigration in writing when something changes:
- Your family. A marriage, a divorce, a new child.
- Your relationship. With residence as a partner, if you separate.
- A conviction. You also report a new conviction.
- Your money. With residence on your own income, if your income or assets change.
If you lose your job, you ask for permission to look for other work within 14 days of your last working day. That costs $275. Changing employer without permission is only possible after two years.
How do you renew your residence?
| What | When to renew |
|---|---|
| Work permit | between three months and one month before the end; late costs $290 a month |
| Permission to Reside | at least 60 days before the end |
| Partner of a Bermudian, unmarried | apply again after five years |
| EIRC, the investor residence | a statement on your investment every year |
Who is there for Dutch nationals?
There is no Dutch embassy in Bermuda. There is an honorary consul in Hamilton, Tjerk Neijmeijer, reachable on +1 441 704 5890. He falls under the Dutch embassy in London. Since 1 March 2015 an honorary consul in the United Kingdom no longer accepts passport applications. In an emergency he can help, for example with a laissez-passer, an emergency travel document, after approval from the embassy.
So you apply for a new passport at the embassy in London, or during a visit to the Netherlands. NederlandWereldwijd has no travel advice of its own for Bermuda.
Which documents do you bring from the Netherlands?
For your residence application Bermuda asks for certified copies of your birth certificate, your marriage certificate and your diplomas. Bring an international certificate, with an apostille: a stamp with which another country recognises a Dutch document. The Apostille Convention has applied to Bermuda since 1965. Which certification Bermuda accepts exactly is not in the forms. Ask Immigration before you have the documents made.
What you close down in the Netherlands is in deregistering with the municipality.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Bermuda or go straight to step 5.2 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Department of Social Insurance — the online application for a social insurance number (24 February 2025) — gov.bm
- Department of Social Insurance — who needs a number, and the exemptions — socialinsurance.gov.bm
- Government of Bermuda — the work permit and the work permit card — gov.bm
- Department of Immigration — Work Permit Policy, version 1 May 2026 (reporting, changing jobs, family) — gov.bm
- Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act 1956, section 66 — your identification at work — bermudalaws.bm
- Government of Bermuda — all Immigration fees (updated 3 September 2026) — gov.bm
- Dutch embassy in London — the honorary consuls in the United Kingdom, with Hamilton — netherlandsandyou.nl
- HCCH — the Apostille Convention has applied to Bermuda since 1965 — hcch.net
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