Foreign entrepreneurs often assume that once they have incorporated a company in Grenada, put money into it and signed the lease, they are free to run it. They are not. Grenadian law separates owning a business from working in it. A non-national can own all the shares, sit on the board and fund every expense, and still need a work permit before managing the shop floor, cooking in the kitchen or serving clients. The company is the employer, and the founder is its foreign employee.
This page sets out the order of operations for a foreign founder: which registrations come first, where the work permit fits, how to make the case for a permit when you are effectively applying to employ yourself, and what you can and cannot do while the application is pending. It assumes the founder is not an OECS Economic Union national or CARICOM skills certificate holder, who are in a different position. Confirm the current steps and fees with each agency, and use a Grenadian attorney for the company formation.
Owning is not working
The distinction matters because the permit system is about the labour market, not about capital. Investment is welcome, and the Grenada Investment Development Corporation exists to attract it, but the right to take a job in Grenada is controlled separately through the Ministry responsible for Labour. A shareholder who simply receives dividends from abroad is not working in Grenada. A shareholder who opens the doors each morning is.
Being a director sits in between. Attending board meetings, approving accounts and signing major contracts are governance functions, and many foreign directors of Grenadian companies perform them during short visits. Running the business day to day, supervising staff and dealing with customers are management and operational work. If you intend to live in Grenada and run the company, plan on a work permit from the outset.
The same logic applies to buying an existing business. Acquiring a guesthouse, dive shop or restaurant does not carry with it any right for the new owner to work there. Many buyers discover this after completion, when the seller's staff expect the new owner to take charge immediately.
Partners in a husband-and-wife venture are each assessed separately. If both intend to work in the business, both need permission, and the application should explain the distinct role each will play. A couple describing themselves jointly as the owners, with no clear division of duties, makes the officer's task harder and the outcome slower. It also helps to decide early which of the two will be the named manager on licences and bank mandates, so that every agency sees the same picture.
The order of operations
Each registration feeds the next, and the work permit application draws on several of them. A typical sequence for a new company with a foreign founder is:
- Incorporate the company or register the business name with the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office (CAIPO), usually through a Grenadian attorney who prepares the articles and filings.
- Register the company with the Inland Revenue Division for a taxpayer identification number, and consider whether VAT registration will be required once turnover grows.
- Register as an employer with the National Insurance Scheme, since the company will be paying at least one employee, even if that employee is the founder.
- Open a business bank account, allowing for the due diligence banks apply to foreign-owned companies, which can take several weeks.
- Secure premises and any sector licences, such as trade licences, food handling approvals or tourism accreditation through the relevant authority.
- Prepare and file the work permit application, with the company as employer and the founder as the applicant.
- Begin working in the business only after the permit is granted.
Making the case when the applicant owns the employer
Explain the investment. Officers want to understand what the business is and why it needs this person. Set out the capital invested, the premises, equipment and stock bought, and the business plan in a few clear pages.
Show local jobs. The strongest argument for a founder's permit is the employment the business creates for Grenadians. List the posts already filled and those planned, with realistic timing.
Describe a genuine role. The founder's job title and duties should be specific: general manager, head chef, dive instructor and operations lead. A vague role such as owner gives the officer nothing to assess.
Address the local recruitment question honestly. For a founder, the usual local advertising exercise makes less sense, because the role exists precisely because this person created the business. Explain that clearly, and show how Grenadian staff will be trained into senior roles over time.
Keep the company in good standing. A brand-new company has little history, which helps, but make sure every registration, NIS filing and tax return due before the application has been made. Arrears at this stage are avoidable and damaging.
Investors with GIDC support and concessions
Larger projects that qualify for incentives may deal with the Grenada Investment Development Corporation, which advises investors and processes applications for concessions under Grenada's investment legislation. Incentives can include relief from import duties on equipment and materials, and in some cases tax holidays, depending on the sector, the size of the investment and the number of jobs. Approved projects sometimes have the number of foreign key personnel addressed in their agreement with the government.
Even then, a concession agreement is not itself a work permit. Each foreign manager or specialist usually still needs a permit in their own name, and the agreement is used as supporting evidence. The advantage is that the government has already accepted the project's need for certain expatriate roles, which makes the individual applications more straightforward.
Smaller founders, such as someone opening a café or a small guesthouse, are unlikely to fall within the concession regime, but GIDC can still be a useful first contact for guidance on licences and the order of registrations.
While the application is pending
The weeks between incorporation and permit approval are the most frustrating for founders, because the business exists but they cannot run it. Activities generally regarded as acceptable before approval, and those that are not, include:
- Generally acceptable: meeting the attorney, accountant and bank; viewing and leasing premises; attending board meetings; negotiating with suppliers; interviewing staff; supervising contractors fitting out the premises as the owner rather than doing the work.
- Grey area, ask first: training newly hired staff yourself, managing a soft opening, or handling bookings and customer enquiries from Grenada.
- Not acceptable: serving customers, cooking, guiding tours, teaching classes, doing the books for payment, or any role that a paid employee would otherwise fill.
- A practical workaround: hire a Grenadian manager to run day-to-day operations from the start, which both keeps the business open lawfully and strengthens the permit case by showing local employment.
- Immigration: while waiting, the founder is usually a visitor, so keep the immigration endorsement valid through timely extensions.
Founder mistakes worth avoiding
Opening first, applying later. Launching the business and working in it while the permit is still a plan is the most common founder mistake, and one that can count against both the founder and the company.
Assuming a residence or citizenship route covers work. A property purchase with an Alien Landholding Licence gives no right to work. Citizenship by investment does, once granted, because citizens need no permit; until then the ordinary rules apply.
Paying yourself outside payroll. Once the permit is granted, the founder is an employee. Salary should run through PAYE and NIS like anyone else's, not as informal drawings.
Forgetting the spouse. A founder's spouse who helps in the business also needs permission to work, unless they have an independent right to do so.
Ignoring renewal. Founders' permits need renewing like everyone else's. Put the date in the diary at the moment the first permit is issued.
Frequently asked questions
Does a foreign shareholder need a work permit if they only visit for board meetings?
Attending board meetings and approving major decisions during short visits is generally treated as governance rather than work. Living in Grenada and running the company day to day is different and usually requires a permit. If your role is somewhere in between, ask the Labour Department.
Can a foreign founder be the company's only employee?
It is possible, but the permit case is stronger when the business employs Grenadians or plans to. A one-person company run by a foreign national raises the question of what the island gains, so explain the investment and growth plan clearly.
Does buying property in Grenada give a right to work?
No. An Alien Landholding Licence allows a non-national to hold land. It says nothing about immigration or employment. A property owner who wants to run a business on the land, such as a guesthouse, still needs a work permit.
Can GIDC obtain a work permit for an investor?
The Grenada Investment Development Corporation advises investors and handles concession applications, and its support can help a permit application. The permit itself is still granted through the Ministry responsible for Labour, and each foreign worker usually needs one individually.
Should the founder's salary be paid through payroll?
Yes. Once working under a permit, the founder is an employee of the company. Salary should be subject to PAYE income tax and NIS contributions, with records kept like any other employee. Informal drawings complicate tax and later permit renewals.
Is an OECS citizen founder in the same position?
No. Citizens of OECS Economic Union countries have the right to work in Grenada without a permit, including in their own business. They still register the company, tax and NIS in the normal way, and need any sector licences.
