September 25, 2026
Jersey’s revised Control of Housing and Work regime came into force on 14 September 2026. It renames and restructures residential statuses, shortens the long-residence route to Permanent Entitled status, sets clearer limits on time spent away from the Island, formalises Licensed for Lease Only status and replaces the old “2(1)(e)” basis for high value residency.
The changes matter to three groups in particular: employers recruiting staff, residents who plan to spend time away, and people planning a move to Jersey. This guide explains what has changed, what has not, and what to check before you commit to a job offer, a home or a departure date.
The Control of Housing and Work (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 2022 and new Residential and Employment Status Regulations replace the framework that had applied since 2013. The States Assembly adopted the Regulations in April 2025 and they took effect with the Amendment Law on 14 September 2026. The Government’s stated aims are to reduce administration for businesses and to let Islanders spend time away without losing the residence they have built up.
The basic structure is familiar. Most statuses are still earned through years of continuous ordinary residence, or allocated by an employer under a staffing licence. What has changed is the terminology, the long-residence period for Permanent Entitled status, the rules on absence, the treatment of partners and the legal basis for high value residency.
If you held a status before 14 September, you keep it until it expires, is revoked or is replaced by a new status. The one automatic change is that Registered status has become Standard status.
Business licence and staffing applications have been streamlined, with shorter forms, clearer guidance and fewer information requirements. The underlying controls have not gone away. A business licence allows you to operate and to employ people with Permanent Entitled, Entitled or Entitled for Work Only status. It does not, on its own, allow you to employ anyone else.
To employ someone with Standard, Licensed or Licensed for Lease Only status, you need the appropriate permission on your staffing licence, unless an exemption applies. The guidance requires a new permission to be obtained before employment is offered. A person with Standard status can work for you only if your licence allows it and you are within the number of Standard employees it permits.
The Government’s business licensing guidance sets the main criteria for each type of permission:
A shorter form does not remove the need to justify an application. Be ready to evidence the role, pay, qualifications and recruitment efforts, including why suitable local candidates are not available.
Two further points are easy to miss. First, Licensed and Licensed for Lease Only status ends when the approved employment ends, and the employee’s right to occupy Qualified housing ends with it. Guidance published in late 2025 allowed three months to vacate, so plan for leavers and role changes with that in mind. Second, housing and work status is not immigration permission. Staff who are not British or Irish citizens will generally need immigration permission to live and work in Jersey, and that is assessed separately.
The long-residence route to Permanent Entitled status now requires 25 years of continuous ordinary residence, reduced from 30 by an amendment adopted in April 2025. It is one of several routes. People born in Jersey, people whose 10 years of residence began before school leaving age, and certain people who lived in Jersey before the age of 20 with a qualifying parent can reach the status sooner.
The practical value of Permanent Entitled status is security. Once held, it is not lost by leaving Jersey, however long the absence, and it can be revoked only in narrow circumstances. That distinguishes it from Entitled status, which is still reached after 10 years but can be lost after an extended absence. Anyone who expects to leave Jersey for a long period should check which of the two they hold before they go.
For many residents, the absence rules are the most important part of the reform. The revised guidance distinguishes between time away that still counts as ordinary residence, time that pauses your residence record and time that breaks it. A pause preserves the qualifying residence you have already built up but does not add the time abroad. A break can affect both your current status and your future qualification.
Once you hold a status, the Regulations set clear outer limits:
The Minister can adjust these absence periods by Order, although any reduction applies only to people granted a status after the change.
The Government has said the reforms give more flexibility to people who spend time away for work, study, family commitments or other opportunities. That flexibility depends on the facts. An approved overseas work opportunity, for example, may pause the record if the relevant conditions are met, but it is not an automatic exemption for every job abroad. Before you leave, establish how the absence will be treated, and keep evidence of its purpose and length and of your continuing Jersey connections, such as a home, family and employment.
The status formerly called Registered is now called Standard. This is a change of name, not of policy. A valid registration card showing Registered status does not need to be replaced simply because of the new name, and employers’ existing Registered permissions continue to work. Residence built up while holding Registered status still counts towards Entitled for Work Only, Entitled and Permanent Entitled status.
One source of confusion remains. “Registered” is still the name of a category of accommodation. The new name for the personal status does not rename Registered housing, and it does not give Standard residents access to Qualified property. Update recruitment forms, tenancy paperwork and staff guidance as you review them.
Licensed for Lease Only status puts on a formal footing a practice that previously operated as a Licensed status with a lease-only condition. It is allocated by an employer for an approved role. The holder may rent a home to live in, including Qualified property, provided the letting is an ordinary lease rather than a registered contract passed before the Royal Court.
The holder cannot buy property alone. They can buy jointly with an eligible partner who has Permanent Entitled, Entitled or Licensed status, where the couple will live in the property as their main home. “Lease Only” is therefore not an absolute bar on every purchase. Because the status depends on the job, consider the housing consequences before changing or leaving the approved role.
The Regulations take a broader view of relationships. An “eligible partner” now includes a spouse or civil partner and a partner in an enduring relationship, meaning a relationship similar to marriage that has lasted continuously for at least two years.
A person can hold Entitled for Work Only status through an eligible partner. That status is now better protected. If the partner dies, the relationship ends, or the partner loses their status or leaves Jersey, the person keeps the status for up to five years afterwards, provided they remain continuously resident. Entitled for Work Only holders can also live in Qualified accommodation jointly with an eligible partner, and separate hardship routes exist for exceptional cases.
The long-standing Article 2(1)(e) route has been replaced. High value residents are now granted Entitled status on economic or social grounds under the new Regulations, on the recommendation of a Housing and Work Control Panel, which replaces the former Housing and Work Advisory Group. The Panel must be satisfied that the grant is justified on economic or social grounds and is in the best interests of the community.
These grants are always conditional, and the status can be revoked if a condition stops being met. The Regulations themselves set no financial thresholds. Published policy has expected a minimum annual tax contribution of £250,000 and the purchase or lease of high value property, but check the current expectations with Locate Jersey before planning around any figure. One useful feature: a person granted Entitled status on this basis who later qualifies for Entitled or Permanent Entitled status through residence can elect to switch to that status, leaving the conditions behind.
Introduced in April 2026, this route is for people who set up their own business in Jersey. It leads to a Licensed permission rather than Entitled status. Applicants must work full-time in the business (more than 25 hours a week) and maintain Jersey-taxable income of at least £250,000 a year for up to 10 years, or until they qualify for Entitled status. They may only buy or lease property worth £2 million or more. Permission is granted for an initial five years and then reviewed.
Most people moving for work do so with Licensed or Licensed for Lease Only status allocated by their employer, or with Standard status. The salary tests in the employer section above determine which applies, and therefore what housing is available.
Whichever route applies, immigration permission is a separate requirement for anyone who is not a British or Irish citizen.
Housing and work status, immigration permission and tax residence are governed by different rules. A registration card does not settle whether you are resident in Jersey for tax purposes, or whether you have ceased to be resident elsewhere.
Jersey applies its own residence tests. In broad terms, you are likely to be treated as resident if you move to Jersey intending to stay indefinitely, if you have a place of abode in Jersey and spend even one night there in a tax year, if you spend 183 days or more in Jersey in a year, or if your visits average more than 90 days a year over four years. If you are leaving the UK, your UK position is decided separately under the statutory residence test, and split-year treatment may apply in the year you move. The timing of your arrival, your accommodation and the ties you keep elsewhere can affect both sides.
No. A valid card showing Registered status does not need to be replaced solely because the status is now called Standard.
No. The 25-year period is one route to Permanent Entitled status. Entitled status, usually reached after 10 years, and Licensed status also allow a purchase, and the eligible partner rules may allow a joint purchase sooner. Your status and the property determine what is permitted.
It depends on the status. Permanent Entitled status is not lost by absence. Entitled status survives up to five years away and Entitled for Work Only status up to 12 months, measured on the basis described above. Licensed and Licensed for Lease Only status depend on the job, not on presence.
It no longer exists as a separate category. High value residents are now granted Entitled status on economic or social grounds, on the recommendation of the Housing and Work Control Panel, usually subject to conditions.
Jersey’s revised Control of Housing and Work regime came into force on 14 September 2026. It renames and restructures residential statuses, shortens the long-residence route to Permanent Entitled status, sets clearer limits on time spent away from the Island, formalises Licensed for Lease Only status and replaces the old “2(1)(e)” basis for high value residency.
The changes matter to three groups in particular: employers recruiting staff, residents who plan to spend time away, and people planning a move to Jersey. This guide explains what has changed, what has not, and what to check before you commit to a job offer, a home or a departure date.
The Control of Housing and Work (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 2022 and new Residential and Employment Status Regulations replace the framework that had applied since 2013. The States Assembly adopted the Regulations in April 2025 and they took effect with the Amendment Law on 14 September 2026. The Government’s stated aims are to reduce administration for businesses and to let Islanders spend time away without losing the residence they have built up.
The basic structure is familiar. Most statuses are still earned through years of continuous ordinary residence, or allocated by an employer under a staffing licence. What has changed is the terminology, the long-residence period for Permanent Entitled status, the rules on absence, the treatment of partners and the legal basis for high value residency.
If you held a status before 14 September, you keep it until it expires, is revoked or is replaced by a new status. The one automatic change is that Registered status has become Standard status.
Business licence and staffing applications have been streamlined, with shorter forms, clearer guidance and fewer information requirements. The underlying controls have not gone away. A business licence allows you to operate and to employ people with Permanent Entitled, Entitled or Entitled for Work Only status. It does not, on its own, allow you to employ anyone else.
To employ someone with Standard, Licensed or Licensed for Lease Only status, you need the appropriate permission on your staffing licence, unless an exemption applies. The guidance requires a new permission to be obtained before employment is offered. A person with Standard status can work for you only if your licence allows it and you are within the number of Standard employees it permits.
The Government’s business licensing guidance sets the main criteria for each type of permission:
A shorter form does not remove the need to justify an application. Be ready to evidence the role, pay, qualifications and recruitment efforts, including why suitable local candidates are not available.
Two further points are easy to miss. First, Licensed and Licensed for Lease Only status ends when the approved employment ends, and the employee’s right to occupy Qualified housing ends with it. Guidance published in late 2025 allowed three months to vacate, so plan for leavers and role changes with that in mind. Second, housing and work status is not immigration permission. Staff who are not British or Irish citizens will generally need immigration permission to live and work in Jersey, and that is assessed separately.
The long-residence route to Permanent Entitled status now requires 25 years of continuous ordinary residence, reduced from 30 by an amendment adopted in April 2025. It is one of several routes. People born in Jersey, people whose 10 years of residence began before school leaving age, and certain people who lived in Jersey before the age of 20 with a qualifying parent can reach the status sooner.
The practical value of Permanent Entitled status is security. Once held, it is not lost by leaving Jersey, however long the absence, and it can be revoked only in narrow circumstances. That distinguishes it from Entitled status, which is still reached after 10 years but can be lost after an extended absence. Anyone who expects to leave Jersey for a long period should check which of the two they hold before they go.
For many residents, the absence rules are the most important part of the reform. The revised guidance distinguishes between time away that still counts as ordinary residence, time that pauses your residence record and time that breaks it. A pause preserves the qualifying residence you have already built up but does not add the time abroad. A break can affect both your current status and your future qualification.
Once you hold a status, the Regulations set clear outer limits:
The Minister can adjust these absence periods by Order, although any reduction applies only to people granted a status after the change.
The Government has said the reforms give more flexibility to people who spend time away for work, study, family commitments or other opportunities. That flexibility depends on the facts. An approved overseas work opportunity, for example, may pause the record if the relevant conditions are met, but it is not an automatic exemption for every job abroad. Before you leave, establish how the absence will be treated, and keep evidence of its purpose and length and of your continuing Jersey connections, such as a home, family and employment.
The status formerly called Registered is now called Standard. This is a change of name, not of policy. A valid registration card showing Registered status does not need to be replaced simply because of the new name, and employers’ existing Registered permissions continue to work. Residence built up while holding Registered status still counts towards Entitled for Work Only, Entitled and Permanent Entitled status.
One source of confusion remains. “Registered” is still the name of a category of accommodation. The new name for the personal status does not rename Registered housing, and it does not give Standard residents access to Qualified property. Update recruitment forms, tenancy paperwork and staff guidance as you review them.
Licensed for Lease Only status puts on a formal footing a practice that previously operated as a Licensed status with a lease-only condition. It is allocated by an employer for an approved role. The holder may rent a home to live in, including Qualified property, provided the letting is an ordinary lease rather than a registered contract passed before the Royal Court.
The holder cannot buy property alone. They can buy jointly with an eligible partner who has Permanent Entitled, Entitled or Licensed status, where the couple will live in the property as their main home. “Lease Only” is therefore not an absolute bar on every purchase. Because the status depends on the job, consider the housing consequences before changing or leaving the approved role.
The Regulations take a broader view of relationships. An “eligible partner” now includes a spouse or civil partner and a partner in an enduring relationship, meaning a relationship similar to marriage that has lasted continuously for at least two years.
A person can hold Entitled for Work Only status through an eligible partner. That status is now better protected. If the partner dies, the relationship ends, or the partner loses their status or leaves Jersey, the person keeps the status for up to five years afterwards, provided they remain continuously resident. Entitled for Work Only holders can also live in Qualified accommodation jointly with an eligible partner, and separate hardship routes exist for exceptional cases.
The long-standing Article 2(1)(e) route has been replaced. High value residents are now granted Entitled status on economic or social grounds under the new Regulations, on the recommendation of a Housing and Work Control Panel, which replaces the former Housing and Work Advisory Group. The Panel must be satisfied that the grant is justified on economic or social grounds and is in the best interests of the community.
These grants are always conditional, and the status can be revoked if a condition stops being met. The Regulations themselves set no financial thresholds. Published policy has expected a minimum annual tax contribution of £250,000 and the purchase or lease of high value property, but check the current expectations with Locate Jersey before planning around any figure. One useful feature: a person granted Entitled status on this basis who later qualifies for Entitled or Permanent Entitled status through residence can elect to switch to that status, leaving the conditions behind.
Introduced in April 2026, this route is for people who set up their own business in Jersey. It leads to a Licensed permission rather than Entitled status. Applicants must work full-time in the business (more than 25 hours a week) and maintain Jersey-taxable income of at least £250,000 a year for up to 10 years, or until they qualify for Entitled status. They may only buy or lease property worth £2 million or more. Permission is granted for an initial five years and then reviewed.
Most people moving for work do so with Licensed or Licensed for Lease Only status allocated by their employer, or with Standard status. The salary tests in the employer section above determine which applies, and therefore what housing is available.
Whichever route applies, immigration permission is a separate requirement for anyone who is not a British or Irish citizen.
Housing and work status, immigration permission and tax residence are governed by different rules. A registration card does not settle whether you are resident in Jersey for tax purposes, or whether you have ceased to be resident elsewhere.
Jersey applies its own residence tests. In broad terms, you are likely to be treated as resident if you move to Jersey intending to stay indefinitely, if you have a place of abode in Jersey and spend even one night there in a tax year, if you spend 183 days or more in Jersey in a year, or if your visits average more than 90 days a year over four years. If you are leaving the UK, your UK position is decided separately under the statutory residence test, and split-year treatment may apply in the year you move. The timing of your arrival, your accommodation and the ties you keep elsewhere can affect both sides.
No. A valid card showing Registered status does not need to be replaced solely because the status is now called Standard.
No. The 25-year period is one route to Permanent Entitled status. Entitled status, usually reached after 10 years, and Licensed status also allow a purchase, and the eligible partner rules may allow a joint purchase sooner. Your status and the property determine what is permitted.
It depends on the status. Permanent Entitled status is not lost by absence. Entitled status survives up to five years away and Entitled for Work Only status up to 12 months, measured on the basis described above. Licensed and Licensed for Lease Only status depend on the job, not on presence.
It no longer exists as a separate category. High value residents are now granted Entitled status on economic or social grounds, on the recommendation of the Housing and Work Control Panel, usually subject to conditions.
Jersey’s revised Control of Housing and Work regime came into force on 14 September 2026. It renames and restructures residential statuses, shortens the long-residence route to Permanent Entitled status, sets clearer limits on time spent away from the Island, formalises Licensed for Lease Only status and replaces the old “2(1)(e)” basis for high value residency.
The changes matter to three groups in particular: employers recruiting staff, residents who plan to spend time away, and people planning a move to Jersey. This guide explains what has changed, what has not, and what to check before you commit to a job offer, a home or a departure date.
The Control of Housing and Work (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 2022 and new Residential and Employment Status Regulations replace the framework that had applied since 2013. The States Assembly adopted the Regulations in April 2025 and they took effect with the Amendment Law on 14 September 2026. The Government’s stated aims are to reduce administration for businesses and to let Islanders spend time away without losing the residence they have built up.
The basic structure is familiar. Most statuses are still earned through years of continuous ordinary residence, or allocated by an employer under a staffing licence. What has changed is the terminology, the long-residence period for Permanent Entitled status, the rules on absence, the treatment of partners and the legal basis for high value residency.
If you held a status before 14 September, you keep it until it expires, is revoked or is replaced by a new status. The one automatic change is that Registered status has become Standard status.
Business licence and staffing applications have been streamlined, with shorter forms, clearer guidance and fewer information requirements. The underlying controls have not gone away. A business licence allows you to operate and to employ people with Permanent Entitled, Entitled or Entitled for Work Only status. It does not, on its own, allow you to employ anyone else.
To employ someone with Standard, Licensed or Licensed for Lease Only status, you need the appropriate permission on your staffing licence, unless an exemption applies. The guidance requires a new permission to be obtained before employment is offered. A person with Standard status can work for you only if your licence allows it and you are within the number of Standard employees it permits.
The Government’s business licensing guidance sets the main criteria for each type of permission:
A shorter form does not remove the need to justify an application. Be ready to evidence the role, pay, qualifications and recruitment efforts, including why suitable local candidates are not available.
Two further points are easy to miss. First, Licensed and Licensed for Lease Only status ends when the approved employment ends, and the employee’s right to occupy Qualified housing ends with it. Guidance published in late 2025 allowed three months to vacate, so plan for leavers and role changes with that in mind. Second, housing and work status is not immigration permission. Staff who are not British or Irish citizens will generally need immigration permission to live and work in Jersey, and that is assessed separately.
The long-residence route to Permanent Entitled status now requires 25 years of continuous ordinary residence, reduced from 30 by an amendment adopted in April 2025. It is one of several routes. People born in Jersey, people whose 10 years of residence began before school leaving age, and certain people who lived in Jersey before the age of 20 with a qualifying parent can reach the status sooner.
The practical value of Permanent Entitled status is security. Once held, it is not lost by leaving Jersey, however long the absence, and it can be revoked only in narrow circumstances. That distinguishes it from Entitled status, which is still reached after 10 years but can be lost after an extended absence. Anyone who expects to leave Jersey for a long period should check which of the two they hold before they go.
For many residents, the absence rules are the most important part of the reform. The revised guidance distinguishes between time away that still counts as ordinary residence, time that pauses your residence record and time that breaks it. A pause preserves the qualifying residence you have already built up but does not add the time abroad. A break can affect both your current status and your future qualification.
Once you hold a status, the Regulations set clear outer limits:
The Minister can adjust these absence periods by Order, although any reduction applies only to people granted a status after the change.
The Government has said the reforms give more flexibility to people who spend time away for work, study, family commitments or other opportunities. That flexibility depends on the facts. An approved overseas work opportunity, for example, may pause the record if the relevant conditions are met, but it is not an automatic exemption for every job abroad. Before you leave, establish how the absence will be treated, and keep evidence of its purpose and length and of your continuing Jersey connections, such as a home, family and employment.
The status formerly called Registered is now called Standard. This is a change of name, not of policy. A valid registration card showing Registered status does not need to be replaced simply because of the new name, and employers’ existing Registered permissions continue to work. Residence built up while holding Registered status still counts towards Entitled for Work Only, Entitled and Permanent Entitled status.
One source of confusion remains. “Registered” is still the name of a category of accommodation. The new name for the personal status does not rename Registered housing, and it does not give Standard residents access to Qualified property. Update recruitment forms, tenancy paperwork and staff guidance as you review them.
Licensed for Lease Only status puts on a formal footing a practice that previously operated as a Licensed status with a lease-only condition. It is allocated by an employer for an approved role. The holder may rent a home to live in, including Qualified property, provided the letting is an ordinary lease rather than a registered contract passed before the Royal Court.
The holder cannot buy property alone. They can buy jointly with an eligible partner who has Permanent Entitled, Entitled or Licensed status, where the couple will live in the property as their main home. “Lease Only” is therefore not an absolute bar on every purchase. Because the status depends on the job, consider the housing consequences before changing or leaving the approved role.
The Regulations take a broader view of relationships. An “eligible partner” now includes a spouse or civil partner and a partner in an enduring relationship, meaning a relationship similar to marriage that has lasted continuously for at least two years.
A person can hold Entitled for Work Only status through an eligible partner. That status is now better protected. If the partner dies, the relationship ends, or the partner loses their status or leaves Jersey, the person keeps the status for up to five years afterwards, provided they remain continuously resident. Entitled for Work Only holders can also live in Qualified accommodation jointly with an eligible partner, and separate hardship routes exist for exceptional cases.
The long-standing Article 2(1)(e) route has been replaced. High value residents are now granted Entitled status on economic or social grounds under the new Regulations, on the recommendation of a Housing and Work Control Panel, which replaces the former Housing and Work Advisory Group. The Panel must be satisfied that the grant is justified on economic or social grounds and is in the best interests of the community.
These grants are always conditional, and the status can be revoked if a condition stops being met. The Regulations themselves set no financial thresholds. Published policy has expected a minimum annual tax contribution of £250,000 and the purchase or lease of high value property, but check the current expectations with Locate Jersey before planning around any figure. One useful feature: a person granted Entitled status on this basis who later qualifies for Entitled or Permanent Entitled status through residence can elect to switch to that status, leaving the conditions behind.
Introduced in April 2026, this route is for people who set up their own business in Jersey. It leads to a Licensed permission rather than Entitled status. Applicants must work full-time in the business (more than 25 hours a week) and maintain Jersey-taxable income of at least £250,000 a year for up to 10 years, or until they qualify for Entitled status. They may only buy or lease property worth £2 million or more. Permission is granted for an initial five years and then reviewed.
Most people moving for work do so with Licensed or Licensed for Lease Only status allocated by their employer, or with Standard status. The salary tests in the employer section above determine which applies, and therefore what housing is available.
Whichever route applies, immigration permission is a separate requirement for anyone who is not a British or Irish citizen.
Housing and work status, immigration permission and tax residence are governed by different rules. A registration card does not settle whether you are resident in Jersey for tax purposes, or whether you have ceased to be resident elsewhere.
Jersey applies its own residence tests. In broad terms, you are likely to be treated as resident if you move to Jersey intending to stay indefinitely, if you have a place of abode in Jersey and spend even one night there in a tax year, if you spend 183 days or more in Jersey in a year, or if your visits average more than 90 days a year over four years. If you are leaving the UK, your UK position is decided separately under the statutory residence test, and split-year treatment may apply in the year you move. The timing of your arrival, your accommodation and the ties you keep elsewhere can affect both sides.
No. A valid card showing Registered status does not need to be replaced solely because the status is now called Standard.
No. The 25-year period is one route to Permanent Entitled status. Entitled status, usually reached after 10 years, and Licensed status also allow a purchase, and the eligible partner rules may allow a joint purchase sooner. Your status and the property determine what is permitted.
It depends on the status. Permanent Entitled status is not lost by absence. Entitled status survives up to five years away and Entitled for Work Only status up to 12 months, measured on the basis described above. Licensed and Licensed for Lease Only status depend on the job, not on presence.
It no longer exists as a separate category. High value residents are now granted Entitled status on economic or social grounds, on the recommendation of the Housing and Work Control Panel, usually subject to conditions.
Jersey’s revised Control of Housing and Work regime came into force on 14 September 2026. It renames and restructures residential statuses, shortens the long-residence route to Permanent Entitled status, sets clearer limits on time spent away from the Island, formalises Licensed for Lease Only status and replaces the old “2(1)(e)” basis for high value residency.
The changes matter to three groups in particular: employers recruiting staff, residents who plan to spend time away, and people planning a move to Jersey. This guide explains what has changed, what has not, and what to check before you commit to a job offer, a home or a departure date.
The Control of Housing and Work (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 2022 and new Residential and Employment Status Regulations replace the framework that had applied since 2013. The States Assembly adopted the Regulations in April 2025 and they took effect with the Amendment Law on 14 September 2026. The Government’s stated aims are to reduce administration for businesses and to let Islanders spend time away without losing the residence they have built up.
The basic structure is familiar. Most statuses are still earned through years of continuous ordinary residence, or allocated by an employer under a staffing licence. What has changed is the terminology, the long-residence period for Permanent Entitled status, the rules on absence, the treatment of partners and the legal basis for high value residency.
If you held a status before 14 September, you keep it until it expires, is revoked or is replaced by a new status. The one automatic change is that Registered status has become Standard status.
Business licence and staffing applications have been streamlined, with shorter forms, clearer guidance and fewer information requirements. The underlying controls have not gone away. A business licence allows you to operate and to employ people with Permanent Entitled, Entitled or Entitled for Work Only status. It does not, on its own, allow you to employ anyone else.
To employ someone with Standard, Licensed or Licensed for Lease Only status, you need the appropriate permission on your staffing licence, unless an exemption applies. The guidance requires a new permission to be obtained before employment is offered. A person with Standard status can work for you only if your licence allows it and you are within the number of Standard employees it permits.
The Government’s business licensing guidance sets the main criteria for each type of permission:
A shorter form does not remove the need to justify an application. Be ready to evidence the role, pay, qualifications and recruitment efforts, including why suitable local candidates are not available.
Two further points are easy to miss. First, Licensed and Licensed for Lease Only status ends when the approved employment ends, and the employee’s right to occupy Qualified housing ends with it. Guidance published in late 2025 allowed three months to vacate, so plan for leavers and role changes with that in mind. Second, housing and work status is not immigration permission. Staff who are not British or Irish citizens will generally need immigration permission to live and work in Jersey, and that is assessed separately.
The long-residence route to Permanent Entitled status now requires 25 years of continuous ordinary residence, reduced from 30 by an amendment adopted in April 2025. It is one of several routes. People born in Jersey, people whose 10 years of residence began before school leaving age, and certain people who lived in Jersey before the age of 20 with a qualifying parent can reach the status sooner.
The practical value of Permanent Entitled status is security. Once held, it is not lost by leaving Jersey, however long the absence, and it can be revoked only in narrow circumstances. That distinguishes it from Entitled status, which is still reached after 10 years but can be lost after an extended absence. Anyone who expects to leave Jersey for a long period should check which of the two they hold before they go.
For many residents, the absence rules are the most important part of the reform. The revised guidance distinguishes between time away that still counts as ordinary residence, time that pauses your residence record and time that breaks it. A pause preserves the qualifying residence you have already built up but does not add the time abroad. A break can affect both your current status and your future qualification.
Once you hold a status, the Regulations set clear outer limits:
The Minister can adjust these absence periods by Order, although any reduction applies only to people granted a status after the change.
The Government has said the reforms give more flexibility to people who spend time away for work, study, family commitments or other opportunities. That flexibility depends on the facts. An approved overseas work opportunity, for example, may pause the record if the relevant conditions are met, but it is not an automatic exemption for every job abroad. Before you leave, establish how the absence will be treated, and keep evidence of its purpose and length and of your continuing Jersey connections, such as a home, family and employment.
The status formerly called Registered is now called Standard. This is a change of name, not of policy. A valid registration card showing Registered status does not need to be replaced simply because of the new name, and employers’ existing Registered permissions continue to work. Residence built up while holding Registered status still counts towards Entitled for Work Only, Entitled and Permanent Entitled status.
One source of confusion remains. “Registered” is still the name of a category of accommodation. The new name for the personal status does not rename Registered housing, and it does not give Standard residents access to Qualified property. Update recruitment forms, tenancy paperwork and staff guidance as you review them.
Licensed for Lease Only status puts on a formal footing a practice that previously operated as a Licensed status with a lease-only condition. It is allocated by an employer for an approved role. The holder may rent a home to live in, including Qualified property, provided the letting is an ordinary lease rather than a registered contract passed before the Royal Court.
The holder cannot buy property alone. They can buy jointly with an eligible partner who has Permanent Entitled, Entitled or Licensed status, where the couple will live in the property as their main home. “Lease Only” is therefore not an absolute bar on every purchase. Because the status depends on the job, consider the housing consequences before changing or leaving the approved role.
The Regulations take a broader view of relationships. An “eligible partner” now includes a spouse or civil partner and a partner in an enduring relationship, meaning a relationship similar to marriage that has lasted continuously for at least two years.
A person can hold Entitled for Work Only status through an eligible partner. That status is now better protected. If the partner dies, the relationship ends, or the partner loses their status or leaves Jersey, the person keeps the status for up to five years afterwards, provided they remain continuously resident. Entitled for Work Only holders can also live in Qualified accommodation jointly with an eligible partner, and separate hardship routes exist for exceptional cases.
The long-standing Article 2(1)(e) route has been replaced. High value residents are now granted Entitled status on economic or social grounds under the new Regulations, on the recommendation of a Housing and Work Control Panel, which replaces the former Housing and Work Advisory Group. The Panel must be satisfied that the grant is justified on economic or social grounds and is in the best interests of the community.
These grants are always conditional, and the status can be revoked if a condition stops being met. The Regulations themselves set no financial thresholds. Published policy has expected a minimum annual tax contribution of £250,000 and the purchase or lease of high value property, but check the current expectations with Locate Jersey before planning around any figure. One useful feature: a person granted Entitled status on this basis who later qualifies for Entitled or Permanent Entitled status through residence can elect to switch to that status, leaving the conditions behind.
Introduced in April 2026, this route is for people who set up their own business in Jersey. It leads to a Licensed permission rather than Entitled status. Applicants must work full-time in the business (more than 25 hours a week) and maintain Jersey-taxable income of at least £250,000 a year for up to 10 years, or until they qualify for Entitled status. They may only buy or lease property worth £2 million or more. Permission is granted for an initial five years and then reviewed.
Most people moving for work do so with Licensed or Licensed for Lease Only status allocated by their employer, or with Standard status. The salary tests in the employer section above determine which applies, and therefore what housing is available.
Whichever route applies, immigration permission is a separate requirement for anyone who is not a British or Irish citizen.
Housing and work status, immigration permission and tax residence are governed by different rules. A registration card does not settle whether you are resident in Jersey for tax purposes, or whether you have ceased to be resident elsewhere.
Jersey applies its own residence tests. In broad terms, you are likely to be treated as resident if you move to Jersey intending to stay indefinitely, if you have a place of abode in Jersey and spend even one night there in a tax year, if you spend 183 days or more in Jersey in a year, or if your visits average more than 90 days a year over four years. If you are leaving the UK, your UK position is decided separately under the statutory residence test, and split-year treatment may apply in the year you move. The timing of your arrival, your accommodation and the ties you keep elsewhere can affect both sides.
No. A valid card showing Registered status does not need to be replaced solely because the status is now called Standard.
No. The 25-year period is one route to Permanent Entitled status. Entitled status, usually reached after 10 years, and Licensed status also allow a purchase, and the eligible partner rules may allow a joint purchase sooner. Your status and the property determine what is permitted.
It depends on the status. Permanent Entitled status is not lost by absence. Entitled status survives up to five years away and Entitled for Work Only status up to 12 months, measured on the basis described above. Licensed and Licensed for Lease Only status depend on the job, not on presence.
It no longer exists as a separate category. High value residents are now granted Entitled status on economic or social grounds, on the recommendation of the Housing and Work Control Panel, usually subject to conditions.