Jobs in Jersey, Channel Islands: relocation, work permits and housing status

Jobs paying £60,000 or more, and listed roles such as nurses, doctors, teachers and social workers, can come with Licensed status, which lets you rent or buy a home and gives free hospital care from day one. Most other incomers start on Standard status, renting only Registered property, and permanent roles must pay at least £30,000 unless they are seasonal or temporary. Non-British and non-Irish nationals also need a work permit, which the employer applies for and which takes about three weeks. The minimum wage has been £13.59 an hour since 1 April 2026.

In Jersey the job and the housing come as a pair. The Control of Housing and Work (Jersey) Law decides both, and for a newcomer both depend on how the employer fills the post. So ask any employer not only what it pays, but which permission the role is filled under.

How permission to work works

Everyone living in Jersey has a status on their registration card. Entitled people (ten years' residence), Permanent Entitled people (Jersey birth plus ten years' residence, or 25 years) and Entitled for Work Only people (five years, or through an eligible partner) can take any job. Everyone else can only work in a post the employer has permission to fill.

Since 14 September 2026 that permission has been a separate staffing licence inside the employer's business licence. It caps how many staff the business may employ as Standard (called Registered until 14 September 2026; the homes they can rent are still Registered property), Licensed or Licensed for Lease Only. To use one, the employer must explain why it could not find a suitable Entitled or Entitled for Work Only applicant.

Entitled and Entitled for Work Only staff use up no permission, which is why length of residence matters so much to employers; the gov.je jobs board even filters vacancies by whether you have lived here more or less than five years. For you, that means:

• As a newcomer you need an employer with a spare Standard or Licensed permission, or one that can get one.
• Your status is tied to that role. A new employer needs its own permission for you.
• If you are Licensed or Licensed for Lease Only, your partner can register as Entitled for Work Only and take any job.

Our housing qualifications guide sets out what each status lets you rent or buy.

Licensed roles: the £60,000 and £54,000 thresholds

Guidance published on 25 November 2025 set pay thresholds for each permission and listed roles that qualify below them. Every role must pay the threshold or the local "going rate", whichever is higher. Licensed and Licensed for Lease Only roles must be full-time (over 25 hours a week), and Licensed roles must also be permanent; a fixed-term contract will not get you Licensed status.

The catch for health roles: the listed health jobs qualify below £60,000 only when the employer is the Government of Jersey or an "eligible entity", such as a registered care home whose residents include people on long-term care benefit. Elsewhere in the private sector, the route applies only to professionals who have already lived in Jersey for five years.

Licensed and Licensed for Lease Only status also bring free hospital care from your first day, where most working newcomers wait six months; our healthcare guide has the rules. These jobs are a small slice of the market: at the end of 2024 about 3,260 of the island's 64,790 jobs were held by Licensed staff and 5,520 by Registered (now Standard) staff.

Sectors that hire from off-island

Finance and legal. The largest private sector, with about 14,180 jobs at the end of 2024 and median pay of about £5,500 a month in 2025. Private employers set their own relocation packages.

Health and social care. Health and Care Jersey recruits nurses, midwives, doctors and allied health professionals from off-island. Nurses, including mental health nurses (RMNs), must be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Jersey Care Commission. In 2026 newly qualified nurses start on £54,810 to £55,962 and newly qualified midwives on £63,557 to £64,990.

The Government's relocation policy (effective 27 March 2026) covers full-time staff recruited from off-island into a Licensed post, permanent or on a contract of 18 months or more. It pays a one-off £5,000 relocation payment (taxed through payroll), removals up to £5,000 within 12 months of starting, and flights plus two nights' bed and breakfast for one house-hunting visit. Resign within a year and you repay all of it; 66 per cent in the second year and 33 per cent in the third. Priority key workers can also get transitional accommodation for up to 12 months at up to 80 per cent of market rent (policy effective 15 May 2026). Resident doctors, locums and clinical fellows are outside this policy; the gov.je doctors' page quotes up to £8,000, so confirm with Medical Staffing. Some older gov.je pages quote different amounts, so go by your offer letter.

Education. Qualified teachers are on the Licensed list; trainee teachers, support staff and nursery officers on the Licensed for Lease Only list.

Hospitality. Between 5,000 and 6,000 people work in tourism and hospitality, though jobs fell by about 220 (4 per cent) in 2025. It is the lowest paid sector, with median pay of about £2,700 a month in 2025. Much of the work is seasonal, and some hotels advertise staff accommodation, usually "subject to availability".

Agriculture. Statistics Jersey counts about 1,100 jobs in agriculture and fishing in June and 900 in December (2024). Large growers employ hundreds of seasonal migrant workers; in December 2025 one won approval to convert a former hotel into housing for about 80 staff because there was not enough accommodation.

Construction. About 6,120 jobs at the end of 2024, down 2 per cent in 2025, and one of the sectors that can use temporary work permits.

"Unskilled" and no-experience jobs

Honestly, few jobs combine relocation help with no experience. Most entry-level vacancies go to people who already live in Jersey; those open to newcomers are mainly seasonal hospitality and farm work on Standard status.

The pay rules are stricter than people expect. A permanent Standard role for a newcomer must pay at least £30,000 or the going rate. Only seasonal or temporary roles can be filled at the minimum wage, so a permanent receptionist, retail or office job paying less than £30,000 is effectively open only to people with five years' residence.

Housing is the hard part. On Standard status you can rent only Registered property, such as lodging-house rooms, bedsits and some flats, and competition is fierce. Live-in staff accommodation solves this for some seasonal workers. Read renting in Jersey and check the cost of living before you accept a minimum-wage job.

Non-British and non-Irish nationals: work permits

British and Irish citizens need no immigration permission. Everyone else needs a work permit from the Jersey Customs and Immigration Service unless exempt, for example EU and EEA nationals with settled or pre-settled status and people on the Youth Mobility Scheme. The headline rules (policy updated January 2026):

• The employer applies and pays. You cannot apply yourself.
• Skilled permits run for up to three years at first (five for hospital doctors). The job must be at RQF Level 3 (A level standard) or above and pay at least the occupation's salary threshold or the going rate, and you need English at B1 or above.
• Temporary permits cover farming, construction, hospitality and fishing for up to nine months, followed by three months away. Hospitality, construction and fishing can instead use 12-month permits, renewable up to 36 months (48 for construction while the project lasts), with a longer absence afterwards. Temporary permit holders cannot bring family.
• Timing. Allow about three weeks for the permit, then about three for a visa. Employers can apply up to three months before the start date, and you must not travel until both are issued.

Pay and the minimum wage

The minimum wage is £13.59 an hour from 1 April 2026, up from £13.00, with a trainee rate of £10.50 on approved schemes. A 40-hour week at the minimum wage comes to about £28,300 a year.

Statistics Jersey's June 2026 figures show median full-time earnings of £930 a week, about £48,400 a year. Average earnings rose 4.1 per cent over the year, or 1.2 per cent after inflation. In the 12 months to December 2025, average monthly pay ranged from about £2,700 in hotels, restaurants and bars to about £5,500 in finance and legal. Income tax is capped at 20 per cent and employees pay 6 per cent social security; see our tax guide.

Where jobs are advertised

• Jobs in Jersey on gov.je: private sector vacancies, with a filter for length of residence.
• Jersey Public Service Careers (careers.gov.je): Government vacancies, including hospital jobs. Health recruitment brochures are on healthcareers.gov.je.
• Jersey Evening Post jobs (jobs.jerseyeveningpost.com).
• Bailiwick Express job classifieds.
• Recruitment agencies, which employers often use for specialist and senior roles.

Some jobs are never advertised, so approaching employers directly is worth doing.

Practical tips

• Get the offer, the contract and the status the role carries in writing before you resign or sign a lease.
• Ask what relocation help comes with the job. Employer-paid removals and travel are not taxed as a benefit, and the first £15,000 of other reasonable relocation costs is exempt.
• Ask whether the employer helps with housing or offers staff accommodation, especially on Standard status.
• For your own case, contact the Customer and Local Services hub on Union Street or a Jersey advocate.

Frequently asked questions