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The Marshall Islands is a low-lying atoll nation whose economy and mobility patterns are shaped almost entirely by its Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the United States. It is not a relocation destination for foreign nationals in any conventional sense.
Tax overview
Wage and Salary Tax: 8% on the first ≈USD 10,400 of annual taxable earnings, 12% above; income up to ≈USD 8,320/year is exempt. A tax reform package is under IMF-assisted review as of 2025.
Safety
Good — US State Department advises 'exercise normal precautions'; generally low crime, though assault and theft occur, including a small number of recent homicides.
Healthcare
Two main hospitals (Majuro and Ebeye) plus 49 health centres provide adequate primary and secondary care but not comprehensive tertiary care. Serious cases are referred off-island to the Philippines, Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, or Taiwan.
Education
Very limited tertiary options locally; COFA gives Marshallese students direct access to US higher education and federal aid programmes, which most professionals use instead.
Investment routes
No active CBI or RBI program exists. The Marshall Islands sold roughly 2,000 passports between 1987–1996 (mostly to Chinese applicants), shut down under US pressure — and the US has confirmed passports from any past program carry no Compact immigration privileges. A Foreign Investment Business License (FIBL, 7–10 business days) is required for any non-citizen investment, but confers no direct residency or citizenship right.
Land is customary/clan-owned; foreign freehold ownership is essentially prohibited, and leasing is the only real option. No formal retirement or passive-income visa exists.
Work permits
Non-resident work permits follow a strict local-hire-first process: the employer must notify the Chief of Labour, advertise locally, and only proceed to a named non-resident hire if unsuccessful.
Non-Resident Worker Permit
Employer-sponsored, three-stage local-labour-market test before a named foreign hire is approved.
Economic opportunity
The economy runs substantially on US Compact of Free Association payments — the US committed over USD 372 million in Compact funding for 2024 alone — supplemented by fishing-licence revenue via the Parties to the Nauru Agreement Vessel Day Scheme, copra, and a small tourism sector.
GDP
≈ USD 300 million (2024)
Key industries
The Natural Reserved List restricts foreign investment in small-scale retail, agriculture, and services aimed at protecting the local market.
Who this programme suits
The Marshall Islands is best understood as a case study in Compact-based migration rather than an inbound investment-migration destination: under COFA, Marshallese citizens can live, work, and study in the US indefinitely without a visa, and an estimated one-third of the population — around 50,000 people — has already relocated, concentrated in Springdale, Arkansas.
Researchers and advisers studying Compact of Free Association migration models
US-based Marshallese community organisations and legal advisers
Fisheries and Compact-funded infrastructure professionals entering via employer sponsorship
Common origin countries