CSME Skills Certificate: The 12 Approved Categories Explained

The CSME Skills Certificate isn't open to every CARICOM national who wants to work on another island: it's limited to 12 approved categories of skilled worker, set by CARICOM Heads of Government. If your work doesn't fall into one of these, the certificate route isn't available to you, though other routes (covered below) might still apply.

The 12 categories

• University graduates (now includes associate degrees, two A-levels or CAPE)
• Artistes
• Musicians
• Media workers
• Sportspersons
• Nurses
• Teachers
• Artisans, with a CARICOM Vocational Qualification (CVQ) Level 2
• Holders of associate degrees
• Domestic workers, with a CVQ Level 2
• Agricultural workers
• Private security officers

What you'll need to prove your category

University graduates and associate degree holders provide the actual degree or diploma certificate, not a transcript or a letter confirming enrolment. Artisans and domestic workers need a CARICOM Vocational Qualification at Level 2, issued by a recognised body in their home country. Nurses and teachers typically need their professional registration or licence alongside their qualification. Artistes, musicians, media workers and sportspersons usually support their application with evidence of their professional work: portfolios, contracts, or membership in a relevant professional body.

Requirements vary a little by country and by the specific office processing your application, so confirm exactly what's expected with the designated authority in the country you're applying through before you gather documents.

If your work doesn't fit a category

Two other routes exist. If you're self-employed, the Right of Establishment under the Treaty of Chaguaramas lets CARICOM nationals set up and run a business in another member state without a Skills Certificate at all, since it's a separate treaty right covering business activity rather than employment. And if you're a national of Barbados, Belize, Dominica or St. Vincent and the Grenadines moving to one of the other three, full free movement means you don't need a certificate or a category either way.