Living on Tristan da Cunha
Tristan da Cunha is a small island with just one village and limited resources. Immigration is necessarily tightly controlled, and there are few expatriate job opportunities.
Immigrating to Tristan
Immigration to Tristan is not possible unless you already have a family connection with the island. Even then, there are certain restrictions on residency. It is not possible to buy real estate or property on the islands.
Working on Tristan
There are only a few expatriate jobs on Tristan. These are fixed term contracts, typically for two years. They are all professional posts, such as doctors and education advisors, or scientific and technical specialists, such as agricultural advisors and conservationists.
Vacancies arise two or three times per year. Any vacancies are advertised in relevant professional journals and websites, and on the Tristan website's Jobs Page.
Applicants must have the qualifications specified for the job, and conform to the requirements of relevant British professional organisations and standards. In addition, applicants must have good health, and speak English fluently if it is not their first language. If you needed to use an app such as Google Translate to understand this page, we regret to say that your English is probably not good enough to work on Tristan.
Visiting Tristan
Tristan welcomes people making short visits. Visitors normally arrive and depart on the same ship, which means visits may last from just a day to a few weeks. It is only possible to travel to Tristan by sea. Ships mostly depart from Cape Town, South Africa, and the crossing takes at least five days in each direction. Some cruise ships depart from Ushuaia, Argentina. For more information, please see the Visits Section.