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Changes to the Caribbean citizenship programs for 2023
Caribbean citizenship is still the best citizenship in the world despite recent changes, because it causes a radical change in the investor’s life.
The Caribbean countries officially made these changes to please the authorities in the European Union and the US administration, continue visa-free entry to Britain and the European Union, and further enhance their passports.
But it has been proven, according to many indicators, that the change occurred not only due to British-American pressure, but also for many reasons, most notably the value of future money, inflation, currency fluctuations, and other factors. Therefore, investment amounts must be reasonable in balance between the investor and the country that grants citizenship.
Caribbean Citizenship changes reason
Caribbean countries are not the only countries that have made changes to their programs. If you look at citizenship programs around the world, you will find that there are many changes every day in order to develop the system to suit the situation of each program.
The main reasons for the Caribbean programs are due to enhance and improve their programs to eliminate financial crimes and enhance national security through investment programs.
Earlier, Britain restored the visa system with several countries, and Dominica was among them, and this decision was taken after a meeting with Caribbean countries. The evidence for this is that Dominica made the amendments two days before the decision to enter Britain on a visa.
One of the reasons for reinstating the visa was to provide citizenship to investors who had previously been refused a British visa.
The countries of Dominica and Vanuatu, which were deprived of the visa lifting system with Britain, expressed their dissatisfaction with the decision, and promised to implement strong and different mechanisms to make the process successful and restore the confidence of Britain and European countries alike.
Analysts expect that Saint Kitts and Nevis also did not raise the prices of the citizenship program without taking the opinion of its neighbors. It is likely that everyone agrees on this, and soon this will be applied to the rest of the programs.
Caribbean Citizenship
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American administration and Caribbean citizenship
Representatives of the US administration held a meeting with the presidents of the five Caribbean countries that offer the citizenship program. They reached five-point decisions that Caribbean programs must implement, and in return, the US administration promised to support Caribbean banking institutions with incentives. The five points are:
▣ Information should be exchanged between Caribbean countries on citizenship files and rejected applications. Anyone who is rejected from the program is not eligible to apply to another Caribbean country.
▣ All adult applicants must undergo an interview procedure. This is done either by coming to the Caribbean country from which you will obtain citizenship or via video applications.
▣ The need for more stringent financial auditing and oversight.
▣ Caribbean Citizenship by Investment programs are audited by international experts twice a year.
▣ Continue preventing Russians and Belarusians from applying for Caribbean citizenship.
European Union and Caribbean Citizenship
Several reputable media outlets and journalists reported that in July 2023, the European Union asked Caribbean countries for several changes, although there is no official news about this. The requirements are as follows:
▣ Due diligence procedures must be carried out by reputable agencies based in Britain or America.
▣ Conducting personal interviews with all applicants for citizenship.
▣ Stop using postal and courier services to deliver nationalities files and passports. Instead, it must be delivered in person by the country offering the citizenship or any diplomatic institution close to the investors.
▣ Countries offering citizenship programs must raise the limits of the contribution program and the real estate investment program. This decision drives away investors who are unable to make a significant economic contribution to these countries.
▣ Investors must transfer the funds used in the investment to the nationality government directly without the intervention of intermediaries. This step contributes to combating money laundering and tax evasion.
▣ Stop using phrases referring to visa-free entry into the EU when presenting marketing materials.
Caribbean citizenship each country’s changes
1. Saint Kitts and Nevis
St. Kitts has made radical changes to its citizenship program in order to confirm its position as a highly differentiated second passport option and reduce the number of applications to improve security processing. This includes:
▣ Applicants must obtain St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship and a COR certificate from St. Kitts or through the nearest consulate or embassy to his place of residence in accordance with the decision of the European Commission, which was prior to receipt by any method preferred by the country even by mail.
▣ Some restrictions will be imposed on companies that use the advertisement of visa-free entry to Europe to attract clients as a premise for their programmes.
▣ Kitts must complete the processing of each application within a maximum period of 120 days.
▣ Dependents are no longer permitted to be added to the application after it has been processed, and additions will only be made 90 days after acceptance and COR certification.
▣ Applications from financial sponsors will not be accepted during citizenship.
▣ Holders of Iraqi nationality are not eligible for St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship now.
▣ A mandatory interview is required for everyone over the age of 16.
▣ Raising the age of parents and grandparents from 55 to 65 years, meaning they must be older than 65 years.
▣ Siblings can no longer list themselves on applications submitted with their main applicant siblings.
Investment programs for Saint Kitts
▣ The investment value of the PBP program has been raised to $250,000. This program is concerned with expanding and supporting projects related to providing work for local citizens, employing the latest technologies, and helping the community grow and develop.
▣ The minimum real estate investment has been raised from $200,000 to $400,000 as a share with another investor or as an individual investor. The property must be resold to another applicant only once, and after that the property can be resold several times, provided that it is not used to apply for citizenship.
▣ The investment in private homes has been increased to $400,000 as a joint share or $800,000 to purchase a home for an entire family. By the same principle, an applicant must be resold to an applicant once in order to be eligible for citizenship.
▣ Changing the previous contribution called the Sustainable Growth Fund for the Sustainable Island States Contribution (SISC) program with investment values of up to $250,000, the funds of which go to support local food, the transition to clean energy, promote the creative economy, and deal with the consequences of the pandemic.
▣ Ending discount programs offered by St. Kitts to attract investors, including St. Kitts offering for a limited time in the Sustainable Growth Fund program that was supposed to be in effect until the beginning of 2024, but was terminated with this decision.
2. Grenada
▣ Grenada has begun enforcing a mandatory personal interview for all applicants over the age of 16.
▣ Enhancing due diligence processes with an additional layer while raising the price of due diligence amounts.
3. Dominica
▣ Iranians must go through an additional layer of security processing with financial additions to them due to the enhanced layer.
▣ Citizens who obtained citizenship by investment can no longer change their names on the new citizenship and passport.
▣ More advanced processing methods were applied, with foreign agencies contracted to conduct the interviews.
▣ Increased costs of due diligence procedures.
▣ A mandatory interview is conducted for the main applicant and all dependents over 16 years of age.
4. Antigua and Barbuda
▣ Antigua and Barbuda has reinstated the 5-day residency requirement for the first five years. Which was active, but after the Corona virus, it was canceled, and now the decision has returned.
▣ The Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship Unit has begun asking a mandatory interview procedure for everyone aged 18 and over to obtain citizenship.
▣ Antigua and Barbuda is seriously considering scrapping its citizenship-by-investment program despite threats of potential sanctions if the decision is made.
5. Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia began its citizenship program in 2015 and was the last Caribbean country to establish a citizenship programme. This has helped it create a strong citizenship programme, building on the lessons it has learned from other Caribbean programmes.
For this reason, the Saint Lucia Citizenship Program has not made any changes to its system yet and still maintains the minimum investment amounts for citizenship, which amount to only $240,000 as a non-refundable contribution. This is why we recommend investors to go ahead and apply for the Saint Lucia Passport Program as soon as possible before prices rise.
6. Future Caribbean Citizenship Programs
The other two Caribbean countries, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, also continued their attempt to establish a citizenship-by-investment program, but due to the recent events in the Caribbean programs, they decided to postpone the matter to a later date.
What distinguishes Caribbean citizenship ?
It is worth noting that the Caribbean countries offer the best and most economical citizenship programs by investment, according to the testimony of most investors and citizenship experts around the world.
You can enter 150 countries with one of these nationalities. Britain, America, Canada, China, Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and all Schengen countries are one of these countries.
In addition to opening companies and bank accounts all over the world, because the Caribbean countries have the most advantageous tax system in the world.
Besides, you can add your family to benefit from these nationalities and obtain citizenship within 6 months without any residency request before or after obtaining citizenship, and keep a second passport in addition to your first passport.
Additionally, Caribbean countries are not the only countries offering a second citizenship and passport program around the world. It is true that the Caribbean programs are the most distinguished, but there are other programs such as the Turkish citizenship program and the newly established Maltese-European citizenship program.
If you are interested in learning about these programs and Caribbean citizenship programs, you can leave us a message at any time so that your questions will be answered as quickly as possible by an expert in the field of citizenship by investment.
About Author
Taher Shehab
As co-founder and CEO, Taher Shehab has guided Global Citizen Consultants to be a leader in providing citizenship by investment in over 20 territories, including the Caribbean.
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