Citizenship by Investment: How to prepare for mandatory interviews

Citizenship by Investment Program units in Caribbean countries have recently begun requesting a personal interview for the direct communication.

These interviews are conducted in order to enhance and maintain the international image and attractiveness of these programs around the world, and these requirements not only benefit countries, but also benefit investors.

The mandatory interview process is a basic security process through which investors and their family members are investigated in order to verify the accuracy of the information provided by applicants and for the program to be compliant with international financial and security standards.

Citizenship by investment

Citizenship by investment programs were established in Caribbean countries more than 40 years ago with the goal of building climate-resilient infrastructure, regulating public utilities, and diversifying their economies.

The Caribbean countries are Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Dominica and Saint Kitts. They required mandatory interviews for all adult applicants and their family members, with the exception of Saint Lucia, which requires an in-person interview only for the applicant and not his or her family.

This measure has enhanced the status and value of these programs, and this step has also reassured investors that their investments are safe due to the strict procedures in place.

At the same time, interview fee costs for all Caribbean countries have been increased for all nationalities except Iranians. The cost of interview fees for Iranians has risen higher than the other nationalities, but it is still considered low in price compared to the value of the required investment, which amounts to about a thousand dollars per person after raising costs.

Regardless of the other reasons, reports indicate that the main reason for requesting personal interviews is the meeting of representatives of the American, British, and European governments with the units of these programs, and this is what they requested in order to enhance and strengthen relations and communication between these countries, because Caribbean countries enter Britain and all Schengen countries without visa and it can reach America easily.

The nice thing is that Caribbean authorities may request video interviews; in which case you will not have to travel to those countries.

Mandatory interviews to obtain citizenship by investment

The interviews will focus on three sections. The first is to ensure that the information previously provided is accurate, the second is to try to fill all the gaps in the file, and the third is to address issues of cultural and legal differences.

For example, there is no notary public system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and whoever needs to notarize papers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia must go to a legal person and then have them notarized. When Caribbean countries ask for certificates from citizens of the Kingdom, they will be surprised to see different papers than what they are used to.

In addition, the Kingdom itself also does not provide criminal examination papers for former residents. Submit a written declaration with legal evidence that the Kingdom does not provide this type of paper, and then a verbal explanation is sufficient to clarify that it is not included, instead of sending it via email.

Another example: The Indonesian people are considered a people who do not use a family name, and it is normal for a child and his father to have two different family names. These are things that are easy to explain in an interview.

If there are any misunderstandings or mistakes in the papers, it will be difficult to explain them via email, and sending and receiving messages between the two parties will take longer.

Besides, matters relating to adoption, marriage, divorce and other civil laws, it will be easier for both parties to communicate and explain their point of view during the interview.

These are just a few examples people can use in interviews.