Five Caribbean Countries Changed Conditions for Citizenship by Investment

On March 20, 2024, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and St Kitts and Nevis signed a Memorandum of Agreement, MoA, to standardise and enhance the integrity of their Citizenship by Investment programs. Later, St Lucia also joined the Memorandum.

The MoA aims to unify the standards across the region’s citizenship by investment programs, ensuring robust due diligence, transparency, and sustainable investment criteria. The key points of the memorandum include the following:

• increasing the investment threshold to at least $200,000;

• enhancing Due Diligence;

• establishing standards for information sharing and transparency;

• optimising collaboration with agents.

According to the MoA, the countries must start implementing the agreements no later than June 30, 2024. As a result, in the beginning of July, each country announced new rules for their CBI programs.

In Antigua and Barbuda, the new rules are not yet approved by Parliament and will come into effect later. The suggested changes to minimum investments are as follows:

• contribution to the National Development Fund — $230,000+ instead of $100,000+ for a family of four, and $245,000+ instead of $125,000+ for a family of five or more people;

• donation to the University of West Indies for a family of six — $300,000+ instead of $150,000;

• real estate purchase — $325,000+ instead of $200,000;

• investment in business remains unchanged — $1,500,000+ if investing alone and $400,000 per investor if investing in a group.

Dominica increased the minimum investment for its Economic Development Fund to $200,000+ for a single applicant, from the previous $100,000+. A family of up to four members will have to invest at least $250,000. Conditions for a real estate purchase remain the same and require an investment of $200,000+.

Grenada set the investment threshold to $235,000 for the National Transformation Fund option which previously required $150,000+. Real estate qualifying for the program should cost at least $350,000, instead of $220,000+. In certain cases, a property investment of $270,000+ is allowed.

St Lucia adjusted its minimum investment for the National Economic Fund from $100,000 to $240,000. The real estate investment option now requires a minimum of $300,000, up from $200,000. Applicants wishing to invest in an approved enterprise project will have to pay $250,000 or more.

St Kitts and Nevis, which increased investment thresholds earlier, announced a decrease in the minimum contribution to the Federal Consolidated Fund. Starting July 8, 2024, applicants for citizenship will have to pay $250,000+ instead of $350,000+ to qualify. Thresholds for other options remain unchanged: $400,000+ for real estate and $250,000+ for a Public Benefit project.

Beyond the financial requirements, investors seeking a Caribbean passport must meet other conditions. These typically include being at least 18 years of age, having no criminal record, demonstrating good character, and passing a comprehensive due diligence check. After acquiring a passport of one of the Caribbean countries, one gains the right to travel visa-free to more than 140 countries.