Citizenship by Investment Programs For Caribbean Countries
Caribbean Region, also known as islands heaven, consists of approximately 7.000 islands and 25 countries. Antiqua&Barbuda, St Kitts&Nevis and Dominica in the Caribbean Region grant citizenship within the frame of citizenship by investment programs.
St Kitts&Nevis is an independent state in the Region Leeward in Caribbean consisting of Saint Kitts and Nevis Islands. St Kitts&Nevis is an island with unique natural beauties, economy of which is based on agriculture and tourism. The Citizenship by Investment Program for St Kitts&Nevis was put into force in 1984 and it is the first citizenship by investment program in the Caribbean Region. Moreover, this program is considered as the oldest citizenship program in the world.
St. Kitts&Nevis offers two different investment options for citizenship application. The investor may invest in an approved real estate project in an amount of at least USD 400.000. Government fees in a certain amount shall also be paid. Other investment option is donation of a certain amount to the Sugar Industry Diversity Foundation (“SIDF”). The donation amount may vary depending on the number of family members. In the event that one person applies to this program, the minimum required investment amount is at least USD 250.000. The main differences between these two investment options are as follows;
In the event that an investor purchases a real estate in an amount of USD 400.000, he/she shall keep this investment for five years. In other words, the real estate can only be sold after 5 years as of the purchase date. However, the donations transferred to SIDF may not be returned to the investor. Another difference between both options are the requirement of a government fee in case of real estate purchase. The investor is not obligated to pay the government fee in case that he/she prefers to donate to SIDF.
The St. Kitts&Nevis citizenship offers its holders the right to travel visa free to numerous countries including the countries in the Schengen area, other opportunities such as possibility of dual citizenship and tax advantages.
Upon success of St. Kitts&Nevis citizenship by investment program, a similar program was put into force in Dominica in 1991. As in St. Kitts&Nevis, Dominica also offers two different investment options to the applicants for this program: Investment of at least USD 100.000 to Dominica without return. This amount may vary depending on the number of applying family members. Another investment option is the purchase of a real estate in Dominica in an amount of at least USD 200.000. The purchased real estate should be kept for 5 years. Different from St. Kitts&Nevis, no government fee is required for the citizenship program in Dominica.
Another Caribbean country adopted the citizenship by investment program after 2013 is Antigua&Barbuda. For application to this program, investment of at least USD 400.000 to an approved real estate project and keeping this investment for 5 years, donation of at least USD 200.000 to National Development Fund (“NDF”) of Antigua&Barbuda or investment of at least USD 1.5 Million in a qualified business is required. Investors may prefer one of the aforementioned options and apply to the program. Apart from this, the investor should pay an additional fee to the government depending on the number of applying family members.
When one of the citizenship by investment programs in Caribbean Region is preferred, citizenship may be granted without requiring residency in the related country. Moreover, the citizens obtain the right to live, work and study without restriction in CARICOM countries which has been established by Caribbean countries in 1989. Apart from this, the citizens may travel visa free to Schengen countries. The investors are able to have dual citizenship. These programs are preferable due to their rapid application processing as well as tax advantages.
