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29 March 2024

Caribbean dream: Visa-free travel around the world for lowest investment amount

Published
By Majorie van Leijen

The Caribbean islands have been in in the scope of many investors who wish to gain more than leverage from a business deal.

The region is known for its relatively low - cost and easy - access citizenship by investment programmes.

Although these programmes are not new to the Caribbean, some recent changes have changed the way these programmes compare and score points on the comparison charts.

Dominica

Dominica is the cheapest option. It was recently granted the Schengen zone visa waiver, and it requires very little from the applicant.

It is therefore not surprising that industry experts rank the Economic Citizenship Programme Dominica as the most favourable Caribbean option.

The investment requirement is $100 thousand (Dh367 thousand) for a single applicant, a direct non-refundable contribution to the government. The amount increases as the applicant is accompanied by his spouse.

Dominica was one of the countries granted a visa-free waiver to the Schengen zone in May this year, allowing their citizens to visit the 22 Schengen member countries and microstates for up to 90 days in any given 180-day period.

With the addition of the EU countries, the number of countries a Dominican could visit without the prior arrangement of a visa counts 96, a major boost to the popularity of the Caribbean passport.

In addition, the programme is relatively simple and easily accessible. The applicant does not physically need to reside in the country, nor does he have to visit the island for an interview at any point.

There are no educational requirements and the applicant does not have to demonstrate any management experience. The applicant must have a basic knowledge of English.

Grenada

Just as Dominica, Grenada was granted the visa waiver to countries of the Schengen zone and similarly, the programme’s appeal increased significantly with this move, now allowing Grenadians visa-free travel to 102 countries.

Subjecting applicants to very few requirements, this programme would probably have surpassed Dominica in popularity had it not been for the slightly higher investment amount.

An investment of $200 thousand (Dh750 thousand)can be deposit into the National Transformation Fund, or a minimum investment amount of $350 thousand (Dh1285 thousand) can be injected in a local, approved real estate project. Under the first option spouse, dependent children under 25 and parents are included, while an additional $25 thousand (Dh92 thousand) must be submitted for every spouse under the real estate option.

A unique feature of this programme is the E-2 treaty ‘Investor Visa’ signed between Grenada and the United States, allowing citizens of Grenada to operate a substantial business in the U.S. and reside therein.
 
Further, processing times are between 3-5 months.

As in Dominica, there are no physical residence requirements or need to visit the country at any time. There are no educational or management experience requirements.

Antigua and Barbuda

The citizenship-for-investment programme on the island of Antigua and Barbuda has a lot going for it: the investment amount is low, the passport is beneficial and the requirements few.

What distinguishes this programme from its Carribean counterparts though, is the physical residence requirement in order to gain citizenship.

When the programme was just launched, an investor applying for citizenship was required to stay in the country for 35 days in a five-year period. Following criticism regarding this rule, this was reduced to 5 days last year last year. However, there is no requirement to travel to the island during the application procedure.

There are several investment options. A minimum investment of $200 thousand (Dh750 thousand) can be made in the National Development Fund (NDF), a minimum investment of $400 thousand (Dh1469 thousand) in the real estate sector, or a minimum investment of $1.5 million (Dh5,5 million) in an existing business.

The passport offers visa-free travel to 114 countries, including Schengen countries.

St Kitts & Nevis
 
The economic citizenship programme of St Kitts  Nevis was once the most popular programme of the Caribbean, but it lost some appeal when the visa waiver to Canada was abandoned last year.
 
The Canadian Government informed St Kitts & Nevis in December that its citizens would no longer be able to cross their border unimpeded, and would now be required to apply for a visa through its High Commission in Trinidad.
 
Although Canada had to be scrapped from the list of visa-free travel destinations for the St Kitts & Nevis passport holder, the list still counts 113 countries, including the Schengen region.
 
St Kitts & Nevis has since 1984 been running a citizenship-by-investment programme, resulting in a well-developed and smooth-running programme.

Today, citizenship for life can be attained in a period as fast as three months for a minimum investment of $250 thousand (Dh918 thousand) in the national sugar industry, or a minimum investment of $400 thousand (Dh1469 thousand) in the real estate market. This amount increases with every additional spouse included in the application.
 
There are no physical residency requirements, nor the need to visit the country at any point. There are no educational, language or management experience requirements.

(Image via Shutterstock)