Antigua & Barbuda

Citizenship by Investment (CBI) has been an important topic among investors , business people , managers and high net-worth individuals (HNW) hailing from the Middle East who know that the second passport will grant them a level of mobility and freedom to travel and work which will improve their safety and quality of life .

For those who are still unfamiliar with  the term CBI, it is now possible to legally become the citizen of a country other than your country, and a holder of its citizenship as well as passport, in return for a financial investment into that country. This could be in the form of a donation or the purchase of a property.

There are currently five countries offering CBI programs within the Caribbean . The Caribbean programs stand out as the most desirable, as a Caribbean passport entitles its holder to travel to UK as well as anywhere within the EU without visa , and also grants its owner visa-free travel to an average of 100 countries worldwide.

But among the growing number of Caribbean countries who operate (CBI) programs, which passport is best?

Antigua and Barbuda has been ranked as the Caribbean’s top Citizenship by Investment program, while Grenada and St Kitts and Nevis are ranked second and third respectively. This is according to the Global Residence and Citizenship Program 2017-2018 report. For the third consecutive year, Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment program is the top-ranking one in the Caribbean, with a score of 61 out of 100, It is followed by Grenada with a score of 60, and St. Kitts and Nevis with a score of 59.

Antigua and Barbuda ranked fourth in the world, scoring overall for Processing Time and Quality of Processing, Compliance, Investment Requirements, Transparency and Relocation Flexibility. It also scored highly in terms of Residence Requirements and Visa-free Access.

The eight citizenship programs included in the report were evaluated according to 10 indicators: Reputation, Quality of Life, Visa-free Access, Processing Time and Quality of Processing, Compliance, Financial Requirements, Residence Requirements, Relocation Flexibility, Physical Visit Requirements, and Transparency. Each indicator had an equal weighting of 10, producing a total score out of 100 for each country

In ranking order, the eight countries featured in the (GCPI) are:

1. Malta
2. Cyprus
3. Austria
4. Antigua and Barbuda
5. Grenada
6. Kitts and Nevis
7. St. Lucia
8. Dominica

St Kitts and Nevis’ Citizenship by Investment program is the top-ranked in the world in terms of Processing Time and Quality of Processing, as well as Residence Requirements and Physical Visit Requirements in the report. And it secured second place for Investment Requirements and Relocation Flexibility.

Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment program, which was launched in August 2013, secured the number one spot in terms of Residence Requirements, Investment Requirements and Physical Visit Requirements.

St Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment program, the newest of all the current programs around the world, having only been launched in January 2016, secured the top spot in Investment Requirements, Residence Requirements and Physical Visit Requirements.

The Antigua and Barbuda administration, which recently introduced amendments to the citizenship by investment program, prides itself on running one of the most effectively managed programs , with a very high due diligence reporting system.

For more information on the Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Program(CBI Program), please click here.

For more information on the St. Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Program (CBI Program), please click here.

For more information on the Grenada Citizenship by Investment Program(CBI Program), please click here.

For more information on the St. Lucia Citizenship by Investment Program (CBI Program), please click here.

For more information on the Dominica Citizenship by Investment Program(CBI Program), please click here

For the Citizenship by Investment Programs comparison table, please click here.

To compare St Kitts vs. Antigua vs. Grenada vs. St Lucia vs. Dominica , please click here .

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