St. Kitts and Nevis

The beautiful, verdant two-island state of St Kitts and Nevis is located in the eastern Caribbean, to the west of Antigua and the south of Anguilla.

Formerly a British colony, St Kitts and Nevis gained its independence in 1983 but has chosen to maintain links with its colonial past by keeping Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. The islands cover 261 sq. km, and the population of just over 54,000 enjoys a high standard of living in a federal parliamentary democracy.

Tourism is the nation’s economic mainstay, attracting more than 600,000 visitors every year and contributing the majority of the USD 1.5 billion annual income.

St Kitts & Nevis is a signatory to the Double Taxation Relief (CARICOM) Treaty 1994 and has implemented measures to ensure compliance with the US FATCA regime. The government offers an accelerated application process which reduces the processing period to 60 days or less, making St Kitts the fastest programme in the Caribbean.

The St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship-by-Investment Programme requires an applicant to make a financial investment into the country in return for citizenship for the applicant and his/her family.

To qualify for citizenship, the main applicant must be over 18 years of age, meet the due diligence requirements and select one of the following two options:

• A non-refundable donation to the Sustainable Growth Fund starting from USD 150,000
• Purchase real estate in a government approved project with a value of at least $200,000 with the option to re-sell after seven years

The Sustainable Growth Fund (SGF) has been established to replace the Hurricane Relief Fund and the SIDF in full. There are six funds that are each designed to channel donations into one of the following six areas: Education, Climate Change, Infrastructure, Medical, Tourism and Cultural. The primary applicant must nominate one of the aforementioned funds for their donation.

The SGF contribution for a single applicant is USD 150,000 and for a family of four it is USD 150,000.

The primary applicant may include his or her spouse, children under 18 and adult children between 18 and 30 years of age who are enrolled in full time attendance at a recognized institution of higher learning. In addition, parents or grandparents may be included who are above 55 years of age and living with, and fully supported by the primary applicant.

In addition to fullfilng one of the three economic contributions above, the main applicant and his/her dependants must have clean personal backgrounds. The Citizenship-by-Investment Unit (CIU) is the government authority responsible for processing and examining all applications and will perform strict due diligence checks. An applicant will be denied citizenship if, he/she has been denied a visa to a country that has a visa-free travel arrangement with St Kitts and Nevis, is identified as a potential national security risk, a reputational risk or is subject to a criminal investigation.