Saint Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Programme — Update April 2019
The Saint Kitts & Nevis Citizenship by Investment Programme is still going strong in 2019. 2018 saw a record number of citizen applicants mainly due to the innovative Hurricane Relief Fund programme. Since the closing of the Hurricane Relief Fund, the Saint Kitts & Nevis Citizenship by Investment unit launched the Sustainable Growth Fund. The Sustainable Growth Fund has been praised for helping local citizens and residents of St.Kitts & Nevis with funds from the Sustainable Growth programme being utilized for health care, education, infrastructure and cultural projects. Under the Sustainable Growth Fund investors can contribute USD 150,000 for a single applicant with an additional USD 25,000 for the spouse and USD 10,000 for each additional dependent. Additional due diligence fees and legal fees also apply.
Saint Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment through the Real Estate option has proven to be very popular in 2019. Real Estate Investment options provide that two or more investors can apply for citizenship together by investing in real estate starting at a minimum contribution amount of USD 200,000 that must be held for seven years. Additional Government fees for a main applicant are USD 35,000, USD 20,000 for the spouse and USD 10,000 per dependent. There is also the option to purchase government designated real estate starting at USD 400,000 and that must be maintained for a minimum of 5 years.
Is it better to go with the donation option or the real estate option? We get this question a lot and it depends entirely on the clients’ unique situation. Obtaining citizenship by investment through the donation option is a quicker route to obtaining citizenship whereby citizenship can be obtained in 3–8 months. The process of obtaining Saint Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment can be slightly longer. The donation option can be cheaper in the short term and is a way of ensuring that you do not have additional expenses such as insurance or property maintenance fees. One of the main advantages of the real estate option is that the property can be resold after being held for a fixed number of years and the investment amount or portion of the investment amount can be recuperated. The real estate option can provide rental income and sometimes there are guaranteed yearly returns making the real estate investment an attractive option.
The annual Caribbean Investment summit will be taking place in St.Kitts in June 2019 where all the heads of the different Citizenship by Investment Units and industry leaders will gather together to discuss the different Citizenship programmes and how the industry can continue to serve clients expectations globally.
For more information about the different citizenship by investment options contact: jennifer@jhmarlin.com
Jennifer Harding-Marlin / jhmarlin.com / Canadian & St.Kitts & Nevis Attorney / Citizenship by Investment & Residency Specialist
