Buying Your St. Kitts Citizenship May Get More Expensive Soon

The risks of citizenship for sale and who it appears to attract:

While the government’s citizenship-by-investment program, in place since 1984, helped St. Kitts & Nevis weather the global financial crisis, it has earned the country criticism as well. Canada in November revoked St. Kitts & Nevis citizens’ visa-free travel. The U.S., which offers its own residency-for-investment program starting at $1 million, issued a financial advisory against holders of citizenship-by-investment passports, saying Iranian nationals used the St. Kitts program to evade sanctions on their country.

The passport deal “is attractive to illicit actors because the program, as administered, maintains lax controls as to who may be granted citizenship,” Treasury said.

The program injected more than $74 million into the $766 million St. Kitts & Nevis economy in 2013, according to a budget presentation last year by then-Prime Minister Denzil Douglas. The IMF forecast revenue from the program at about $37 million per year from 2015-2017.

The island’s success has inspired governments from Cyprus to Grenada to create similar incentives for investment. For the buyer, the program can offer visa-free travel, a safe haven from political instability or a tool for avoiding taxes.

Newly minted citizens aren’t required to live on the islands, or even visit them, according to the government, whose webpage on frequently asked questions about the program begins with “Where is St. Kitts and Nevis?”

Buying Your St. Kitts Citizenship May Get More Expensive Soon – Bloomberg Business.