Rights and duties of investors with Saint Lucia passport

Visa-free travelling. Saint Lucia passport holders can visit the Schengen countries, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, and other 114 countries without visas.

Duration of visa-free stay in popular tourist countries for a Saint Lucia citizen:

• Schengen Area countries — 90 out of 180 days;

• The United Kingdom — 180 consecutive days;

• Hong Kong — 90 consecutive days;

• Singapore — 30 consecutive days.

Obtaining a US tourist visa for five years. Saint Lucia citizens can obtain a ten-year tourist visa to the US. They get a B‑1/B‑2 visa under a simplified procedure: without bureaucracy. Obtaining a visa takes about two weeks.

With a B- 1/B‑2 visa, Saint Lucia citizens can stay in the US for 180 days for each entry into the country.

How St Lucia citizenship can become a powerful tool for convenient travelling and business expansion

Visit and live in Saint Lucia anytime. Saint Lucia passport holders can visit the country even if the borders are temporarily closed. For example, a citizen of Сyprus with a second Saint Lucia passport can move here during the pandemic and escape from a poor health situation.

Register an international company. Investors can register a company in St Lucia, open bank accounts for business abroad and make settlements with international partners in foreign currencies.

Сitizens of Saint Lucia can join their relatives to citizenship. This rule is enshrined in the Constitution and Citizenship by Investment Act.

There are several options for joining: by family relationship, marriage, or through the Citizenship by Investment program.

Joining a family member under the citizenship by investment program is the easiest way. Investors can add their relatives to the application when they apply for citizenship or after participating in the program.

Together with the investor, a St Lucia’s passport can get the members of his family:

• the spouse;

• children up to 30 years old — common, or of both investor or spouse, adopted children, financially dependent on the investor;

• parents of both investor or spouse over 55 years, financially dependent on the investor;

• investor’s siblings up to 18 years old.

The investor’s cost for their relatives' participation in the citizenship program depends on the investment option. For example, if the investor chooses to contribute to the state fund, one investor’s minimal cost of participation in the program is $110,550. The additional payment for each family member starts from $5,000.

Under the buying real estate option, the cost for one investor is $240,350.

The minimum investment in non-interest-bearing government bonds is $300,000. The family composition doesn’t matter. Also, there’s a non-refundable administrative fee of $50,000.

When investing $1,075,000 or more in local business in Saint Lucia, the investor pays $25,000 for each family member.

In each option, investors also pay Due Diligence and other fees and duties for each family member.

Inheritance of citizenship is possible if one of the parents obtained a Saint Lucia passport by investment. Inheritance of citizenship is a legal term that does not mean transferring rights after the investor’s death. After receiving a passport, citizenship is inherited by a child born to an investor.

There is no military obligation in Saint Lucia. The country’s citizens have two primary responsibilities — passport renewal and compliance with the law.

Passport renewal. Saint Lucia citizens change their passports every 5—10 years. Children under 16 need to change their passports every five years. Travelling or doing anything else with an expired passport is punishable, including imprisonment.

The cost of renewing a Saint Lucia passport varies from $32 to $52, depending on the urgency of producing the document. A passport renewal for an investor costs $500.

Documents for renewal of a Saint Lucia passport:

• A completed application form for a passport renewal

• Original certificate of citizenship

• Two recent photographs 2 × 1,5 cm

• Expired St Lucian passport

• The receipt of payment

There is no need to travel to the country to renew the passport. Applying and attaching a package of documents is possible at the nearest Saint Lucia consulate.

Passport renewal takes from 2 to 4 weeks. Immigrant Invest lawyers recommend starting the procedure two months before the document expires.

Participants in the St Lucia Citizenship by Investment Program apply to a licensed agent for a replacement passport. Immigrant Invest lawyers remind the investor in advance about the renewal of the passport, prepare documents and arrange the delivery of a new passport to a convenient address.

Renew St Lucia passport at Immigrant Invest

Compliance with the law. Saint Lucia citizens are obliged to comply with local laws, respect the rights and freedoms of other citizens, and protect the environment. The duties of citizens are enshrined in the Constitution.

Saint Lucia nationality law allows its citizens to change their names on their passports. But only if the name changes in the passport of the first citizenship too. It is not allowed to have passports with different names.

To change the name in a Saint Lucia passport, the investor can apply to the Saint Lucia Immigration Department or the Saint Lucia consulate in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, the US, Norway, Germany, Montenegro, Monaco, Cyprus, Lebanon or India.

Immigrant Invest as a licensed agent for Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment program helps investors collect the documents and apply for a name change in a passport.

Deprivation of citizenship may occur if a person obtained a passport through fraud, false representation, or concealment and has committed treason, disloyalty, or service to a foreign government.

For participants in St Lucia Citizenship by Investment program, there are additional grounds for deprivation of citizenship:

• providing false or incorrect information during the citizenship application;

• concealment of essential data during the citizenship application. For example, hiding a criminal record, refusals to issue visas or citizenship in the past, and the presence of an additional source of income;

• non-fulfilment of investment conditions. For example, an investor sold a property ahead of schedule.

The procedure of obtaining a Saint Lucia passport is a five-step process.

1. Contact a licensed program agent. According to the terms of the program, the applicant can submit an application and documents for Saint Lucia citizenship only through a licensed agent of the program.

Immigrant Invest is a licensed agent for Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment program. We have been checked and accredited by the Saint Lucia government department. It is confirmed by our licence, which we renew annually.

Immigrant Invest certified Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officers conduct a preliminary Due Diligence check. It helps reduce the risk of an application refusal to a minimum level. The verification takes one day, and it requires only a copy of a passport.

2. Collect documents. Immigrant Invest lawyers prepare a list of documents based on the program rules, preliminary verification data, and their experience. They fill out forms, draw up legal explanations, affix apostilles and monitor the correct registration of papers.

Requirements for St Lucia passport application:

• national passport;

• birth certificate;

• marriage certificate;

• copies of all pages of a foreign passport;

• proof of residential address;

• two photos;

• diploma of education;

• medical certificate;

• documents confirm the sources of investment.

3. Due Diligence. After a lawyer has collected the documents, an investor pays the Due Diligence fee. After that, Immigrant Invest experts send the application and a package of documents to the program department.

The Saint Lucia program department conducts Due Diligence. Usually, the check takes about three months. Saint Lucia Due Diligence is one of the fastest in the Caribbean.

4. Fulfil the investment condition. The Saint Lucia state authorities inform Immigrant Invest lawyers about the Due Diligence successful completion. After that, the applicant transfers the required amount to the selected fund, or buys real estate or bonds, or invests in a business.

5. Get a passport. The Saint Lucia department issues a passport and a naturalisation certificate within four weeks after the investment transfer. The investor gets these documents at the specified address by courier.