St Kitts and Nevis citizenship for travelling around the world
Last time my daughter got a Schengen visa for two weeks, we had to delay our summer trip to Europe. We were going to spend three months with the whole family in Europe. But our plans were ruined. When she finally got a visa for one year, we couldn’t fly anywhere because of the pandemic.
Arsen, 38 years old
Businessman from Yerevan
Clients’ names and photos have been changed
This case was provided by our expert
Investment programs expert
St Kitts and Nevis citizenship for travelling around the world
Arsen and Lusine began thinking about obtaining second citizenship when they started to experience problems with getting visas to Europe. It was becoming more and more difficult for the family to plan business trips or vacations in European countries.
It was easier for Arsen because he travelled often, and the countries like France and Italy issued him a visa for 5 years.
However, his wife Lusine and daughter from his first marriage, Asmik, had to be upset whenever they got a short-term visa. In addition, Arsen’s father, Spartak, who felt alone after the death of his wife, went on holiday with the Arsen family. The visa application procedure took Spartak a lot of nerves and effort.
Arsen made up his mind to solve this problem. More and more friends and acquaintances shared with him the benefits of second citizenship by investment.
What advantages give a second passport by investment:
fast-track procedure; visa-free travelling;
a safe haven in case of political or economic issues;
сitizenship by descent available for future generations;
financial services in reliable banks;
ability to include relatives and add dependents after citizenship has been granted to the principal applicant.
Immigrant Invest was recommended to Arsen by a close friend who used our services to obtain a permanent residence in Portugal about 4 years ago. Arsen contacted our Lisbon office, and we arranged a meeting to discuss the details.
Searching for solutions with Immigrant Invest experts
Maltese citizenship by naturalisation for exceptional services through direct investment can be granted according to the Maltese Citizenship Act. Under the conditions, the investor makes a non-refundable contribution of €600,000, donates money to a non-government organisation and buys or rents real estate. Considering all expenses, investment costs for applicants will be about €1,500,000.
Malta’s investment route allows not-being married couples to participate. In this way, applicants should demonstrate living together by the common property, bank accounts, and having children.
According to Malta’s investment path, processing time takes 6—8 months. Applicants need to visit the country at least twice during that period.
Caribbean citizenship programs also confer passports by investments with free travelling to the Schengen Area. Caribbean expenses three-four times lower than Malta’s investment costs.
You can buy real estate in shared ownership for $200,000 or a separate house or apartment. Alternatively, you can make an irrevocable donation to the national fund. In this case, for a family, the amount of investment starts from $150,000.
Registered marriage is one of the obligatory conditions for participating in the Caribbean investment program.
The Caribbean application process is entirely remote and takes 2—6 months. It’s suitable for Arsen’s family — he does not need to organise all relative’s trips, including Spartak, who does not feel so well on long flights.
Eventually, Arsen and Lusine decided to get married and participate in the Caribbean investment program. The investor budget was $600,000, which meets the requirements. Plus, the Caribbean processing time was shorter.
Wedding in Portugal
Immigrant Invest advised the spouses to marry in a country where this procedure can be done as fast as possible and does not require many documents — in Portugal.
We collected and translated into English all necessary documents within 3 days to arrange the marriage procedure. Arsen and Lucime arrived in Porto on the appointed day and had a lovely ceremony by the ocean.
After they received the marriage registration certificate. We only had to get a copy of documents apostilled and notarised. Thus, we managed to avoid lengthy bureaucratic marriage procedures and minimally involve the investor in the process of collecting records.
It was important for Arsen and Lucine to apply for second citizenship as soon as possible.
Espinho Porto beach is considered one of the best in Portugal therefore, marriage ceremonies are often held on it
Choosing Caribbean investment route options
In the Caribbean, five countries offer a second passport by investment. The programs have similar conditions — fast application approval times, opportunities for investing in government funds and real estate, and the size of the minimum contribution. One application can include a spouse, children under 30, parents over 55, and unmarried brothers and sisters.
Spartak was 70 years old, so he matched the program conditions by age, but he still had to prove his financial dependence on Arsen. Caribbean countries require confirmation of the status of a dependent.
Vladlena Baranova,
Head of Legal & AML Compliance Department, CAMS, IMCM
Caribbean passports enable its holders to visit more than 140 countries visa-free, including the Schengen Area, the UK, Singapore and China. Moreover, the citizens have the right to get long-term tourist or business US visas.
According to the Caribbean route, the application process does not need a direct presence in the country, and there is no living requirement. Furthermore, paperwork takes only 2‑6 months. Some countries confer fast-track procedures.
Arsen’s family always likes the idea of having villas on an exotic island. Besides, their budget can cover residency on the beach. Plus, in several years, the property can be resealed.
Caribbean investment options
3—6 months
3—4 months
3—6 months
2—6 months
4—6 months
$100,000
contribution to the fund
$200,000+
buying a property
From $150,000
university fund contribution
From $400,000
business investment
$100,000+
contribution to the fund
$300,000+
buying a property
From $250,000
buying bonds
From $1,000,000
business investment
$100,000+
contribution to the fund
$200,000+
buying a property
$150,000+
contribution to the fund
$175,000+
buying a social property
$200,000+
buying property
$150,000+
contribution to the fund
$220,000+
buying a property
Every Caribbean country offers investment opportunities in real estate. Arsen paid more attention to St Kitts and Nevis as the most developed region with a high level of medicine and other vital services.
St Kitts and Nevis offers the most powerful passport among Caribbean CBI programmes with visa-free access to 157 countries. Some of Arsen’s acquaintances have already got St Kitts and Nevis passports in a short time.
Immigrant Invest experts confirmed that Arsen could use the fast-track option in St Kitts and Nevis investment program.
St Kitts and Nevis Basseterre is the island nation’s capital. It’s the largest city, with a population of roughly 14,000. And it’s one of the oldest settlements in all of the Eastern Caribbean
Stages of obtaining St Kitts and Nevis passport
1. Preliminary Due Diligence. Before agreeing with clients, Immigrant Invest inspects an initial check to find out red flags and estimate applicants' chances.
Vladlena Baranova,
Head of Legal & AML Compliance Department, CAMS, IMCM
Immigrant Invest has a compliance department. A certified Anti Money Laundering Compliance Officer studies the investor’s situation in detail. So we reduce the risk of failures to almost zero.
Arsen and their family members have a high level of reliability. The investor has no debts and criminal records, he pays taxes on time. This means that the applicants will receive St Kitts and Nevis citizenship with a probability of 99,9%.
2. Selecting real estate. An investor cannot buy any property but only those approved by the government for involvement in the citizenship program. Arsen chose an apartment for $400,000 in a five-star hotel under construction. He signed a reservation agreement and paid 10% of the property cost.
The investor pays the remaining cost of the object after the program department approves his citizenship application.
3. Preparation and sending documents. Immigrant Invest’s lawyers give an investor the lists of the personal and financial documents required to participate in the citizenship program. They include passports, birth and marriage certificates, preliminary purchase agreement, and bank statements.
We proved the financial dependence of Spartak by providing the receipts for public utilities for the past few months, which Arsen paid. We also provided an extract from Spartak’s bank account, from which it was clear that Arsen transferred money to his father every month for personal expenses.
Immigrant Invest lawyers fill out all the state forms themselves and certify copies of documents — the investor only needs to sign.
When document preparation was completed, the investor paid a Due Diligence fee. After that, Immigrant Invest lawyers sent applications to the Citizenship by Investment Unit.
4. Approving application. Two months later, Immigrant Invest received a positive response about the participation of the Arsen family in the investment citizenship program. Approval is the basis for transferring the rest of the investment cost.
5. Investment expenses. To participate in St Kitts and Nevis citizenship program Arsen paid an apartment cost of $400,000, and other fees.
$544,244 — Arsen paid to participate in the program for a family of four
$400,000 — cost of property
$75,200 — state fee
$66,500 — fast-track process payment, inclusive Due Diligence fees
$1,444 — passport fee
$1,000 — processing fee
$100 — courier fee
6. Receiving passports. Within 4 weeks after fulfilling the investment condition, a passport and a naturalisation certificate were issued. Courier sends them to the address indicated by the investor in Yerevan.
Arsen family’s step-by-step process of getting St Kitts and Nevis citizenship
15th of April, 2021
Signing an agreement between Arsen and Immigrant Invest
+ 1 day
Preliminary Due Diligence check
+9 days
Choosing investment property
+ 4 weeks
Preparing and sending documents
+ 2 months
Due Diligence by St Kitts and Nevis CBIU and application approval
+ 1 week
Payment for investments and ownership registration
+ 4 weeks
Making passports and naturalisation certificate
27th of August, 2021
Getting passports by courier
Arsen’s family life witha St Kitts and Nevis passport
Our clients shared their plans to go on a honeymoon around Europe. They chose a London summer school for Asmik, where she dreamed of going. She didn’t have to get a visa because she could stay in the UK for 183 consecutive days. It’s pretty enough for a 3-months course. She will be able to get a British student visa quickly and study at a university in the future.
Her parents won’t need visas to visit her when the daughter enters school. The family can travel to Schengen states without a visa with a St Kitts and Nevis passport. Also, the family planned a trip to Europe. They want to spend the New Year holidays in the country of second citizenship — it will be the “high season” on the islands.
Immigrant Invest is a licensed agent for government programs in the European Union and the Caribbean.
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