We like our lives as Saint Lucia citizens. Travelling visa-free, good education for my son, no taxes on global income. Having lived a year in Castries, I haven’t found any drawbacks yet.
Schedule a meeting at one of the offices or online. A lawyer will analyze the situation, calculate the cost and help you find a solution based on your goals.
One year ago, a family from Egypt obtained Saint Lucia citizenship with Immigrant Invest’s help and moved to the country.
We keep in touch with all our clients and know how they live after participating in citizenship and resident permit programs.
In this case, we will tell why the Egyptian family moved to Saint Lucia and how they live with second citizenship.
Our clients
Akil, 48 years old, a shareholder of a large bank in Egypt
Ife, 45 years old, the investor’s wife
Darius, 19 years old, their son
How to get Saint Lucia citizenship by investment
An investor passes Due Diligence, fulfils the investment conditions and gets a Saint Lucia passport.
$100,000 is the minimum investment. The amount of money increases if an investor adds family members to the application. An investor can add a spouse, children, parents and siblings.
Applicants choose from four investment options: a contribution to the state fund, purchase of government bonds or real estate, and business investments. An investor can return the money in five or seven years if redeeming bonds or selling real estate.
In 5—7 years
An investor can return the investment
Akil сhose a refundable investment option — purchasing of government bonds. The investor took advantage of a 50% discount and bought the Covid‑19 Relief Bond for $250,000 instead of $500,000. The 50% discount is valid until 31 December 2022.
$299,350 were Akil’s expenses in the Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment program for his family of three. In addition to investments, Akil paid an administrative fee of $30,000, a Due Diligence fee of $17,500, a passport fee of $1,500, and a bank fee of $100. Also, the investor paid $250 for the passport forwarding.
Saint Lucia’s registered government bond contains the investor’s name and maturity date. The investor is not allowed to transfer or sell the bond before the maturity date
Why did the Egyptian family move to Saint Lucia
When obtaining Saint Lucia citizenship, the investor’s son Darius finished school and turned eighteen. The family has raised the question of Darius entering a university.
As a Saint Lucia citizen, Darius has a right to get an education at the University of the West Indies. The university uses British educational standards and cooperates with Harvard. Among the graduates and professors of the university are Nobel laureates, Prime ministers and politicians.
The university has fifteen campuses and centres in Caribbean countries, including Saint Lucia.
Akil,
A shareholder of a large bank in Egypt
We decided to take advantage of our second citizenship opportunities and send our son to the University of the West Indies in Saint Lucia. Here, he will get a good education and a university diploma quoted and recognized in Europe and the USA.
The family decided to move to Saint Lucia to be close to their son. They rented an apartment in Castries near the university so Darius would not have to travel far to study.
Now Darius is studying at the Social Sciences faculty in the Banking and Finance BSC programme. In two years, he will get a Bachelor of Science degree and can get a job in financial management, consulting, investment banking or any related field in finance.
One of the university’s campuses. The 2021-2022 Times Higher Education ranking ranks UWI in the top 20 when compared with Latin American University rankings and ranks UWI first in the Caribbean
Living in Saint Lucia: prices and service level
Especially for our clients, we asked Akil and Ife to tell us about prices to show the average living standards in Saint Lucia. Ife made a list of their monthly family expenses for us.
Prices in Saint Lucia
Accommodation
Rent of an apartment with three bedrooms in Castries per month
$900
Apartament utilities monthly
$100
Internet monthly
$90
Markets
Milk (0.5 gallons)
$3
Loaf of bread
$0.90
Local cheese (1lb)
$9.90
Eggs (a dozen)
$2.90
Chicken fillets (1lb)
$11
Beef round
$16
Rice (1 lb)
$1
Apples (1lb)
$8
Banana (1lb)
$2.30
Tomato (1lb)
$6
Potato (1 lb)
$5.70
Lettuce (1 head)
$1.6
Water (1.5 litre bottle)
$1
Bottle of wine
$11
Restaurants
Meal for two people, three-course
$75
Street food restaurant, one course
$7.40
Cappuccino (regular)
$2.30
Leisure activities
Fitness club, monthly fee for one adult
$40
Tennis Court Rent (1 hour on the weekend)
$37
Cinema, 1 seat
$8
Transportation
One-way ticket
$0.93
Gasoline (1 gallon)
$5
The investor’s wife also shared two cases of contacting the local medical service.
Ife used to have visits to her cosmetologist in Egypt every two months. When moving to Saint Lucia, she was worried she would be unable to find a qualified specialist here. But it turned out that there are many skilled cosmetologists in Castries.
Darius needs to visit the orthodontist every month, as he is wearing braces. With no problem, they found a high-quality dental and orthodontics clinic within a seven-minute drive from Darius’s uni and fifteen minutes drive from their home in Castries.
Ife,
The investor’s wife
When moving to Saint Lucia, I had many stereotypes. I thought we would lack some services and products we used to have in Cairo. But in Castries, our family has everything we need: products, shopping, delivery, restaurants, fitness club, hairdressers, and medical and cosmetic services. I feel like a dweller of a big civilised city here.
The family also noted excellent transportation in Saint Lucia. Darius gets to his uni in fifteen minutes on his moped while his parents use the car they have bought. In case of breakdown, in Castries, there is a taxi or public transport — buses.
Travelling with a Saint Lucia passport
During one year of being Saint Lucia citizens, the family already took advantage of travelling with their second passports. As St Lucia citizens can visit 146 countries visa-free, including the UK, the Schengen states, Singapore and Hong Kong.
In the summer of 2021, Akil, Ife and Darius travelled all over Europe. They went to the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.
Akil,
A shareholder of a large bank in Egypt
In eight hours on a direct flight, we got to Europe from Saint Lucia. And for me, it was like, «Wow!». Because before, I thought that the Caribbean islands were isolated and had terrible international transportation. But it turned out to be otherwise: there are daily flights from Saint Lucia to Europe.
This summer, the family is planning a vacation to the USA. They have already got their visas to the country. As Saint Lucia citizens can get B‑1/B2 visas to the USA valid for ten years. With these visas, the family members can stay in the USA for up to six months a year.
How to get to Saint Lucia
There is one international airport in Saint Lucia — Hewanorra International Airport (UVF). It is located in Vieux Fort, forty miles south of Castries.
Direct flights to Saint Lucia are available on American Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue from the USA, and British Airways from the UK.
From the USA and the UK
There are direct flights to Saint Lucia
From the USA, the fastest flights are from Miami International Airport — the road takes 3 hours 42 minutes.
From the UK, the road takes 8 hours and 20 minutes.
To reach Saint Lucia from Cairo, the family took British Airways flights. They had an overnight layover in London to transfer from Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Gatwick Airport. After the transfer, the family reached Saint Lucia’s Hewanorra International Airport.
The flight from Cairo to London took five hours, and the flight from the UK to Saint Lucia took eight hours.
Immigrant Invest is a licensed agent for government programs in the European Union and the Caribbean.
