Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment in Government Bonds with a 50% Discount

Kiran and Dasya jointly founded a portfolio investment fund. For more than ten years, they have been professionally selling and buying securities of various companies.

Yuri has a large family of a wife and three children. Dasya is married, with one daughter. The brothers and their families live in Mumbai. At least twice a year, the families travel to Croatia in the summer and on New Year’s Eve when the children have holidays.

Visas were issued for each trip. To apply for a visa, the brothers traveled to Embassy of Croatia in New Delhi. From Mumbai to New Delhi it takes two hours by plane one way. Visits to consulates interfered with the work of adults and the study of children.

Kiran and Dasya learned that they can solve the problem and travel freely if they receive a passport of another country by investment. They read an article on the Internet by Immigrant Invest about how Caribbean citizenship helps with travelling around the world without visas.

Caribbean citizens travel visa-free to more than 140 countries around the world, including Schengen, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. In the Schengen countries, it is allowed to stay without a visa for 90 days in half a year and in the UK, 180 days a year. They also receive tourist visas to the United States for ten years under a simplified procedure.

On the 7th of October, 2020, Kiran and Dasya applied to Immigrant Invest to choose a country and obtain a second citizenship.

In 2020, alongside Saint Lucia citizenship by investment, other Caribbean countries with citizenship programs also added special offers to attract more investment in the country’s economy.

The cost of participation depends not only on the amount of the selected investment option but also on additional costs like fees for adding family members, the cost of due diligence and state fees.

Kiran and Dasya must participate in the program separately: each family according to its own application. This also affected costs.

Vladlena Baranova,

Head of Legal & AML Compliance Department, CAMS, IMCM

Caribbean programs allow siblings to be included under certain conditions but Kiran and Dasya did not meet them.

For example, Dominica allows unmarried brothers up to 25 years old and Saint Lucia up to 18 years old. Saint Kitts and Nevis allowed siblings to participate in the program only in November 2020, up to age 30. Siblings must also be financially dependent on the investor.

Kiran and Dasya are over 40 years old, each with their own family and different sources of income. Therefore, they could participate in the citizenship program only on separate applications.

We have calculated the costs for families for all program options. According to Kiran’s application, five people were going to participate: the investor, his wife and children of 19, 11 and 4 years old. Regarding Dasya, there were three: the investor, his wife and a 10-year-old daughter.

Family expenses for participation in citizenship programs

Investment option

Program costs

Kiran’s family: 2 adults and 3 kids

Dasya’s family: 2 adults and a child

Purchase of government bonds

Saint Lucia: $314,550

Saint Lucia: $294,050

Non-refundable contribution to the state fund

Saint Lucia: $190,550

St Kitts and Nevis: $179,605

Dominica: $220,500

Saint Lucia: $168,050

St Kitts and Nevis: $164,133

Dominica: $189,900

Kiran and Dasya are professional brokers, they are familiar with the terms of buying and selling securities. For them, the purchase of government bonds of Saint Lucia is the most understandable and profitable option.

The brothers reasoned that government bonds were a liquid asset. Although the Covid‑19 Relief Bonds of Saint Lucia are interest-free bonds, the investor has the right to return the money invested after five or seven years, depending on the amount of the transaction.

Investors understood that they could invest much less in Caribbean passports. But expenses are halved only if you choose a non-refundable contribution, which means losing money.

Kiran and Dasya decided to buy each of the government bonds for $250,000 for seven years. They entered into an agreement with Immigrant Invest to participate in the Saint Lucia citizenship by investment program.

Participation in the citizenship program of Saint Lucia is completely remote. In 2020, the program department moved all procedures online. The process of obtaining citizenship took about three months from the moment the application was submitted to the department until the receipt of the passport.

1

Collecting documents

2

Submitting an application to the program department

3

Due Diligence in the program department

4

Approval from the program department

5

Transferring the investment to the department's account

6

Receiving the certificate of naturalization and passport by mail

1

Collecting documents

2

Submitting an application to the program department

3

Due Diligence in the program department

4

Approval from the program department

5

Transferring the investment to the department's account

6

Receiving the certificate of naturalization and passport by mail

The collection of documents took a week and a half. Investors provided Immigrant Invest lawyers with:

• copies of passports;

• police clearance certificates for all participants over 18 years old;

• marriage certificates;

• birth certificates of children;

• medical insurance;

• receipt for payment of application processing fee and due diligence fee.

Lawyers completed government application forms and questionnaires. The notary certified copies of passports and certificates.

For Due Diligence in the department of Saint Lucia, lawyers also compiled a welfare
history. It indicated all the sources of income for the brothers and money for investments, confirming their legality.

Application submission. The lawyers filled out the application forms which indicate the personal data of the investors and the chosen investment option.

The whole procedure took place on the secure Internet portal of the program department. Lawyers uploaded scans of documents to the forms.

The Due Diligence in the program department took two and a half months. Kiran and Dasya received the approval of the department and the details for the purchase of bonds.

When the lawyers gave the brothers the details for the transfer of investments, Dasya returned to Immigrant Invest with a question. He wanted to change the investment option: from buying government bonds to a non-refundable contribution. At the last moment before paying, he decided to cut the costs of participating in the program.

Saint Lucia makes it possible to change the option under two conditions:

1. The Investor has not yet transferred the investment contribution to the department’s account.

2. The department has agreed to change the option.

Immigrant Invest’s lawyers filed a request to the program department to replace the option.

Vladlena Baranova,

Head of Legal & AML Compliance Department, CAMS, IMCM

Saint Lucia is supportive in situations when investors change their mind and decide to use another investment option. Once the investor has successfully passed the Due Diligence and received approval, there is no need to reapply. You don’t need to pay additional fees either. It is enough to agree on the change of the option with the department.

Dasya did not have to re-collect the documents: they fully corresponded to what the investor submitted to buy the bond. The investor received approval to change the option and continued to apply for St Lucia investment citizenship according to the standard procedure.

Transfer of the investment contribution to the account of the department. Dasya issued a bank transfer for the amount of a non-refundable contribution to the National Economic Fund of Saint Lucia. Kiran paid the cost of the bond and the fees for the program in one payment using the details from the department.

Dasya made a contributions to the state fund in the amount of $150,000.

Kiran bought a government bond for $250,000

Kiran did not have to redeem the bond or look for a broker. The Department of St. Lucia transferred the money to the finance department, which then issued a bond in the name of the investor.

The brothers received their St Lucia passports in February 2021. Due to the change in the option, Dasya received his passport a week later than Kiran. Equally, their participation in the program took around four months from the moment they applied to Immigrant Invest to the time of receivement.

The brothers hope to travel with their families abroad in the summer on a trip to the national parks of Europe. They want to have a picnic on the shores of one of the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia, climb Mount Triglav in Slovenia and enjoy the silence of the Bavarian forests in Germany.

Kiran’s oldest daughter is looking for a student internship in the United States; she plans to get a visa to the United States for ten years with a Saint Lucia passport. This can be done using a simplified procedure.

Dasya wants to send his daughter to school in the UK in two years. As a citizen of Saint Lucia, the daughter will be able to obtain a student residence permit in the UK in two to three days. Indian citizens spend up to six months on the same procedure, because you need to get a visa in India first and only then, a residence permit in the UK.

When the borders open, Dasya and his wife will go to London to choose an educational institution situated near the British capital. Furthermore, the spouses will rent an apartment in the city to pick up their daughter from school on the weekends.

A passport of Saint Lucia will allow families like Kiran’s and Dasya’ to travel without visas to 146 countries including the Schengen and Caribbean regions, Singapore and Hong Kong. In the meantime as the pandemic continues, they have the right to travel to Europe for valid reasons; for business, education or medical treatment.

About all the opportunities that opened up for investors, in the guide "Citizenship of Saint Lucia: everything about the program".

Immigrant Invest is a licensed agent for government programs in the European Union and the Caribbean.