Our client
Sergei, 48 years old, a successful businessman, owner of a company with international branches in different countries.
Situation
Sergei travels extensively in Europe and often attends business events in the UK. It is important for him to be able to travel freely in these countries without visa restrictions, since a rejection or delay of a visa application can lead to the cancellation of important meetings and the loss of contracts, as well as money.
The news that an application of a close friend for a UK visa had been rejected for some undisclosed reason worried Sergei. He then started looking into the possibility of traveling to these countries visa-free.
Sergei turned to us for help in order not to depend on the decisions of the British Consulatein Moscow on his visa application and be able to fly to England at any time he needs to.
Solution
We examined Sergei's situation and proposed the following three options: Maltese citizenship, a Portuguese residence permit followed by a citizenship application and St Lucia citizenship.
A Maltese passport would have solved the visa-related problems facing Sergei, but in order to participate in the program, he needed to make a non-refundable contribution of €690,000 to the National Development Fund of Malta. To invest such an amount, Sergei would have had to take money out from his business. He could not afford to do that. In addition, he did not want to wait 12-14 months for his application to be processed.
He liked the option of a Portuguese residence permit with an investment of €500,000 in real estate there. However, he would have had to pass the Portuguese language exam and then wait five years before applying for citizenship. He was not willing to wait five years for the sake of visa-free entry to the UK.
Thus, the St Lucia program became the optimal solution for Sergei. Under the terms of the program, the minimum investment for one person is $100,000, which fitted his budget perfectly. The rest of the fees were not significant for Sergei.
Sergei liked the fact that St Lucia carries out a Due Diligence check on the applicant and makes a decision on the application in 3-4 months. The citizenship by investment programs in the rest of the Caribbean countries take 3–6 months to complete. In addition, according to the St Lucia program, the investor makes the main investment only after their application has been approved. This serves as an additional guarantee of the safety of their funds.
St Lucia citizenship by investment
Participants
- Investor’s spouse and children under 25
- Parents of the investor and spouse over 65
Stages
- Preliminary Due Diligence check.
- Due Diligence.
- Payment of agreed investment amount.
- Receiving a naturalization certificate and a passport.
Investment options
- $350,000: investment in real estate; it can be returned to the investor after 5 years
- $500,000: purchase government bonds; investment can be returned after 5 years
- $3,500,000: investment in a government-approved business project
Mandatory contribution $100,000: non-refundable contribution to the state Cost $9,000: depends on the number of family members and the investment method Physical presence in St Lucia Required Time required to process application 3-4 months
St Lucia citizens can stay in the UK for up to 6 consecutive months without a visa. They can freely visit the UK as many times as necessary to conduct business.
The St Lucia passport itself is an independent document that can be used to open a bank account in Europe and other countries, to register companies abroad and buy real estate in the UK. With a St Lucia passport, you can travel visa-free to the Schengen area and move freely around Europe, as well as the member states of the Caribbean Community.
After discussing all the details of the St Lucia program with Sergei, we signed an agreement and started preparing the documents required for the application. Our lawyers helped him confirm the legality of the investment funds and prepared a full package of documents for applying for the citizenship by investment passport program.
After his application for citizenship was approved, Sergei transferred the required investment within a week. A week later, he took the oath of allegiance at the High Commission of St Lucia in London during another business trip, and upon his return he picked up his passport from our office.
Result
We helped Sergei achieve his goal in 3 months.
- He became a St Lucia passport holder and can visit the UK whenever he wants visa-free.
- He saved money: we helped Sergei choose the least expensive citizenship program.
- He gained visa-free access to 146 countries, including the UK. This can potentially help him develop his business internationally.
- Now that he is a St Lucia citizen he is less affected by the deteriorating business conditions or the geopolitical situation between Russia and the UK.
Zlata Erlach
