St Kitts and Nevis added brothers and sisters to the list of those who can obtain citizenship for investments
Brothers and sisters can now obtain citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis with an investor. Both the relatives of the investor and the family members of the spouse can take part in the programme.
Author •Lyle Julien
St Kitts and Nevis added brothers and sisters to the list of those who can obtain citizenship for investments
The investor may include his siblings in the application if they are:
under 30 years of age;
unmarried;
without children;
are financially dependent on the investor
The Government of St Kitts and Nevis has also set a fee for the addition of brothers and sisters to the application. The amount of the fee depends on the investment option for which the main applicant is participating in the programme.
Contribution for siblings joining the programme
A spouse, children under 30 years of age and parents over 65 years of age can also obtain a St Kitts and Nevis passport together with an investor. All additional applicants must be financially dependent on the investor. Family members over the age of 16 are required to undergo a security check or Due Diligence.
The change is intended to increase the competitiveness of Saint Kitts and Nevis programme against the programmes of other Caribbean countries. States are relaxing the conditions to attract investment at a time of closed borders and economic hardship. It is, therefore, more profitable and easier to obtain a second passport now than before the pandemic.
Beneficial conditions for investors with family and discount from Immigrant Invest
St Kitts and Nevis rely on investors who plan to participate in the citizenship programme with their family members. Expanding the list of relatives is not the first change in this direction.
In July 2020, the Government of St Kitts and Nevis reduced the non-refundable contribution for families to 4 people. All they need to do now is make a contribution of $150,000 to the Sustainable Growth Fund — the same amount as one applicant. Previously, the contribution for the family was $195,000.
The change reduces investor expenses by 25%. The offer is limited in time and valid until 15 January 2021.
Amount of contribution for the citizenship programme of St. Kitts and Nevis
Immigrant Invest, a licensed program agent, offers a $5000 discount on the passport of St Kitts and Nevis for one investor or family up to 4 people. To take advantage of this offer, please contact us before 1 December 2020.
We talked about the terms and opportunities of the special offer in the material "5000 $ discount for St Kitts and Nevis passport execution for one investor and the whole family".
Future of the programme and possible changes in 2021
The Citizenship Investment Programme of St Kitts and Nevis has been in place since 1984. This is the first programme of its kind in the Caribbean. Over the years, the government has repeatedly improved its conditions and procedures. The next stage of changes is planned for 2021.
The Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Timothy Harris, announced the government’s plans in his speech on 20 October 2020. He noted that changes will take into account modernechnologies and innovations. Which ones — it is not specified yet.
In an interview with Forbes in June 2020, Programme Manager Les Khan spoke to Immigrant Invest about the areas in which innovations are to be expected.
Reinforcement of security checks, or Due Diligence. Biometric data scanning, namely fingerprints, can be added to the process. In this case, the investor will need to submit the biometrics before applying. The measure will ensure that the applicant’s documents are genuine.
Reconsideration of the terms of the programme options. The government can increase control over real estate investments. According to the department, today it is the most popular option among the programme participants. It assumes a contribution to a liquid asset, and the investment can be fully returned — to sell the share or object in 5‑7 years. The minimum transaction amount is $200,000.
Changing the requirements for the non-refundable contribution option is another variant of possible programme updates. The Government of St Kitts and Nevis wants to balance and increase investment inflows. To this end, the department is also working to simplify and speed up the payment process.
We talked about all possible changes to the programme in "Citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis for Investment: Programme Transformation Scheduled for 2021".
The income from the citizenship programme goes to social projects for residents of St Kitts and Nevis. For example, approximately 3000 people have completed a vocational retraining programme funded by foreign investment. Low-income citizens have received EC$ 23 million or approximately EC$ 8.5 million. The payments will be increased by almost a third by the end of 2020.