The Caribbean nation of Antigua & Barbuda is poised to become the third sovereign state to have a bona-fide citizenship-by-investment program, joining the Commonwealth of Dominica and the Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis.
Under the proposed Antigua & Barbuda Economic Citizenship Programme Act of 2012, foreign investors who acquire $400,000* in qualifying real estate; contribute $250,000 to a National Development Fund; donate $250,000 to an approved charity; or invest $1.5 million in a local business, would be awarded citizenship. Once granted citizenship, investors could obtain an Antigua passport.
The proposal is in many respects similar to the economic citizenship program offered in neighboring St. Kitts, including the requirement that applicants pass through a stringent due diligence process. The main difference is that St. Kitts does not offer a local business investment option. In addition, unlike St Kitts, prospective Antiguan economic citizens would need to submit to an interview. Further, economic citizens would be required to spend at least 70 days in Antigua during a five year period after they obtain Antiguan nationality. Otherwise, they would not be eligible to renew their passport.
The government of Antigua hopes to generate more than $200 million in revenues in the first three years of the program.
Last month, the Antigua & Barbuda House of Representatives passed the bill and sent it to the Senate. Proponents expected the bill to pass quickly, but the Senate delayed debate of the act until the next parliamentary seating at the end of January 2013. The government gave no reason for delaying consideration of the bill, but my sources in Antigua inform me that the government may want to restructure the requirements, in particular, the requirement for physical residence to maintain passport renewability.
It's also possible that the government is awaiting consideration by the European Parliament of the proposal from the European Commission to give citizens of Dominica visa-free access to the European Union's Schengen group of countries, which Dominica passport-holders currently lack. The Dominica economic citizenship program is considerably less expensive than that of either St. Kitts or the proposed Antigua program. Both St. Kitts & Antiguan passport-holders can enter the Schengen area visa-free for a visit up to 90 days.
Opponents of the Antigua proposal raise several concerns. They fear that offering citizenship to investors could lead to restrictions on the ability of Antiguan citizens to travel visa-free to Canada and the European Union. Opponents also believe that property values could become seriously inflated, as economic citizens purchase prime lands at premium prices.
It appears unlikely that these concerns will impede final enactment of the proposed legislation, as the bill enjoys broad parliamentary support. The concerns are valid, but proper due diligence should mitigate any possible restriction of visa-free travel. Certainly the experience of St. Kitts & Nevis shows that even after 28 years in existence, that country's economic citizenship program hasn't led to visa restrictions.
Property values will likely rise as wealthy foreigners purchase qualifying property in Antigua & Barbuda. But in St. Kitts & Nevis, with a total land mass considerably smaller than that of Antigua & Barbuda, many properties not eligible for economic citizenship remain available for well under $400,000.
I (along with my colleague P.T. Freeman) plan a visit to Antigua in coming weeks to investigate the program further, and will keep you posted on its progress in future posts.
Copyright © 2012 by Mark Nestmann
* All dollar amounts expressed in U.S. dollars
