St. Kitts & Nevis Are At It Again

St. Kitts & Nevis are well-known for their Citizenships by Investment Programs (CIP), and their family package is definitely one worth considering.

September 7, 2020

By: Bobby Casey, Managing Director GWP

St. Kitts and Nevis are always flickering on the expat radar. They get a lot of grief for their Citizenship by Investment Programs from major countries as well as their Caribbean neighbors.

Why? I’ll get to that.

They stopped producing sugar in the mid-80s as that was a state sponsored industry and operating at a severe loss. In doing so, they needed another reliable source of income and revenue. With a total population just over fifty thousand, taxes are not going to cut it.

They decided to sell something every country has, with the lowest amount of overhead and the highest margin of profit: their citizenship. The money they make from it is called their “Sugar Fund”. It basically makes up for what they won’t make in the sugar industry.

St. Kitts and Nevis is a tourism based economy, which is fine when the sun shines. But when there are economic downturns and natural disasters that country gets their legs swept out from under it.

Their citizenship package is truly incredible both in price and value. It’s also helpful that they fly below the global news radar. They rarely get any attention because the first world nations are too busy running a first-rate clown act on the world’s stage.

So why all the grief? They will sell to just about anyone with the funds to afford their CIP. For a while they sold to people who were sanctioned by some of the larger players. Can you blame an Iranian for trying to find a work-around from the sanctions leveled on his country?

St. Kitts & Nevis got a stern admonishment from the US for doing just that. They’ve since changed their policies:

Nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, and North Korea are ineligible for citizenship by investment in Saint-Kitts & Nevis unless the applicant is a permanent resident of the United Kingdom, the United States, or Canada.

Three years ago, their neighbors were upset because they undercut their CIP price aggressively. That is to say, they were upset for not joining their Caribbean citizenship cartel, and instead, decided to compete.

Competition is good for everyone: the islands get some revenue, and the folks seeing a second citizenship, get a robust package of benefits. You might have heard that Tom Hanks and his wife recently got a second citizenship in Greece. Second citizenships are a common asset to many of the world’s most wealthy. Sandra Bullock got her second citizenship in Germany. Samuel Jackson got his in Equitorial Guinea.

The program out of St. Kitts and Nevis doesn’t require you to be a Hollywood celebrity or big wig politician. In fact, right now, it might be cheaper than getting a four-year degree in the US!

The difference is, a second passport is a much greater asset, with a lifetime worth of return on investment for you and your entire family, than a degree in Environmental Feminist Theory.

We’d mentioned before that they are having a sort of “sale” on their CIP. This isn’t the first time they’ve done this. They did it three years ago after Hurricaine Irma struck. And they are doing it again since COVID-19 put their tourism industry on hold.

For a family of four you’re looking at $150,000 plus fees: a $45,000 savings from their regular price of $195,000.

Here’s what you get:

While there’s no requirement to live there, there’s nothing wrong with getting a little place in the island paradise. It might come in handy for vacation getaways, or getting away for longer if your home country has become unbearable.

It’s definitely humid and hot all year round to varying degrees. During the winter and spring months it cools off a bit, but they get a rainy season from June to November. Their annual rainfall is about 47″.

Second citizenships and passports are incredible tools for any expat or digital nomad. As Americans are coming to see, their passport is practically worthless. The US is on restriction lists for a lot of offshore banking, online crypto platforms, and travel. A second passport helps you get around all that.

If a second citizenship sounds interesting to you, now is a great time to get signed up with GWP Insiders. We go into much greater depth on topics like:

A host of bonus resources for you including unlimited sessions with me, and access to our elite cadre of industry professionals that can help you get to take that next step in reaching your independence goals.

It’s always good to know where your exits are. Not just in a building, but in your state and country. Whether there’s a natural disaster, civil unrest, economic disaster, or any combination of the three, having a second passport is an essential item to have in your go-bag.

Sign up today for GWP Insiders and get started on your internationalization goals!  We’ll be rolling out a more detailed content piece to our members later this week on this very topic.