Over the weekend, Antigua’s government dropped a bombshell announcement by signaling plans to suspend the nation’s flagship golden passport and sale of citizenship scheme, saying it prefers doing so rather than see the European Union (EU) abolishing visa-free travel for frustrated citizens.
The Citizenship by Investment program (CIP) has been a backbone revenue earner for the federation with Barbuda and its neighboring Eastern Caribbean neighbors like St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Dominica, Grenada for much of the past decade, but the US and the EU have been applying unrelenting pressure on participating nations to abandon the scheme, arguing that foreigners with dubious backgrounds use the local passports to enter the EU.
Speaking on his weekend radio program, Prime Minister Gaston Browne says the cabinet is considering November 12 as the date for suspending the CIP, even as he announced plans for a leaders meeting of participating states to discuss the issue with the hope of reaching a sub-regional consensus decision.
It is not clear whether any of Antigua’s neighbors will follow suit, as the EU has given these island nations until mid-2028 to completely phase out their program because of internal security concerns of foreigners buying and traveling on local passports, applicants who otherwise won’t qualify for a visa from their home bases.
“We can continue our programs as we wish, but we would not continue to enjoy visa-free access into the Schengen area,” Browne said. “No final determination has been made, but based on the preliminary discussions, it’s very likely that Antigua and Barbuda will suspend its CIP program come November 12th. So I’ve called for a meeting of the heads for early next week so that we could try and come to a consensus. Even if there’s no consensus, then each country obviously will have to take an independent decision.”
He noted that recent meetings with the US resulted only in the bloc reiterating its opposition to a scheme that brings in hundreds of development aid to Antigua and its neighbors. The twin island state has had the CIP since 2013, being one of the first to do so. Officials argue that this revenue stream is much needed to replace taxes lost from regional duty free trade and the collapse of sugar and banana export schemes to the very EU in recent decades.
Visa free access for those in the sub-region means locals can travel to bloc member states and remain there without the need for a visa for up to 180 days.
Foreigners can pay as little as US$100,000 for a passport and citizenship in addition to investing in a local development sector including real estate ventures.
St. Vincent’s near year-old new government, meanwhile, has already announced plans to establish a CIP program to bring in crucial revenue, while neighboring St. Lucia has vowed to find a way around a complete abolition of the CIP.
“I will tell you that Saint Lucia has no intention of stopping the CIP program,” Prime Minister Phillip Pierre said last month ahead of meeting at the UN with EU officials. “We will do all we can. I want to be clear. We will do all we can to strengthen the program. The position is we’re going to protect the people of Saint Lucia. We’re going to protect our financial system. It’s a program that we would not like to lose because it has done quite a bit for our country. Our program benefits the people of Saint Lucia."