St Kitts Investment Immigration

Investment immigration is defined as an individual investing a set amount of money into the country they wish to gain a residency permit in. The residency visa will enable them to live and carry out business in that country and have the same citizenship rights as those who were born within that jurisdiction. In order to qualify for second citizenship through investment immigration, the individual must meet certain criteria.

Why Immigrate to St Kitts

St Kitts is a highly sought after location for foreigners to permanently reside in due to its stable and wealthy economy. St Kitts boasts a high standard of living with excellent health care standards. It is also renowned for its highly attractive low tax regime and strong political infrastructure. St Kitts also has a low risk level in purchasing real estate on the island.

The St Kitts and Nevis Economic Citizenship program (estd 1984) by means of foreign investment is the oldest program in the world. Furthermore St Kitts and Nevis boasts a highly effective and efficient immigrant investor program whereby the investor is able to gain a second passport and citizenship through naturalization. The St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship-by-investment program is regulated by the Citizenship Act 1984 in section 3(5).

There are several advantages of gaining St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship through investment immigration:

• By gaining a residency permit you have the right to travel without country specific visas to over 120 countries, including the UK and Switzerland
• St Kitts and Nevis law does not stipulate that the applicant must reside in the country
• The applicant can apply for residency for his spouse and dependants
• Tax free status on foreign income
• There is no restriction to apply for residency to St Kitts and Nevis
• The immigration investor program does not require for the applicant to be present during the application process nor to attend an interview, unlike many other countries.

St Kitts and Nevis offers foreign investors the right to apply for a second passport through investment. The applicant is therefore required to invest in the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation (SIDF) by means of a cash investment, or he/she can invest in a real estate project. Many other countries do not offer second passports or citizenship through investment immigration, making St Kitts and Nevis a highly sought after location.

Investment through the Real Estate program

There are several conditions of the real estate investment program for foreign investors. These include:

• The applicant must invest a minimum of US$350,000 in a pre-approved real estate project
• Should you invest in real estate you must maintain the property for a period of no less than 5 years to then become eligible for the citizenship program.
• After you have owned your real-estate for a minimum of 5 years you have the right to sell it
• The applicant must pay the Government of St Kitts and Nevis US$35,000 on their own behalf and US$15,000 each for their spouse and any dependants under the age of 18.
• The applicant must also pay US$35,000 for dependants between the age of 18-25. These dependants must also be in full time education supported by the applicant
• US$3,500 is payable to the government by the applicant for any person over the age of 16 which they wish to include in their application. This fee is a due diligence fee.
• The investor must also be liable to any other legal fees throughout the process of purchasing the real estate.

The Sugar Industry Diversification program

This immigration investment program was recently launched as a project under the Citizenship-by-investment unit. It is a charitable foundation which appeals to many foreign residency applicants. The applicant simply makes a donation to this foundation as opposed to making a business investment into a project such as real estate.

The SIDF program requires the applicant to choose from 4 main categories:

1) Single application

2) Family (up to 3 dependants – spouse and 2 dependants under 18 yrs old) application

3) Family (up to 5 dependants – spouse and 4 dependants under 18 years old) application

4) Family (6 or more dependants – spouse and dependants under 18 years old) application

Option 1 requires the applicant to invest US$200,000, option 2 requires an investment of US$250,000, option 3 requires US$ 300,000 and finally, option 4 requires an investment of US$ 400,000. However, should the applicant wish to include dependants between the ages of 18-25 they are liable to pay a supplementary fee of US$ 35,000.

Once the applicant has choose the category which best matches their situation for residency, they must then deposit the full investment amount into a Government Escrow account, their funds will be released to them on approval of their residency application.

St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship-by-Investment unit (CIU) enables the applicant to gain full St Kitts and Nevis citizenship through investment. This category is also known as high net worth immigration. However there are conditions to meet in order to apply under this program.

• The applicant should be a high net worth individual, able and willing to invest the required amount into St Kitts and Nevis
• The applicant must not have a criminal record
• The applicant must also have licensed lawyer from St Kitts and Nevis to represent him

For application to the St Kitts and Nevis Economic Citizenship program, you must request and complete the relevant official immigration documents.

Please see below a list of forms which may be applicable to you.

• Main application form (C1)
• Photograph and Signature Certificate (C2)
• Medical Certificate (C3), this form must be accompanied by an HIV results form for all applicants including children, the test must not be older than 3 months
• Also required are:
• Certified copy of your passport including the photo page, for all applicants
• Certified copy of your current national identity card
• Six original passport size photos, must be recent photos
• Certified copy of applicant birth certificate and birth certificates for all those included in the application
• Original police certificate from the applicant domicile country and any other country he/she has lived in for over 1 year (within the previous 10 years)
• Certified copy of Military Records (where applicable)

Documents required for the main applicant only:

• (SIDF) program, requires completion of a C4 form with a copy of the escrow agreement
• Real Estate program requires a copy of the real estate contract, a copy of the escrow agreement, evidence of property title transfer and confirmation of funds deposited in the escrow account.
• 1 x original bank reference letter no older than 6 months
• 1 x original professional reference no older than 6 months (for example by a chartered accountant, attorney, or a notary member of the public)
• 1 x original document of evidence of applicants residential address (for example a copy of a recent utility bill)

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