Citizenship by Investment Programmes, most commonly known as the Economic Citizenship Programmes, are the most convenient route to global Mobility and provide sustainable economic upliftment to the offering country. It also helps countries generate extensive Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Currently, five Caribbean countries are offering Citizenship by Investment Programmes. The countries such as St Lucia, Grenada, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda offers the safest, secure CBI Programmes, where all applicants are vetted and undergo stringent due-diligence processes.
The governments’ know-how critical background checks are for national and international security, which is why they have placed robust due-diligence processes and are constantly working to improve so that only reputable and qualified investors can get citizenship.
The Caribbean is rapidly growing its popularity among wealthy individuals. Many countries aiming to become global business hubs are greeting them by offering visa waiver arrangements. Recently, United Arab Emirates, China, Russia, India and several other leading economies signed visa waiver agreements with these Caribbean islands.
The Citizenship by Investment Program of the Caribbean countries has been praised in a number of reports that say these countries have the best economic citizenship programs.
Press Editorials: A Belgium based media house surveyed 100 people who got economic citizenship from five different Caribbean countries. The study aimed to understand the benefits of citizenship by investment programmes to the countries where they are based as well as to other nations that allow visa-free Mobility to such individuals.
According to the study, people who received citizenship in these Caribbean countries wanted to move around the world, do business, and be seen as rich personalities in society. The majority of people got dual citizenship to go on vacation to exotic places without having to get a visa first.
Yichén Bingwen, a Chinese businessman who works in real estate, said that Dominica’s citizenship made it easier for him and his family to travel to and from the island for business.
“My investment in the Citizenship by Investment Program and becoming a citizen of Dominica made me very happy. Its visa-free access was the thing that drew me in the most, so I could grow my business,” said
Yichén Bingwen.
Another investor named Nadeem Qureshi from Pakistan aspired to purchase authentic Italian marbles and often faced long visa delays, especially when embassies were closed because of a pandemic. “So I had to come up with an alternative,” he said.
“I wanted to grow my business and buy real Italian marbles because there is a huge market for them in Pakistan; I invested in the citizenship by investment program. I couldn’t get high-quality goods through middlemen. I had to visit the store often, do market research, and then move on with my work”.
Since he became a citizen of St. Lucia, Qureshi said that he has been to Italy many times without any problems. It helped him grow his business. As of now, he wants to open more stores in the UAE and Bahrain.
Another Chinese businessman, Lî Wáng, became a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda. He said that having dual citizenship helped him win in many ways. Having visa-free access under the Citizenship by Investment Program made it easier for him to visit many countries.
“I remember once when I had to go to Singapore for an important meeting. All I had to do was buy a plane ticket and pack my clothes. This has saved me a lot of time, and I can now go to different countries worldwide. It also helped me to make communication easier and build a strong network all over the world. As long as I want to market and advertise my business services, I can go to different countries,” said Lî Wáng.
David Johnson, a South African businessman, said second citizenship of Grenada was the best way for him to get a visa to visit Europe.
“I am a well-known businessman who sells Belgian chocolates and other sweets in South Africa. I had to go to Europe because the demand for Belgian chocolates in Africa had gone up, so I had to go to Europe,” said David Johnson.
The study also found that Europe has taken in nearly 300,000 refugees who fled war zones and other crumbling countries like Iraq, Syria, and many more over the past five years. At the same time, the countries offering Citizenship by Investment Programmes accepted only 20,000 applications. The number of refugees outnumbers the number of people who received Citizenship by Investment Programmes.
Most of the people who have a lot of money travel for business or pleasure, which helps the country that is welcoming them. The High Networth Individuals (HNWI’s) not only create jobs in the Caribbean, but they also spend a lot of money while they are in Europe or somewhere else. Meanwhile, no one can be sure that a refugee who is getting help will be safe. Some refugees granted asylum in Europe have been linked to terrorist groups or other criminal groups.
No person is granted Citizenship by Investment until significant firms based in the US, UK, and Europe carry around background checks on them before the government gives them the OK. The multi-layered due-diligence process is very important because it helps the governments to choose suitable applicants for the Program.
Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia are some of the Caribbean islands that have hired foreign due-diligence firms like Thomson Reuters, Fact UK, Kroll, Exiger, S-RM, and others to make sure that the process is transparent and thorough.
The governments of the countries continue to make sure that the due-diligence process is open and complete to do their part to keep their countries and the world safe.
The study by Press Editorials found that Europe has been the most beneficial continent from these Caribbean nations’ Citizenship by Investment Programme.
Global Mobility is the procedure that allows global access of travel to a foreign country without having a prior visa. So, having access to over 150 nations has become the foremost reason for investors to invest in the economic citizenship of the Caribbean nations.
To help their economies, countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and other places have worked with the Caribbean islands to make it easier for investors who have passports from these countries to visit.
As a bonus, the United Arab Emirates recently signed a visa-waiver agreement with the Commonwealth of Dominica and St. Kitts and Nevis, which allowed dual citizens of both countries to visit the United Arab Emirates without requiring a prior visa.
There is also a visa-waiver agreement in place between the Caribbean countries and countries like India and Russia as well as Egypt, Qatar, and 14 other countries.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates has praised the Caribbean’s Citizenship by Investment Program (CBI) a lot and said that their background checks make sure that only people who are eligible and respectable get citizenship.
Caribbean CBI Programmes have positive impact on EU economies, finds surveyhttps://t.co/4tve7xMQsx
— Press Editorials (@PressEditorials) February 14, 2022
In one of his interviews, Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud from the United Arab Emirates said, “I believe that the new Europe will be in the Middle East because the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be different in the next few years. I think that the new Europe will be in the Middle East. If we do well in the next five years, many other countries will follow, and the next global renaissance in the next 30 years will be in the Middle East, God willing. I think this goal will be met 100% of the time”.
European delegates have also praised the CBI program in the Caribbean. As the United Kingdom ambassador, Scott Furssedonn-Wood has also been to Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis. He praised the CBI program and the projects that get money from the programs.
Yaroslav Petrov, a Russian businessman who has a soap business in other countries, talked about how Dominica’s Citizenship has helped him travel to Africa, “I learnt about the mass-market, middle-market, and high-end market”.
A multi-millionaire businessman from China said that he likes to collect old art and travel to Europe to sell and buy art. Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship is good for his business, he said.
“It was important for me to be able to move around the world or not need a visa to go to Europe. To get this, I had to become a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda a few years ago,” said the Chinese Businessman.
