Prime Minister Timothy Harris announced in his Annual Budget Address 2020 that the country’s Citizenship Unit is going to introduce biometric record verification as a compulsory part of the due diligence process for each applicant to be considered for St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Program. As per the PM, it is a step ahead to make the country’s citizenship by Investment program progressive with a powerful security check.

PM Harris admitted that ‘the demand for economic citizenship in our nation brought about increased expenditure for individual background verification and other expenditure related to maintenance of the powerful CBI program’. In his speech, he added that their citizenship by Investment Program is ‘the best in the business around the world’ and hence a full screening of each candidate is the need of the hour for it to remain reliable and effective.

St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship Program was introduced in 1984 and is the oldest of the kind, which aims to promote socio-economic activities in the country and boost infrastructure and other facilities. After passing through the stringent Due Diligence tests and paying the non-refundable foreign exchange investment as capital contribution of minimum $150,000 made to the Govt.’s SGF (Sustainable Growth Fund), an applicant can officially obtain legal citizenship, passport, and ID of St Kitts and Nevis and benefit from its visa-free and visa on arrival policies which include about 130 + countries.

Yes, ST Kitts and Nevis give visa-free entry to about 130+ countries around the world to its citizens, which is a major reason a lot of applicants get attracted to their CBI program and also for its less expensive than most other. St Kitts’ CBI program, especially after the Hurricane Relief scheme, received a lot of applications and hence a lot of foreign exchange which has brought about considerable developmental projects including construction activities in the region giving a boost to the dwindling economy and infrastructure.

Inspired by the sheer success of Caribbean Citizenship by Investment programs, many countries including Canada, US, and many EU nations have adopted similar citizenship by investment programs whereby an applicant can buy citizenship of a country in a shorter duration, unlike the naturalization process which takes many years.