25-08 - Flipbook - Page 54
Mi n i str i es
The Caribbean islands that give you a
passport if you buy a home
Scroll through homes for sale in the Eastern Caribbean and it is no longer just
bewitching beaches and a laid-back lifestyle being touted to woo buyers.
More and more property listings are offering a passport too 3 and political
and social volatility in the US is said to be fuelling an upsurge in interest.
Five of the region's island nations 3 Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica,
Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Lucia 3 offer such citizenship by investment
(CBI) from as little as $200,000 (£145,000).
Buy a home, and you also get a passport that grants the holder visa-free
access to up to 150 countries including Europe's Schengen area, and for all
but Dominica, to the UK too.
For the wealthy, the islands' absence of taxes such as capital gains and
inheritance, and in some cases on income too, is another major draw. And all
five of the region's schemes allow buyers to retain their existing citizenship.
In Antigua, estate agents are struggling to keep up with demand, says
Nadia Dyson, owner of Luxury Locations. "Up to 70% of all buyers right now are
wanting citizenship, and the vast majority are from the US," she tells the BBC.
"We don't talk politics with them, but the unstable political landscape [in the
US] is definitely a factor.
"This time last year, it was all lifestyle buyers and a few CBI. Now they're all
Gemma Handy
