Countries sell citizenship to attract foreign investment

Citizenship-by-investment, with no residency requirements, is increasingly being used by resource-poor countries to attract wealthy foreign investors. St Kitts and Nevis citizenship can be bought for $250,000 or a minimum $400,000 investment in national real estate, and allows applicants to benefit from unlimited visa-free travel to 132 countries, limited disclosure of financial information and no taxes on income or capital gains. While the island has been offering a citizenship-by-investment programme since 1984, the Caribbean state of 48,000 people was virtually unknown. Since the financial crisis the programme has boomed, with St Kitts emerging ahead of their neighbouring islands, and encouraging other countries to follow suit.

St Kitts and Nevis citizenship can be bought for $250,000

St Kitts’ turnaround is owed to Henley & Partners, who have raised some $4bn in citizenship and residency investment programs. Speaking in the report, Chairman Christian Kalin said: “The bottom line is that more states are open to making citizenship rights available through investment. And it makes a lot of sense. Why not give citizenship to people who contribute a lot to the country?”

The report by Bloomberg estimates that investors spent $2bn on passports last year. Citizenships start from as little as $100,000 in Dominica and increase to €2m in Cyprus. Portugal, Grenada, Malta, Cyprus, Antigua and Barbuda have also adopted the scheme, with Albania, Croatia, Jamaica, Montenegro and Slovenia believed to follow suit to inject capital into their economies.