St Lucia Citizenship by Investment

The  Citizenship by Investment Program of St Lucia was launched in December 2015 following the passage of Act No. 14 of 2015, the Citizenship by Investment Act on 24th August 2015 enabling foreign investors and families acquire citizenship of Saint Lucia through these investment routes.

1. USD 100,000 to National Economic Fund (one time non-refundable)
2. USD 200,000 in approved Real estate projects (hotels, resorts, boutiques, holiday homes)
3. USD 300,000 in non-interest bearing Special Discount Government bonds (Fully Refunded in 5 years) (Limited offer extended for 2023)
4. USD 500,000 in Government issued treasury Bonds.
5. USD 3,500,000 in joint enterprise business projects (universities, ports, research, oil, processing plans, highways, agriculture)

Ineligible: Nationals of Russia, Belarus, Iran are not eligible to apply for Saint Lucia CIP as per new rules. Mandatory interviews required virtual or in person.

CIP Investment Routes

Saint Lucia Government has announced significant changes to the citizenship by investment program for 2023.  Saint Lucia is much more cheaper now for families! Prices have been reduced for families and real estate option.

All applications can now be filed online through dedicated digital CBI platform. Additional agency fee applies for all investment route charged by law firms.

1. National Economic Fund

Contributions to National fund are the cheapest and affordable investment routes for applicants. These are one time non-recoverable investment paid to Government of St Lucia. Prices for donation for applying as family were reduced to invite more investment into the country.

• Applicant applying alone US$100,000 
• Applicant applying with spouse US$140,000 
• Applicant applying with a spouse and up to two other qualifying dependents US$150,000 
• Each additional qualifying dependant of an applicant applying with a spouse and two other qualifying dependants US$15,000
• Each additional qualifying dependent US$25,000

Siblings can be included in the family application but must be below 18 years of age, unmarried and childless. Please see the family requirements below.

Additional Fees

CIP Application fee: $2000 (main applicant), $1000 (dependent)
CIP Due diligence fee: $8000 main applicant, $5000 (dependent)
Bank fee: $1000

Adding Dependants Later

It is also possible for children, spouse and dependants can be added later within 3 years of receiving approval by just paying a flat fee for passports

• New born child – $5000
• Spouse – $35,000
• Dependent – $25,000

2. Real Estate

St Lucia requires USD 200,000 to be invested in real estate for 5 year period . This can be in shares or full titled property. Financing can be arranged for real estate through local banks.

There is a Waiver of non-refundable administration fee for main applicant and children who are under 18 and enrolled in educational institution. This makes real estate investment more cheaper.

Currently only two real estate projects approved by government for the purpose of CIP. Only investing in these approved developments will make investors eligible for citizenship by investment.

1. Canelles Resort
2. Alpina Hotel

3. National Action Government Bonds

Saint Lucia is the only caribbean country offering non-interest bearing zero coupon government bonds/ treasury securities for citizenship by investment. Fully refundable, risk free investment guaranteed return by government after five years with no interest giving you full peace of mind with the investment.

Effective from Jan 1, 2023, New Government issued bonds introduced $300,000 (irrespective of dependants) held for 5 or more years for Non refundable with Government processing fee of $50,000. Non refundable processing fee, with regard to an investment by the purchase of Government bonds under regulation 12(3), is waived.

The holding period for bonds is below

• Single applicant applying alone - $300,000 (5 years)
• Families (no limit on dependants) -US$300,000 (5 years)

No application fee for bonds. Lawyer fee apply.

Kindly note Government administrative fee of USD 50,000 plus due diligence fee($7,500) apply. The bond investment is fully refunded by government without interest after 5 years of holding period.

Interviews

Effective September 1st, 2023, applications to the Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment Programme will be subject to an interview in person or virtually, allowing for an additional layer of protection. This identity verification process will commence upon the compliance of an application and at the Due Diligence Process stage. A $500 fee is applicable charged to main applicant only.

Canada Visa Waiver

Canada has granted partial visa waiver through electronic travel authorization to all nationals of St.Lucia. Effective Jun 6, 2023, St.Lucia citizens who have either held a Canadian visa in the last 10 years or who currently hold a valid United States non-immigrant visa can now apply for an eTA ($7) instead of a paper visa, when travelling to Canada by air.

Eligible Family Members

Note the age limit requirement

• A spouse of the applicant;
• A child of the applicant or of his or her spouse who is 21 years of age or below;
• A child of the applicant or of his or her spouse who is no more than 30 years of age and who is fully supported by the applicant;
• A child of the applicant or of his or her spouse, of any age, who is physically or mentally challenged and who is fully supported by the applicant;
• A parent of the applicant or of his or her spouse who is above 55 years of age and who is fully supported by the applicant;
• A parent of any age who is physically or mentally challenged and who is fully supported by the applicant;
• An unmarried sister or brother (sibling) of the applicant who is below 18 years of age and who has received the consent of his or her parent or guardian to make an application for citizenship by investment.

CIP Amendments 2023

Saint Lucia recently made several key amendments to its legislation to make its citizenship-by-investment program even more attractive to investors and families.

1. Real estate investment reduced to US$ 200,000 (shares in a resort)
2. Government bonds now cheaper for families set at US$ 300,000 (any number of dependents)
3. St Lucia now issues biometric passports to all citizens from 2022 upgrading passport security.
4. New born child can be added post receiving citizenship within 12 months by paying $5000 to government.
5. Average CIP application processing times reduced to 56 days making Saint Lucia fastest CIP in the Caribbean.
6. New e-payment payment platform rolled out for faster receipt payments avoiding bank delays
7. The category of ‘qualifying dependant’ has been expanded and now includes the option to “add-on” qualifying dependants in all investment options for the granting of citizenship. Besides your spouse, you can now include children up to the age of 30 as well as parents over 55 if they are fully supported by you. An unmarried sister or brother who is under 18 can also be included in your application.

St Lucia has amended Citizenship by investment program (CIP) Act 2019 making it simple to applicants.

From now on family members of CBI citizens also receive citizenship with ease and without complications if applied within five years of their citizenship.

• New born children can be added as dependant of CBI citizens within 5 years
• New Spouses can also added as dependant of CBI citizens within 5 years
• Real estate processing fee cut from $50,000 to $30,000
• Processing time of applications significantly reduced averaging 80 days.
• CIP Board to grant authorized agent licenses. All agents must undergo due diligence checks, pay USD 10,000 agent fee and must not have criminal background or bankrupt
• Applicants who cannot make payments within 90 days for citizenship program can be extended with written request to the Board
• Another very important change is, if St Lucia revokes/deprives citizenship for CBI citizen, then all or any dependants also lose citizenship under citizenship scheme.
• CBI applicants can also make use of government bonds option which require $500K fully refunded after five years.

Dependants need to pay only $1000 processing fee and due diligence fee $5000

St Lucia has one of the best citizenship by investment schemes in the Caribbean. The citizenship option starts with $100,000 donation to the state