Americans are racing to take advantage of Caribbean nations offering citizenship by investment schemes, programs that grant citizenship to overseas investors willing to put six-figure investments into their new home countries.
"Up to 70% of all buyers right now are wanting citizenship, and the vast majority are from the US," Nadia Dyson, a realtor in Antigua, told 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 saying 'I want a house with citizenship'. We've never sold so many before."
Lawyers in the U.S. faced a similar deluge of calls about the programs during the 2024 election of Donald Trump, according to the American Bar Association.
“In general, it comes in uncertain times,” Betina Schlossberg, an attorney at Schlossberg Legal, told a 2024 ABA report. “We never thought of people just running away from the United States. All of a sudden, people feel uneasy, and they want to be ready.”
The investment consultancy Henley & Partners has clocked a similar trend, noting the majority of applications for such programs came from U.S. citizens over the last year, part of a general surge in interest that saw applications to these schemes increase 12 percent overall.
A variety of Caribbean nations offer such programs, including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia.
Dominica’s program has the lowest door to investment of the group, at $200,000, while St. Kitts and Nevis has the highest barrier, at $250,000.
Many of the programs also confer wider visa benefits.
Investors in Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, and St. Lucia get travel access to Europe’s Schengen Area.
The programs have attracted a measure of controversy on the islands themselves, as well as from the governments of the U.S. and Europe, which have expressed concern that the investments could be used to avoid taxes or shield financial crimes.
Nonetheless, their defenders point to success stories like Dominica’s initiative raising more than $1 billion, or Antigua’s program helping the country avoid bankruptcy.
Similarly situated European nations — ones with equally desirable locations, with economies heavily dependent on tourism — also offer “golden passport” schemes, including Italy, Greece, and Portugal, each with investment floors of about $250,000.
