CBI Researcher Explains Why St Kitts and Nevis' Citizenship by Investment Programme Is a Success

24/07/2020 16:01

LONDON, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The newest episode of Plan B, a weekly podcast by London-headquartered government advisory CS Global Partners, discusses the success of the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme from the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis. James McKay, the Founder of McKay Research, developed the CBI Index, a yearly report published by the Financial Times's Professional Wealth Management (PWM) magazine in 2017. McKay told the podcast host, Aisha Mohamed, about how St Kitts and Nevis maintains its high ranking.

The podcast episode touches on the extensive research involved in curating the study, the factors that the rankings are based on, and its relevance in 2020's social and political climate. In the 2019 edition of the CBI Index, the Eastern Caribbean region occupied the first five positions. St Kitts and Nevis scored top points in terms of due diligence, citizenship timeline, and mandatory travel and residence. PWM will publish the 2020 edition this summer.

"Caribbean countries such as St Kitts and Nevis have over 30 years in the industry. These are not fickle programmes," said McKay. He added that the nation's experience in the investment immigration industry gave it the benefit of knowing "what works and what doesn't work."

McKay also spoke about other advantages that Caribbean countries like St Kitts and Nevis have: "[they] also tend to be the most cost-effective […] That is always going to be an important factor in any decision-making process […] A lot of these countries have many, many jurisdictions they can access visa-free. In addition to that, they also tend to offer quicker processing times. The Caribbean lifestyle is a huge plus for many people as well."

St Kitts and Nevis' CBI Programme was established in 1984 and requires applicants who have passed rigorous due diligence checks to make an economic contribution to the country. In exchange, the applicant and their family, should they apply jointly, can obtain citizenship for life.

Acquiring citizenship under the fund option requires an applicant to make a one-off contribution to Sustainable Growth Fund. There is a limited-time offer that allows families of up to four to obtain citizenship for US$150,000, instead of US$195,000. Introduced in 2018 by Prime Minister Timothy Harris, the fund option remains the fastest route to second citizenship. In return, the fund supports socio-economic development across the islands.

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