St. Kitts And Nevis’ Sustainable Growth Fund For Investment And Citizenship

St. Kitts and Nevis hold a prominent position for having the world’s oldest of its kind Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program. Since its launch in 1984, its CBI scheme has evolved against contemporary changes allowing applicants to acquire citizenship through a fast-track process. Of course, the provision to acquire citizenship comes in consideration of investment in select options. These options include the real estate sector or the recently founded Sustainable Growth Fund (SGF). Our focus, for today, shall be on the latter.

Exploring the scheme to understand St. Kitts and Nevis’ SGF options is also essential. Below, I have enumerated details about the scheme, emphasizing the SGF. On this note, let us look at yet another interesting CBI program.

Why St. Kitts and Nevis?

Before we move to the program’s procedural and other substantive aspects, knowing why the country is a good choice for citizenship is pertinent. First of all, the excellent accessibility to several countries and regions worldwide. The country’s passport holder will have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to as many as 157 destinations globally. In addition, citizenship is heritable to future generations.

Successful applicants can keep their other citizenships as the country allows dual citizenship. Unlike many CBI schemes, St. Kitts and Nevis’ does not stress a mandatory stay in the country. Also, the processing time is short, i.e., three months. Finally, St. Kitts and Nevis is a peaceful country in the Caribbean and does not implement a rigid tax structure. So far, the taxes are concerned; there aren’t any income, inheritance, or wealth taxes here.

Investment options 

Under the program, there are two options available to the applicants.

• The first option is real estate investment. A recoverable investment can be made in select properties. A minimum of USD 200,000 (hotel shares) can be held for seven years, or USD 400,000 (Full title deed) can be held for five years. There may be additional expenses. Following the expiration of the period, the investor has the option to resell the properties.
• The second option is the Sustainable Growth Fund (SGF). The Fund started on April 1, 2018, to replace the Hurricane Relief Fund. The pandemic resulted in the government tweaking a few changes, resulting in a discount being offered to family applicants. Such applicants were offered to invest a minimum of USD 150,000 as opposed to the original USD 195,000. Individual applicants will have to contribute USD 150,000.

The agenda behind the SGF

As the name suggests, the SGF was instituted to fund and accelerate the growth of essential sectors. Essentially, the aim is to enhance the country’s development through foreign contribution. The SGF will use the funds towards developing the education sector, upscaling the health sector in alignment with growing population needs, instituting mechanisms to fight climate change, stepping up infrastructural development, pumping up the country’s touristic strength, and encouraging indigenous entrepreneurship.

Other benefits of SGF contribution 

Apart from directly contributing to the country’s development and its people, other benefits are associated with the contribution.

• • The process of contributing to the Fund is straightforward.
  • The scheme claims to maintain transparency in the management of the Fund.
  •  No interviews or language tests are conducted for contributing to the SGF.
  • SGF is the first of its kind economic citizenship program in the world.

Procedure 

A simple outline of the application process is provided below:

• • Prepare the documents as required under the program.
  • Submit the dossier to the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) through an Authorized Agent. There are fees associated with this aspect.
  • It takes three months to receive an approval letter from the government.
  • Once you receive approval, pay up the remaining investment.
  • Following the investment, you will be issued a passport and a citizenship certificate.

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