St Kitts And Nevis Citizenship By Investment Programme Stands As One Of The Most Trusted And Successful Programmes

In 1984, the Government of St Kitts and Nevis created the world's first CBI programme which is now regarded as the Platinum Standard and offers reputable investors from all over the world the chance to get the full benefits of citizenship of the twin-island Federation.

The St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Programme stands as the oldest, and one of the most trusted, successful programmes of its kind. For the past three decades, it has allowed individuals and their families to legally obtain citizenship of one of the Caribbean’s most idyllic locations.

Successful applicants under the St Kitts and Nevis Programme have access to a huge range of benefits including:

o?? ?The ability to share citizenship with future generations
o?? ?Citizenship for life, with the right to live and work in the country
o?? ?Global mobility
o?? ?A fair tax regime, with no worldwide income, inheritance and gift tax for tax residents

The programme was ranked first by The Financial Times' PWM magazine among 14 jurisdictions worldwide and offers investors a safe and secure route to second citizenship once they contribute to the Sustainable Growth Fund.

With so many reports floating around the immigration investment industry, what sets this World Citizenship Report different from others.

We wanted to develop an index that would look beyond global mobility and truly focus on the intrinsic needs of a global citizen. This foundation of the index deep dives into the real motivators that drive our personal decisions to move countries, set up new businesses or send the children to school in a different jurisdiction. ?

We were granular with our approach to finding the right answers that resonated with our respondents– by sitting down with a number of dual citizens and asking them what motivated their journey to obtain alternative citizenship, we were able to develop a broad measurement of attitudes. Then we cast the net wider and surveyed over 500 HNWIs so we could quantify the core themes and found there to be five key motivators: Safety and Security, Quality of Life, Economic Opportunity, Global Mobility and Financial Freedom.?

We analysed the data and based on the statistics we felt that weighting the distribution of the options made the most sense and it was a truer reflection of the HNWI’s perspective. The final product is a well-rounded insight into the minds of global citizens using reliable and relevant sources to construct the index. The final index provides a robust perspective on how to determine the best place to be associated with.

What are the underlying motivations experienced by international families and business people seeking to enhance their global mobility through CBI?

When we first started work on this particular index, it was a couple of years before the pandemic hit. At that time, safety and security was the top motivator driving people when seeking alternative citizenship. Yes, HNWI’s consider a myriad of factors when deciding something as monumental as where to obtain second citizenship and build a second home but ultimately, its human nature, regardless of how wealthy one is, to seek security. While passport strength is, of course, an important component, it is also one that is subject to the greatest change as evidenced by pandemic related travel restrictions. When considering that citizenship is a lifetime investment, the choice will hinge on an element as critical as safety and security.

How can high-net-worth individuals protect their wealth during these tumultuous times?

Aside from analysing the performance of countries, the World Citizenship Report looks at ways HNWIs protect and grow their wealth. This includes looking at which countries provide a platform that will assist a businessperson to not only grow their wealth but protect it too. Diversification of one’s finances is critical - one of the best ways to do this is to establish an alternative hub to set up new businesses and to protect one’s assets. Second or alternative citizenship is the bridge to set up these various platforms.

One aspect that the report highlights is how citizenship by investment (CBI) is an effective tool for the world’s savvy, to protect their assets by hedging their portfolios by becoming a citizen of another country. Furthermore, CBI offers an alternative and time-effective solution for those who do not have a marriage, descendant or naturalisation attachment to other countries. It ultimately enables applicants to obtain a second citizenship, often within three to four months, without any former ties to the nation, as long as they pass a multi-tiered vetting procedure.