You may be wondering which is the cheapest route to get citizenship by investment. We have a solution for you. The answer lies with St Lucia Covid bonds issued by government for the purpose of CIP.
St Lucia is pretty unique citizenship by investment program, providing an exciting passport option for investors.
Earlier this month St Lucia has rocked the CBI industry, introducing a super interesting Covid-19 Govt relief bonds option for citizenship purpose reducing the investment by 50% to just US$250,000 (from half a million dollars). It is a very limited offer will only be available until end of 2021.
A neat trick to get citizenship, the cheapest way for under $45,000 even less in Saint Lucia is to make use of the Covid Relief Government bond option which was introduced for a limited time until Dec 31, 2021
Government bonds (or sovereign bond) first of all are low risk investments, sold to investors probably safest in the world. It is fully guaranteed by Government with fixed interest after certain holding period. Bonds are issued by governments to raise money to finance projects or government spending. (eg.cash deprived countries issue bonds to fight Covid-19 pandemic)
How does this trick work?
You buy Non-interest bearing Covid-19 Government bonds in Saint Lucia for $250,000 and you get back the entire principal without any interest after 5 years, guaranteed by the Saint Lucia Govt. For Citizenship you have to pay $30,000 non refundable administrative costs plus there is $7,500 due diligence fee plus around $6000 lawyer/agent fee. All this money goes to the government. The Application fee $2000 is also waived, to make this scheme exciting for clients.
Covid bonds (upto Family of 5 can apply without increasing the bond amount). The DD (due diligence) fee applies for main applicant, spouse $7500 and $5000 for children above 16 years.
Here are some calculations for you, this will give you a nice idea how much you will be spending, we make it transparent and straightforward.
Single applicant
Bond costs – US$ 250,000 (fully refundable without interest after 5 years)
Due diligence fee – $7,500
Govt processing fee – $30,000
Lawyer fee – $5000
Total: $292,500 all inclusive
The Timeframe for payments are-
1. To submit the file – DD fees and 50% of lawyer fees have to be paid – $10,500
2. Once you are approved you will then pay and the remaining bond plus 50% of lawyer fees – $282,000
Summing up you pay now $292,500 now and you get back $250,000 after 5 years. That is all in all, Citizenship is yours for just $42,500 cheapest possible route for one person.
The CIP approval times takes atleast 3 months and the passport is 4 months depending on all files in order. The St Lucia CIP Application forms can be downloaded here
Family of 5
A Family of 5 can apply for Covid bonds without increasing the $250,000 investment
Assuming you are family of 5 (main applicant, spouse with 3 children under 16). St Lucia accepts children with disabilities or mentally affected regardless of age.
Bond costs – US$ 250,000 (fully refundable without interest after 7 years)
Due diligence fee – $15,000
Govt processing fee – $30,000
Lawyer fee – $5000
Total: $300,000 (all inclusive)ori
Summing up you pay now $300,000 now and you get back $250,000 after 5 years. That is all in all, Citizenship for just $50,000 cheapest possible route for families.
For family of 5, the true cost will be $50,000, this is only $10,000 average per person. You can also add child or family members later paying a flat fee.
This is possible only if you have $250K cash to invest. If you dont have that much money, you may have to use the NDF donation option. You will pay one time $109,500 (includes DD fee) to Government plus agent fee for one person. Saint Lucia did cut prices to families making it even cheaper in 2020. Please use our calculator
Financing & Bond loans
If you dont have $250,000 to invest, another option is financing the bond sum from investment broker or bank. You will have to bear the lump interest rate (3%-4%) for the bond period. For example if the financing costs are $50,000 you will pay total close to $90,000 for citizenship including all costs (discounts available). The financier will receive back the original bond sum back, while you keep the citizenship.
There is no cheaper way than this to achieve your travel and financial freedom legally.
Important: Do not get involved in illegal honey trap scams promoted by unscrupulous agents providing illegal discounts, that undercut the minimum selling prices set by government. Learn how to protect yourself from CBI passport scams. Always check the official CIU website for prices before applying.
CIP Saint Lucia has greatly simplified citizenship process, not requiring you to visit the country, during the Covid-19 crisis. Once all the background checks are completed you are issued citizenship certificate along with Saint Lucia passport which can be collected at the nearest consulate or through authorized government agent. Saint Lucia has diplomatic missions worldwide offering excellent support to citizen services.
The Saint Lucia passport is a proof of your citizenship. You can start using the passport from day one, board a plane without any visa to visit EU schengen states (26), United Kingdom, South Korea, Singapore.
You also have full rights with citizenship such as right to live, work, study and even right to vote and hold government offices.
The latest prices published by the Government of Saint Lucia is below effective from May 12, 2020
It is worth mentioning some country nationals have been blacklisted and cannot apply. In case of Saint Lucia, Iranians cannot apply for citizenship by investment program.
If you are looking at different citizenship options in Europe, Bulgaria and Turkey offer citizenship against government bonds too! Malta golden visa is another example for using government bonds, if you want permanent residency in the schengen area.
