Transparent Citizenship by Investment Programs

Citizenship by investment (CBI) has become increasingly popular and has become $3 billion dollar annual industry.. Small countries have significantly benefited from revenues CBI schemes selling passports. Further billions of dollars have been raised through inflows of investments in real estate.

But how transparent are these investor citizenship schemes running in more than 10 countries?

Malta is the only country that has the most transparent citizenship by investment scheme in the world, closely followed by Antigua and Grenada. All other countries running CBI schemes are not well known for transparency.

Transparency and full disclosure is very important when it comes to administering CBI schemes and recently IMF and European Commission have recommended Governments to implement full transparency.

Take a look below

1. Malta

CBI scheme: Direct investment by exception scheme replacing Individual Investor Program (IIP)
CBI Legislation: YES
Annual report: YES, published by IIP regulator Oriip every december
CBI revenues: YES, Full disclosure in annual report
Applications (received, rejected etc): YES
Reveal names of Citizenship holders to Public: YES, Government Gazette (publishes names of IIP citizens clubbed with naturalized citizens)
Applicants by country: YES
Authorized agents list: YES
Use of CBI funds in welfare projects: YES (NDSF)
Application forms: online download
Dedicated Citizenship Unit: YES (Community Malta Agency)

2. Antigua

CBI Scheme: Antigua Citizenship by Investment (ACBI)
CBI Legislation: YES
Annual report: YES, published by CIU Antigua twice a year
CBI revenues: YES, full disclosure in annual report
Applications (received, rejected etc): YES
Reveal names of Citizenship holders to Public: NO (assures privacy for economic citizens)
Applicants by country: YES
Use of CBI funds in welfare projects: YES
Citizenship Investment Unit operations and expenses:YES
Authorized agents list: YES
Approved real estate projects: YES
Dedicated Citizenship Unit: YES, CIU Antigua

3. Grenada

CBI Scheme: Grenada Citizenship by Investment (GCBI)
CBI Legislation: YES
Annual report: YES, published by Finance Ministry of Grenada, every quarter
CBI revenues: Full disclosure in annual report
Applications (received, rejected etc): YES
Reveal names of Citizenship holders to Public: NO (assures privacy for economic citizens)
Applicants by country: NO
Use of CBI funds in welfare projects: NO
Authorized agents list: YES
Approved real estate projects: YES
Dedicated Citizenship Unit: YES , CBI Grenada

4. St Lucia

CBI Scheme: Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment (SLCBI)
CBI Legislation: YES
Annual report: YES, published annually
CBI revenues: YES, Full disclosure in annual report
Applications (received, rejected etc): YES
Reveal names of Citizenship holders to Public: YES (in annual report)
Applicants by country: YES
Use of CBI funds in welfare projects: YES
Authorized agents list: YES
Dedicated Citizenship Unit: YES, known as CIP Saint Lucia
Revoked citizenships: Published in Gazette
Approved real estate projects: YES

5. Cyprus

Note: scheme is suspended

CBI Scheme: Cyprus Investment Scheme (CIS)
CBI Legislation: YES
Annual report: NO (assured full transparency after introduction of new rules)
CBI revenues: NO
Applications (received, rejected etc): NO
Reveal names of Citizenship holders to Public: NO (assures privacy for economic citizens)
Applicants by country: NO
Approved real estate projects: YES
Authorized agents list: YES
Dedicated Citizenship Unit: NO, but Supervisory and Audit Committee exists consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Interior and the Invest Cyprus organization for monitoring and improvement of the Cyprus Investment Program,

6. Dominica

CBI Scheme: Dominica Citizenship by investment program (DCBIP)
CBI Legislation: YES
Annual report: NO
CBI revenues: NO
Applications (received, rejected etc): NO
Reveal names of Citizenship holders to Public: YES (published in Govt Gazette twice a year)
Applicants by country: NO
Use of CBI funds in welfare projects: YES
Authorized agents list: YES
Approved real estate projects: YES
Dedicated Citizenship Unit: YES, known as CBIU Dominica

7. St Kitts and Nevis

CBI Scheme: St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment (SKNCBI)
CBI Legislation: YES
Annual report: NO
CBI revenues: NO
Applications (received, rejected etc): NO
Reveal names of Citizenship holders to Public: NO (assures privacy for economic citizens)
Applicants by country: NO
Use of CBI funds in welfare projects: NO
Authorized agents list: YES
Dedicated Citizenship Unit: YES, known as CIU St Kitts
Approved real estate projects: YES

8. Montenegro

Montenegro is newly launched CBI scheme, so little details are available

CBI Scheme: Montenegro Special Citizenship by Admission Program (MSCAP)
CBI Legislation: YES
Annual report: NO
CBI revenues: NO
Applications (received, rejected etc): Unknown
Reveal names of Citizenship holders to Public: Unknown
Applicants by country: Unknown
Use of CBI funds in welfare projects: Unknown
Authorized agents list: YES
Govt Approved real estate projects: YES
Dedicated Citizenship Unit: YES, known as Montenegro Investment Agency

9. Vanuatu

CBI Scheme: Vanuatu Development Support Program (DSP) and Vanuatu Contribution Program (VCP)
CBI Legislation: YES
Annual report: NO
CBI revenues: YES (every quarter)
Applications (received, rejected etc): NO
Reveal names of Citizenship holders to Public: NO
Applicants by country: NO
Use of CBI funds in welfare projects: NO
Authorized agents list: YES
Dedicated Citizenship Unit: YES, known as Vanuatu Citizenship Commission

10. Turkey

CBI Scheme: Turkey Citizenship by Investment (TCBI)
CBI Legislation: YES
Annual report: NO
CBI revenues: NO
Applications (received, rejected etc): NO
Reveal names of Citizenship holders to Public: NO (assures privacy for economic citizens)
Applicants by country: NO
Use of CBI funds in welfare projects: NO
Authorized agents list: NO
Approved real estate projects: NO
Dedicated Citizenship Unit: YES, Invest Turkey and Ministry of Interior are responsible

11. Bulgaria

CBI Scheme: Bulgaria Fast Track Citizenship by Investment Program (BCBI)
CBI Legislation: YES
Annual report: NO
CBI revenues: NO
Applications (received, rejected etc): Published in Presidential decree on granting citizenship
Reveal names of Citizenship holders to Public: NO (assures privacy for economic citizens)
Applicants by country: NO
Use of CBI funds in welfare projects: NO
Authorized agents list: NO
Dedicated Citizenship Unit: NO, Ministry of Justice is responsible.
Revoking citizenship: Published in presidential decree

12. Moldova