The Caribbean countries offer some of the low cost and affordable citizenship by investment programs in the World. Among all, St Lucia and Dominica donation investment is the cheapest citizenship by investment option for $109,500 paid to government for a single applicant. (Additional agency fee apply). There are no cheaper ways to acquire CBI through underselling or financing are banned by CIP Govt units.
All in all, there are only four cheapest CBI programs – St Lucia, Dominica, Antigua, Vanuatu hitting above the $100,000 range. These are the most cost effective and affordable to many families. All other programs such as St Kitts, Grenada exceed the $150,000 mark. We are only talking about donation option here.
What Should You Know
- The Donation option the cheapest, fastest investment route for citizenship. St Lucia, Dominica is cheapest for one person.
- Saint Kitts is offering a USD 25,000 discount under Limited time discount for all applications submitted (LTO) until Jun 30, 2023. All applications are accelerated processing within 60 days without paying additional fee.
- Antigua is the cheapest CBI for families (for family of six or more cheapest is University of West Indies (UWI) fund )
- Grenada CBI is super attractive for those who want immigrate to US using E-2 visa route.
- Parents, siblings (unmarried) and biological children can also apply for CBI programs.
- Children/Siblings below Age limit of 30 and must be unmarried can be included under one family application.
- Real estate route is expensive for all CBI can easily exceed $200,000 plus more fees.
- Maltese citizenship is preferred by UHNWI families who can invest $1 million or more.
- Processing times are only 90 days if all documents in order
- St.Kitts passport is one of the strongest of all passports, granting you visa free to over 155 countries (eg. UK. EU, Russia etc..)
- Government bond option will give you a full peace of mind as it is guaranteed by government. Vanuatu ($175,000) and St Lucia ($300,000) offer bonds issued by government (no interest paid)
- The real estate route is more expensive easily exceed $200,000 cannot be lower than this. Investors must refrain from such financing or underselling real estate scams promoted by unlicensed agents.
Cheapest CBI
The costs provided below are for citizenship by donation option. The minimum for real estate exceed $200,000 plus costs. Please use our CBI calculator to calculate costs in real time.
Single applicant (Donation)
The following amounts paid to government (includes application fee, due diligence fee, application fee)
- St Lucia – Single person ($109,500)
- Dominica – Single person ($109,950)
- Antigua – Single person ($137,500)
- St Kitts and Nevis – Single person ($132,500)
- Vanuatu – Single person ($135,000)
Note: Bank fee, Courier, Notary, Authorized Agency fee is additional to file your application to CBI Unit.
Expected Costs
The question of which is cheapest, really depends on whether you apply as one person or apply as family. It greatly depends on ages of children and additional family members you include such as siblings or parents.
Important to remember that you ONLY do the full investment AFTER your application is approved by government (takes 3 months). All payments done only in stages. Initially, you pay half of lawyer fee plus government fee to file the application with government
These are our rough price calculations on four CBI programs, to give you a better understanding if you can afford.
| CBI Donation | St Kitts | St Lucia | Antigua | Dominica | Vanuatu |
| Single | $132,500 | $109,500 | $137,500 | $109,950 | $135,000 |
| Couple | $165,500 | $155,600 | $146,500 | $162,500 | $155,000 |
| Family (4) | $190,500 | $167,700 | $146,900 | $187,500 | $185,000 |
| Family (6) | $205,800 | $209,800 | $178,800* | $246,200 | $205,500 |
Agency fee not included in the above calculations.
Note: Above are total costs you pay to government (You dont pay anything to Best Citizenships. Our services are free of charge. The family of 4 assumes two children below 12. Family of six assumes two children below 12 and two parents/siblings. * is UWI fund.
We have excluded St Kitts and Grenada as the costs above $150,000 upwards. If you can afford more, be sure take a look at St Kitts and Grenada. These are the some of the strongest and most powerful passports in the Caribbean. Of course, you can compare all programs using our CBI calculator
Families (Donation)
Family members have a BIG impact on the prices of CBI schemes. The costs increase when more family members according to the framework of CIP legislation established by Governments.
Antigua and Barbuda have the cheapest and most affordable CBI program. The UWI fund option provides more cost savings for families applying six or more. The above costs you pay as donation to government inclusive of government and due diligence fee, assuming you apply as family with spouse and two children below sixteen.
CBI Comparison
We tell clients, they get what they pay for. Before you pick the best program, carefully weigh the passport benefits with the price.
| CBI | St Kitts | St Lucia | Antigua | Dominica | Vanuatu |
| Donation | $125,000 (LTO) | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $130,000 |
| Real Estate | $175,000 | $200,000 | $200,000 | $200,000 | $175,000 |
| Passport issued | 10 years | 5 years | 5 years | 10 years | 10 years |
| Visit required | no | none | none | none | none |
| Time | 60 days | 90 days | 90 days | 90 days | 60 days |
| Visa free total | 156 | 146 | 150 | 143 | 135 |
| EU Schengen | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| UK | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| USA | no | no | no | no | no |
| Russia | yes | no | yes | yes | yes |
| Canada | no | no | no | no | no |
| China | no | no | no | no | no |
Refundable investments
Another trick to keep the costs low, is to invest in a fully refundable investment options (eg. Real estate shares, Government bonds etc). Bonds are low risk investment giving full peace of mind as it is paid back by government. No yield or interest will be paid but you get the whole some back after 5 years. We will show you costs for applying as main applicant (single person). Of course, you can add family members anytime later (you dont need to spend everything at the start)
St Lucia Bonds
We take example of covid government bonds issued by treasury of st lucia. Fully refunded after 5 years. No extra cost to families
Government bonds – $300,000
Govt processing fee – $50,000
Due diligence – $7500
Additional costs – $1000
Total: $358,500
Since the $300,000 will be paid back after 5 years, your total costs for st lucia passport is only $58,500
Caribbean (Real Estate)
We take real estate example of buying a share in a hotel, with full buyback by developer or can be sold at your convenience. (with 3-5% rental yields and 2 weeks holidays per year). Note Private homes can be bought above $400,000
Single applicant
Real estate – $200,000 (fractional share in developers project)
Share registration fee – $4,500
Govt processing fee – $25,000
Due diligence – $7500
Additional – $1000
Total: $238,000
Since the $200,000 share is bought back by developer after 7 years, your net costs for St Kitts citizenship is only $38,000.
Vanuatu (Govt Bonds)
Vanuatu has launched new government bond option for citizenship by investment from 2023 onwards. Assuming you are single applicant the costs are below
Bond purchase – AUD 180,000 (2 years lock) or A
Processing fee – USD 15,000
Due diligence fee – USD 5000
Application fee – USD 2000
Total: AUD 175,000 (refundable no interest paid) + USD 22,000 (non refundable)
Authorized Agent fee
Authorized agents licensed by Government charge a one time fee around USD 5000 (payable in installments) to submit your file to the CBI unit. It also varies depending on family members. Please note in all calculations above the agent fee is not included above.
Please request a free quote with us specific to your situation.
