Citizenship by Investment Program Review: Saint Kitts and Nevis
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- čas přidán 5. 02. 2021
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Today we are reviewing yet another passport that you can buy. We are going to be talking about the Citizenship by investment program in Saint Kitts and Nevis.
St Kitts and Nevis is one of the 5 Caribbean countries that offer the Citizenship by Investment program, and they were the first ones to introduce it.
The program that offers St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship is one of the longest-standing programs. The country opened its doors to foreign investors in 1984.
Saint Kitts and Nevis citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 156 countries and territories including UK, Schengen Zone, and Russia, ranking Saint Kitts and Nevis passport 53rd in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index. This passport has better visa-free access than other Caribbean passports, as well as Vanuatu in South Pacific.
How much does it cost to get this passport? If you're a single applicant the headline price is $150 000 donation. Besides this, there is a due diligence fee of $7500, another $250 in government application fees, a passport fee of $365, courier fees of $200, local lawyer professional fees of $5000, and finally bank due diligence fees of $200.
So your total out-of-pocket costs will be $163 515.
If you want to add your spouse, the price of the donation goes from $150 000 to $175 000. Due diligence fees go to $11 500, and of course, a bunch of other fees will need to be paid in double (except for the local lawyer fee). So this means that the total cost for two people would be $193 230.
If you want to add two dependants under the age of 16 your donation will go up to $195 000.
In this case you'll need to pay extra for some fees, while not for others, and your total will be $214 560.
This is one route to go, and there are other routes to obtain this citizenship. The other option is the real estate option.
In that case you'd need to invest $200 000 in a government-approved real estate project. The rest of the fees would remain the same, but you'd need to pay a government real estate fee on top which is $35 000 for one applicant, $55 000 if you include your spouse and $75 000 for a family of four.
There is a third option as well, a financing option. In my opinion, this is the best deal because you'd
In my opinion, this is probably the best route to go, because your total costs of getting a passport will be much lower. If you're interested in hearing more about this financing option, please book a call with Michael.
What about the timelines? The due diligence process is certainly much more serious than some other programs.
You can expect to get a passport in 4-6 months. There is an acceleration program where you can pay more to get the passport faster. You'll need to pay $25 000 as a single applicant, and another $20 000 if you bring your spouse. In this case, you could get a passport in 2-3 months.
It is possible to pay in Crypto via local brokers, which is very appealing to some.
If you're thinking about a Caribbean passport, the financing option is the best deal and you should probably get it while it is still available.
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Nomad Capitalist got blown out of the water 🤯 You have way more detail way more !!! Half his vids are just spin same elevator pitch every video never breaks down costs or what options are the best well done mate
Andrew gets into his favorite tea spiel .
You read the book ?
I love both Micheal & Andrew. They are both like a fine wine, just different years & vintages:)
That is why I stopped following him. Everything is totally empty.
Speaking from experience the St Kitts program’s due diligence is no joke. That makes it more difficult and time consuming but also ensures that the passport has a better reputation down the road. The longevity and pride St Kitts takes in the program is a real asset.
Yes please make an episode that explains this better 👍
Yes, they as well as a couple others can put on a fair amount of due diligence.
We'll see how these program reputations hold up over time. Vanuatu is especially bad but I haven't noticed a huge difference between the Caribbean ones to date.
Can you guys please elaborate with what you mean by due diligence? Why does it make it so difficult?
@@maplesohrab176 St Kitts makes sure to request all the key paperwork on you - passports, birth certificates, bank and personal references, police reports, source of funds etc etc then they check against various databases on criminals. This process is done by a third party outside due diligence provider.
@@ian7379 Awesome thankyou very much man
Saint Kitts and Nevis is first country that introduced the program. I think it is best too especially when there is no tax for residents. Thank you Michael. The video was quite helpful and informative. Please talk about Anguilla too.
You're welcome. Will definitely do Anguilla it doesn't have a CBI program though only residency. Great beaches though.
Awesome
Thank you so much for this one 🙏🏻🙏🏻
You're welcome! What else would you like to see?
@@MichaelRosmer Nevis is one of the most attractive places to buy second passport, and if it’s possible; please make a video on the Caribbean islands banking system. Knowing which banks or type of banks we should be considering or not considering is super important.
Thank you 🙏🏻
@@farzad_tahamtani I've previously done a video on where not to bank... Essentially all the Caribbean banking is pretty bad with very few difficult to quality for exceptions
@@MichaelRosmer I’ll check it again as soon as possible.
Thank you
Very informative video on: Best visa free countries with a Citizenship program in the Caribbean.
Comparing St.Lucia, Nevis, Granada, etc...
Really state, Financing or Donation options. All costs, banking, fees and benefits explained.
Thanks great description.
In some ways, Grenada is better since it gives you both Russia and China. Being able to travel to Namibia or some other tiny African country is beside the point for most people!
*THANKS FOR THE iNFO!*
Always a pleasure!
Anything else you'd like to see?
What do you think about going the route of Incorporating a business in St Kitts and then getting a St Kitts work permit for a year to get familiar with the island before going the CBI route?
Hi Michael, i really your content and the way you present it in simple plain words. I would like to explore the option about financing to get carribean passport. However i prefer to have china as visa free access country. Please tell how can i book an appointment with you to discuss further.
Thanks
this financing option is not found anywhere on the official website… does anyone have proof it’s viable?
I was hoping for a video about St Kitts but fell asleep instead
I didn’t quite understand the finance option… could you kindly summarise the points Michael
Please send us an email
I didn’t get it either
Hi Michael, when you mention source of funds, do you mean source of funds for paying for citizenship or source of funds for income or are they looking for a bank account and an amount in it etc? Thank you.
The first one. You need to show sufficient funds earned via tax returns (in my case it was for about 1/2 of an actual investment) and then get a bank statement with the full sum in your account. A brokerage account or something of a sort also works
@Michael Rosmer Do you know what it takes to become a tax resident in St Kitts? Ive seen conflicting info. I've seen as soon as you get citizenship they recognize you as a tax resident, but others say its 2 months and others say 6 months on the island. Any ideas? (not factoring in if the country you're leaving considers you THEIR tax resident - strictly from St Kitts point of view)
The most important thing is not bring tax resident somewhere else AND having a conflicting country recognize you as tax resident there. That's about more than St. Kitts saying they accept you.
What is the lowest cost ? 164 thousands I don’t get back it’s a donation right ?
That list of countries you don't get was quite enlightening. Australia for example, won't even acknowledge you as no longer a tax resident for at least 2 years. If I wanted to escape the Australian tax system, I'd have to revoke my citizenship. They don't like this and I bet it has a lot to do with denying Visa free travel if you do it.
Australia looks like a prison camp with forced medical procedures right now
@@PabloDon27 It is bad and getting worse. You can't enter Australia or leave if your a citizen.
for visa free access to Schengen zone: the argument is out of the window soon-ish (end of 2022 at least) as the zone wants to establish ETIAS (works like ESTA to enter USA) and you will have to apply even for a short visit. but it's just ~7 Euro for 90 days out of 180 per year, 3 years validity.
even UK citizens will have to apply post Brexit. also means UK passport doesnt provide any advantage over other non EU/EFTA passports to access Schengen zone.
There's still a huge difference between something like ESTA and requiring a visa.
@@OffshoreCitizen ESTA is better of course and a very posh club also: most countries entitled to it are european (~30 of it); the others are AUS Chile Brunei South Korea NZ Taiwan Japan and Singapore; CAN is excempt from such rules for other reasons.
so you better get one of those
If our children get the St.kitts passport by our investment, can they give the nationality to their children (our grandchildren) in the future ?? Also is alternative investment legit or a fraud? Can they revoke it for any reason?? I appreciate any advice,thx
how about the annual property tax in st.kitts&nevis? are there any approved property on forclosed property by the banks there? is there an association dues if I will buy a condominium unit? and lastly...how about personal income tax?
No you absolutely can't do something like buying foreclosed properties, it will all be overpriced government approved projects.
There's no personal income tax but you probably won't live there anyway.
@@MichaelRosmer Wow! Thanks for the great vid! I am sorry though , I got lost on the 3rd option you mentioned. Something about financing a property…I would put 98k down after that I got confused. Is there a sight where I can read it in more detail on the 3rd option? Thanks in advance 😊
@@muther_trucker9446 best is to send us an email to discuss, that option has also changed slightly since I made this video
Hi there quick one, my wife is a citizen by investment through her Father , Do you know if there is away our son can be added as a dependant to get the citizenship as well?
I read this on a site offering St. Kitts citizenship service. C3 Form - Medical Certificates for each applicant to the program. This must be done in English. HIV tests must not be older than three (3) months
Is it true that you have to take an HIV test in order to apply?
Yes, that's correct
Can you claim a dependent for a parent? How do you do a joint program to bring along a parent otherwise, or is there one?
If your parents actually are dependents that's th trick
No one talks about the fact that all these Caribbean programs are in Caricom with freedom of movement, so you can get St Kitts, St Lucia, Antigua, Grenada etc and live in the other country.
This is true though I wouldn't want to live in any of them
@@MichaelRosmer If you like sleepy, good weather, good rum, beaches and sailing it’s not bad plus the low or no tax rates. Cost of living is expensive if you want the mod cons, with high import taxes. I could imagine living in Antigua for six months out of the year. Maybe.
@@ian7379 you're more patient than me, I'd get bored after a month for sure
@@ian7379 I could do island hoping for a few months maybe but wouldn't want to go back every year
@@ian7379 I’m a homebody type of a person and I like warm weather and being near the sea.
But I’m 58 and I have chronic back pain so I have to consider my medical needs as I age and I know nothing about St. Kits medical services .
Hey Michael, I saw a comment below asking if the citizenship by investment for St Kitts and Nevis can be passed down to future generations and you said no, why is that? Doesn't Citizenship by descent apply for future generations? Isn't that in their law?
Hey I doubled checked, I was mistaken in the comment below, it is actually possible there's just a small fee to register each descendant.
As it was explained by my lawyer in St Kitts and Nevis, the main applicant, his/her children and spouse are included in the CBI but not their grandchildren unless they are born in St Kitts and Nevis. Apparently only Grenada allows citizenship by descent amongst CBI programs in the Caribbean.
@@ian7379 yeah I verfied this with our contacts in St. Kitts and no, both Dominica and St. Kitts have a path to allow descendants to get it it just requires some extra legal fees
@@MichaelRosmer That is most interesting. According to the law of St Kitts (I've read the constitution, nationality law and regulations), it is not automatic but at the discretion of the minister. Great news that it is possible. My lawyer said it was not - but then they were not the most connected outfit .... just legal fees sounds very reasonable.
@@MichaelRosmer Thanks for clarifying
Any ideas if it's possible to buy land and build on it for citizenship by investment? Father in Canada has loads of home-building experience and can help him. If this is an option, any idea what country of the 5 in Caribbean would be best (dollar/benefits ratio).
Hi Matt, you can send a message through our website and we'll be happy to assist you
Where and what kind of company is the best to set as a freelancer and Indie game developer? Thanks!
If you are a non US person , I would suggest you to set it up in the US. I have a friend who's an indie game developer , he has a US LLC . He said its very easy to bank and accept payments from Apple & Google (but be aware of the withholding taxes on royalties)
These are always case by case because it depends on so many factors like currencies needed, financial infrastructure, where you team are, your clients, etc.
The best is to book a call and we can go over whatever the best options are for your unique situation as there's no one size fits all
@@alexrappoport2911 withholding taxes are based on where the payer is
Is the timeframe waiting period of 4-6 months the same with both the $150,000 buy in and the $200,000 real estate option?
More or less yes
Donation is always faster than anything to do with real estate ..... if you want speed.
@@ian7379 for some of these they are set up to close quickly because it's prepackaged deals
Hey is it legal for the third for 99k because in the official website is not showing ?
So long as the proper escrow procedure is followed yes. In other words the full $200k must genuinely be deposited (not by you, you put up $50k but then the developer that is doing the financing has to genuinely put up the money).
It's not listed by the government because it's not a separate program it is the real estate option it's just being financed in part by the developer.
BTW, since I created this video they've introduced some new escrow fees that take effect at the start of March so it's slightly over $100k now for the financing option. Still cheaper than the other programs but morw expensive than listed here.
@@MichaelRosmer this was the part of the video that really got me interested. This is going to sound like a dumb question but who is going to help you finance the 150k after you put up the 50k? Is it a bank in my home country or one in St. Kitts? Not sure what the process is.
@@bobo-uv9ls the developer puts up the other 150k
Nevis has a good trust account system?.. I heard this on another vid
Depends on what you mean. Trusts and accounts are two different things and trust accounts can be something somewhat different still.
Nevis has strong asset protection trust laws, though this doesn't necessarily mean they are good to use, you can look at some of my other videos on this topic of asset protection and trusts.
Nevis has horrible banking wouldn't recommend it probably ever if we can avoid it.
The St. Kitts and Nevis CBI program has a good escrow procedure to protect the clients and the country.
@@MichaelRosmer.. Yes I recall you saying their banking isnt so good
Is there a way to contact you directly for advice?
Yes, you can book a private call here calendly.com/michael-rosmer
Thanks Michael for another great video. I have the following questions:
1- How does St. Kitts tax their citizens comparing to other Caribbean countries? Foreign earned and local earned money.
2- Is their citizenship carried over to citizen's future children when born?
3- How's their privacy as far as keeping the applicant's name and information private?
4- Which Caribbean country has the most straightforward procedure and has a higher chance of approval?
1. No income tax, no capital gains, no death tax but 10% + social security tax on local income, VAT, and high taxes on real estate transactions.
2. Citizenship only carries over for naturalised citizens if child is born in St Kitts and Nevis. (Only Grenada offers transmittable citizenship in CBI programs)
3. Complete privacy for naturalised citizens - no public announcement of names
4. I’m guessing Dominica and Grenada are the easiest, with St Lucia and Antigua, followed by St Kitts & Nevis. Based on what I have read, but I don’t think there is a huge difference - they are all good programs. I think the chance of success are good in all programs - unless you have a criminal record, can’t produce key papers, or are a politically exposed person that could open you to being corrupted through bribery. Difficulty comes in two forms - (1) slow and incompetent CBI agencies that are inflexible, don’t understand the source country documents, and (2) problems with the applicant. Having a good agent that has lots of experience doing CBI applications and good relations with the government agency will help solve lots of your problems. I would avoid the small law offices that only do a couple of applications a year.
@@ian7379 Thanks for your clarification.
AMP did a great job answering the questions. I'll make a couple additions:
1. I have people ask me about taxation and the point that sometimes gets lost is for 99.9% of people it's irrelevant because you're not going to live there. The tax system only applies to you if you're a resident, not a citizen. That being said st. Kitts is one of the places that has essentially no tax.
2. AMP answered this, if you're concerned you could consider having your kids there though there's pros and cons to that (note, there's also some different rules that often apply if a kid otherwise wouldn't have citizenship, this varies country by country around the world)
3. Answered - though note depending on what you're trying to achieve here you should be aware of how island culture works.
4. Dominica we find is the easiest but send me a message through www.offshorecapitalist.com and we can do an assessment for you, usually it's not an issue with most of the programs.
@@MichaelRosmer Thanks for your additional responses to AMP. As always, you guys are comprehensive and to the point. I am learning from your videos.
I have already switched from St Kitts to Antigua watching your videos and now to Grenada :-). I am at the feasibility study stage. I will definitely reach out when I am ready to apply.
@@webbezzy sounds good yes feel free to contact us and we can go over what's best for you.
if I buy a real estate property and hold it for 5 years then sell it will I lost my citizenship? do they have a tax treaty to usa and philippines?
There's a fixed hold time and after that point you can sell and you don't lose the citizenship
And no, zero tax countries typically don't have tax treaties but it's rare that they are necessary either.
I've applied for 4 months and still there is no security approval
You should talk to your agent, unfortunately because you aren't working with us we can't help you but you should be way beyond that point today
I must have missed it. How does this finance thing work?
The term "finance" is maybe a little deceptive.
It's the real estate option except the developer puts up 75% of the cash for you and in turn keeps the property. The result is you get the citizenship cheaper and the developer makes more money.
@@MichaelRosmer ahh..I hadn't read about that option anywhere. Thank you for the info 🙏
@@Hh-yd3dj yeah not all offer it but there's at least two we deal with who can offer it. Reach out if you're interested
@@MichaelRosmer thanks that cleared it up for me too.
great stuff you put out. ty.
Great video Mike . Can you please make a video regarding Nevis (LLC) as a corporate blocker ?
Yes I can thanks!
Dominica CBI vs Saint Kitts CBI which one is best? In simple english
St. Kitts is a better passport, Dominica is generally for people who can't get St Kitts
so i am confused are kitties are allowed to work in eu without any work permit ?
No, only visit visa free
@@OffshoreCitizen ok thats what i was thinking as well because I heard from most of the Turkish people are trying to get st kitties citizenship as second passport since it is quite cheap compared to other citizenships of other countries as you mentioned in the video but at the end , it does not make you to live permanently or work in eu so it might not be worth for turks :/
Are you actually being able to travel to Europe with one of these Caribbean passports during this pandemic ? This would be important and could be a deciding factor for some peoples
Yes but depends on what country and when.
@@OffshoreCitizen is there any official link to check the travel restriction online ? I am interested in entering Germany and Portugal. Specifically when, I am not sure, it would be great to check if it is OK to travel right now to those countries with the Caribbean passports.
Huge thanks to your channel. Excellent contents as always. Please keep up your work !!!!
Can a person wth terrble credit and no criminal record get approved if money for citizenship is not a problem ?
Yeah of course. As long as you can afford it and don’t have a criminal record they won’t care what your credit looks like in the US.
I think it would be ok but you generally need two references from a banker/professional people that speaks to your character and source of funds.
It's worth noting that most parts of the world don't have a sophisticated credit system like the US does so credit checks aren't part of the process.
As AMP said source of funds is a big one and an area we help clients evaluate and get in order in advance, reference letters are typically less of an issue.
Of course no criminal record etc are also important.
Can you add on dependent children once they are born?
Yes, there are some small fees but it can be done
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What can one do if I don't have a birth certificate??
The program requires a birth document that includes your parent's details, or a household register, family book etc.
When you do not have one, it's usually not a hassle to get it. Just check what's the procedure in the city of your birth. For some places, it can be requested online
Please how can I contact you privately
You can send a message here www.offshorecapitalist.com/ or book a call here calendly.com/michael-rosmer
Looking forward to hearing from you :)
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Buying property is not a bad investment because many people rent out there property and make back their money
Yes, that's one of the options. Are you considering that route?
Corrections you do get Canada
No you do not
You use to a few years ago, not anymore.
Yes - I want to do this -
I do not totally understand the financial option?
I have crypto - I have to use crypto -
---
So I am out 50,000 -
I like Saint Kitts -
Gree Nay Duh = Grenada
I Might Need A Government JOB To Get All Of That Money.