Video: Saint Kitts and Nevis - How Citizenship Saves the Budget
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The economy of Saint Kitts and Nevis, like many other Caribbean islands, is heavily dependent on tourism-related income. As you know, due to the coronavirus epidemic, the borders of Saint Kitts and Nevis are still closed to foreigners, depriving the island state's budget of its main sources of income. In this regard, it is clear that the Citizenship by Investment program in place in St. Kitts since 1984 may be even more important than it has been in the past three decades.
According to program manager Les Khan, state budget revenues from wealthy foreigners who shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy a second passport usually covered 30% of the GDP deficit. This year the figure could be much higher: "Now that tourism has stopped, we expect the Citizenship by Investment program to be the main engine in the next six months." As more passport schemes emerge around the world, Les Khan is increasingly convinced that the program he has been leading for the past three years is still being replicated. He gives examples: “Dominica, Antigua, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Malta, Cyprus, Montenegro. All of these programs really come from Saint Kitts and Nevis."
Special offer
Earlier this year, the country lowered prices by offering a reduced donation of USD 150,000 to a family of four to obtain Saint Kitts and Nevis citizenship (up from USD 195,000 previously); the offer is temporary and will be valid until January 1, 2021. There are other more expensive options for obtaining citizenship, for example, buying real estate, which must be held for a certain number of years.
The discount should help keep demand steady, “but we're not racing to the bottom,” Khan said. “We're not just trying to sell. It must be something durable and must match our platinum brand. There is an idea that citizenship by investment is a channel for money laundering and possibly tax evasion,”says Khan. “I can assure you that this is not the case. Our due diligence is one of the strongest in the world."
Second citizenship - to whom and why
Elma Global experts note that alternative citizenship and second passports are in great demand all over the world. There are many reasons for this, but one of the main ones is mobility, or rather its absence. Citizens of many countries, including Russia, China and a number of countries in the Middle East, need a visa to visit the United States, Great Britain and the Schengen countries, which must be obtained in advance at the consulate, spending precious time on this and collecting a bunch of papers, not to mention the risk of getting a visa refusal … At the same time, passport holders of a small neutral state, for example, Saint Kitts and Nevis, do not experience such problems. Added to the desire for greater mobility are factors such as geopolitical unrest, and now the coronavirus and all the associated uncertainty.
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