Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia is offering economic citizenship to foreigners investing in the country under certain criteria since 2015. With its beauty nature, fascinating crescent golden and silvery sand beaches and biodiversity St. Lucia justifies its nicknames of ‘Paradise’ and ‘Helen of the West Indies’. St. Lucia is the member of the Commonwealth of Nations, associated with the United Kingdom.
St. Lucia
CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT
Benefits
- Equality of citizenship with natural born citizens including right to vote.
- No residency requirement.
- Quick processing time of around 3 months.
- Unique Government Bond investment option not available in other Caribbean CBI programs.
- Stable political and economic democracy.
- Favorable international financial service.
- Favorable taxation with no capital gains tax, no taxation on worldwide income, no estate or inheritance taxes
The application process for the Citizenship by Investment Program of St. Lucia is straightforward and applicants even do not need to travel there and they have to apply through a licensed authorized agent. In order to apply for second passport and thus alternate citizenship, applicants must be al least 18 years old and enjoy good health.
They also have to provide details and evidence of the proposed qualified investment and pass a due diligence along with their qualified dependents. Along with investment, applicants are required to pay processing, due diligence and administrative fees.
Providing false information or being convicted in criminal activities may be the reason for annulling the citizenship and the alternate passport of the investor might be revoked. Applicants, who pose potential national security risk or have been denied an entry visa to the countries with which St. Lucia has a visa-waiver agreement, can not qualify for economic citizenship scheme.
Investment Options
Enterprise Projects
Approved enterprise projects fall into 7 broad categories:
1. Specialty Restaurants 2. Cruise ports and marinas 3. Agro-processing plants 4. Pharmaceutical products 5. Ports, bridges, roads and highways 6. Research institutions and facilities 7. Offshore universities Once approved the enterprise project becomes available for qualifying investments from applicants for citizenship by investment.
Once an application for citizenship by means of an investment in an approved enterprise project has been approved, the following minimum investment is required:
Option 1 – A sole applicant.
• A minimum investment of US$3,500,000Option 2 – More than one applicant (joint venture).
• A minimum investment of US$ 6,000,000 with each applicant contributing no less than US$1,000,000
Government Bonds
Citizenship by investment may be made through the purchase of non-interest-bearing Government bonds. These bonds must be registered and remain in the name of the applicant for a five (5) year holding period from the date of first issue and not attract a rate of interest.
Once an application for citizenship by means of an investment in government bonds has been approved, the following minimum investment is required:
Single applicant USD 500,000 Applicant and Spouse USD 535,000 Applicant, spouse and two others qualifying dependents USD 550,000 Each additional qualifying dependent USD 25,000
Application Process
Step 1
Bayat legal Services’ compliance team will conduct an internal due diligence.
Qualification assessment, KYC and background security check.
Step 2
Study the application, sign the retainer agreement, prepare tailor made list of documents and application preparation.
Step 3
Submission, file review, due diligence process
Step 4
Final decision, Comfort letter issuance and contribution payment.
Step 5
Naturalization certificates and passports issuance.