Grenada CIP Case Handling Grinds to a Halt in Q3; Average of 7 Applications Processed a Month

While investor appetite for Grenada’s CIP is rising quickly, the program’s authority appears uninterested in evaluating its suitors.

During the third quarter of 2019, Grenada received 111 applications for citizenship by investment, a 63% increase on Q2. Under ordinary circumstances, that would be great news but, while the program is getting more popular, its Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) has virtually stopped evaluating applications. Only 22 of the Q3 applications have been processed, a rate of 19.8%.

August, in particular, saw processing rates hit an incomprehensive low; during the whole month, the CIU processed only two applications. September was not much better; two approvals and four rejections. Overall, the CIU declined four of the 22 applications during the period.

What’s going on at the Grenada CIU? One possible explanation is that the recent changing of the guards may have caused a short-term reduction in processing capacity.

Speaking to IMI, Mr. Percival Clouden, the former chairman and now CEO of the Grenada CIU, indicates the delays are but a temporary effect of the recent management transition, and that his CIU is already back in full vigor.

“The handover was not as smooth as it could have been,” he comments. “But in the last three weeks, we’ve approved 27 applications,” he continues, adding that his team has been working “flat-out” to complete processing within the 60 days mandated by law and to meet investors’ expectations of timeliness and expediency. “I’m at my desk at 6 am. Yesterday, we processed five files before lunch,” he says emphatically.

A former top executive of Banco Popular, Mr. Clouden considers the CIP through the lens of a businessman: “The more files we process, the more revenue we bring to the country, the more employment we enable, the more infrastructure and hospitals we make possible, the more social stability and growth we have” Clouden notes. “The program is extremely important for our country.”

The delays of Q3 notwithstanding, Grenada is still on track for a statistically normal year in terms of revenue; by the end of September, the program had raised a total of EC$95 million in investments, contributions, and fees.

Want to know more about the Grenada CIP? To see recent articles, statistics, official links, and more, visit its Program Page. To see which companies can assist with applications to the Grenada CIP, visit the Residence & Citizenship by Investment Company Directory.