EU Parliament Committe Advances Proposal to Cut Visa-Free Access for CBI Countries

The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) has voted to approve amendments to EU visa regulations that would explicitly target countries offering citizenship by investment (CBI) programs, potentially endangering visa-free access to Europe for numerous nations, including the Caribbean Five (Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts & Nevis, and Saint Lucia).

A draft report from the LIBE Committee outlines amendments to Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, which governs visa requirements for entry into the EU.

The committee voted 41-10 (with 21 abstentions) to approve the changes on March 19, sending them to the next stage of the EU legislative process.

The report identifies CBI programs as a direct threat to EU security.

It says these programs “allow visa-free travel to the Union to third-country nationals that would otherwise be visa required,” the LIBE Committee notes in Recital 6, as countries grant “citizenship in return for pre-determined payments or investments without any genuine link to the third country concerned.”

The amended regulation would permit suspending a country’s visa-free status if it operates such programs.

The LIBE Committee acknowledges sovereign rights over citizenship but insists that countries “should be deterred from using visa-free access to the Union as a tool for leveraging individual investment” for citizenship.

These developments build upon efforts that began in October 2023, when the European Commission first proposed adding CBI programs as grounds for suspending visa-free access.

The European Council’s ambassadors reached an agreement on a common position this week, bringing the measure closer to becoming law.

The report’s provisions reflect the EU’s growing suspicion of citizenship programs that lack what it terms a “genuine link.”

It says that, to prevent abuse, “it should be possible to suspend the visa exemption for a third country which chooses to operate such investor citizenship schemes, whereby citizenship is granted without any genuine link to the third country concerned.”

The Caribbean nations have made substantial efforts to address international concerns. They signed a Memorandum of Agreement in 2024 to establish common standards, suspend Russian applicants, and standardize minimum investment thresholds. They also recently launched a regional regulator initiative.

Caribbean programs also implemented enhanced due diligence procedures and mandatory applicant interviews following discussions with the US Treasury Department.

Despite these reforms, challenges persist in maintaining program integrity across the region. Recent reports of pricing irregularities and discussions about proper regulatory oversight may indicate that ongoing efforts to align with EU requests remain a work in progress.

The report lists the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia among those who provided input to the Rapporteur, indicating Caribbean officials have engaged directly with EU authorities as the legislative process advances.

The EU’s approach builds on limited but decisive past action. Since 2013, the report notes the suspension mechanism has been triggered just once—against Vanuatu “due to EU’s concerns of its operation of investor citizenship schemes,” establishing a clear precedent for the current legislative push.

The Pacific nation saw its visa exemption partially suspended in March 2022 and fully suspended in November 2024.

The proposal must now complete several steps before becoming law. The full European Parliament must vote on the committee’s text in a plenary session. Then, Parliament and the European Council must negotiate and agree on a final version through a process known as trilogue (a type of interinstitutional negotiation used in the EU legislative process).

If both institutions formally approve the unified text, officials would sign it and publish it in the Official Journal of the EU, making it binding law across all member states—regardless of individual countries’ existing legislation.