The Investment Migration Knowledge Platform
When Saint Lucia’s CIU last week announced it would begin to accept the inclusion of dependents in already approved citizenship by investment applications for a period of up to five years following the CIP-approval, investment migration advisories welcomed the news but asked: “at what cost?”. Read last week’s memorandum here. Only today, eight days later,
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The Citizenship by Investment Programme Association (CIPA) has appointed Nestor Alfred, CEO of the Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment Unit, as its chairman, CIPA informs IMI.
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After suffering teething pains for the better part of 2016, the Caribbean’s youngest citizenship by investment program – the Saint Lucia CIP – has found its bearings and is finally putting the processing pedal to the metal.
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Saint Lucia’s Leader of the Parliamentary opposition – Philip J. Pierre – has filed a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Allen Chastanet. Among several other criticisms, Pierre cites the PM’s unwillingness to divulge details on the use of funds from the country’s Citizenship by Investment Programme. According to Caribbean News Now, Pierre charges
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Former Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony said, on Friday, he had filed a claim in the High Court against the government of St. Lucia regarding the agreements reached with Desert Star Holding Ltd. (DSH), the Hong Kong-based developer behind the CBI-financed project. The claim seeks declarations from the court that the agreements between the government
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In a recent interview with the St. Lucia Star, Nestor Alfred, CEO of the St. Lucia Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU), expressed strong disagreement with his program’s ranking in the so-called CBI Index. “I refuse to lose sleep over such a ranking from the Professional Wealth Management team. For me, it’s irrelevant,” he said. The index
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From Saint Kitts & Nevis in 1984 to Jordan, Moldova, and Montenegro in 2018; we’ve made a step-by-step guide to the history of citizenship by investment programs. The infographic, originally published in June 2017, has been updated to reflect the new citizenship by investment programs in Moldova, Montenegro, and Jordan. We’ve also expanded it to include
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This article was contributed by Sam Bayat, head of Bayat Legal Services. Saint Lucia will no longer accept citizenship by investment applications from Iranian citizens residing in Iran – or elsewhere – ostensibly because background information cannot be reliably verified in Iran and because the banks will not facilitate the transaction. There is, however, more
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The Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) of Saint Lucia has informed authorized agents that nationals of Iran will no longer be able to apply to the country’s citizenship by investment program (CIP). The decision, it appears, was not one made by the CIU itself but rather by third-party service providers, without whose cooperation the normal
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Chinese citizens will henceforth be able to travel to Saint Lucia without first obtaining a visa, while Venezuelans will have to wait. In a circular dated July 5th, the Ministry of External Affairs has announced “the immediate removal of visa requirements for Chinese nationals seeking to enter Saint Lucia, whether to stay or transit”. Unfortunately, this is
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Nestor Alfred, CEO of Saint Lucia’s citizenship by investment unit, says he is so cautious about which applicants he approves that it is making the Saint Lucia CIP less competitive than other programs in the region. And that’s OK. The Saint Lucia CIP’s application volume is considerably lower than that of competing Caribbean jurisdictions. On
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Following the stagnation of the planned Ritz-Carlton CBI-development in Saint Lucia – an administrative failure for which Saint Lucian Prime Minister Allen Chastanet assumed full responsibility in April – the PM is now faced with an ultimatum from Range: Repay the money invested in Black Bay, or expect a lawsuit. Related: “I Take Full Responsibility” Says
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Episode 5 of the documentary series Caribbean Citizenship by Investment, the first-ever documentary on all five citizenship by investment programs (CIPs) in the Caribbean, is now available. In the series, we visit each country to learn more about the respective citizenship by investment programs and life on the ground on the islands. The fifth episode covers
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Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister Chastanet responded to American concerns about his country’s CIP by reiterating calls for Caribbean CIP harmonization. In its annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report issued this week, the US government cited concerns about political influence over the Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment Program, as well as exposure to local corruption. Responding to
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Addressing parliament this week, Saint Lucian Prime Minister Allen Chastanet responded to a variety of matters raised by the opposition about the country’s Citizenship by Investment Programme, including application processing delays, the stalling of Range Development’s planned Ritz Carlton, and the policy of publishing the names of individuals whose citizenships have been revoked, according to
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Saint Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) has canceled the citizenships of six individuals who had previously obtained nationality in the country through the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP), according to an article in Saint Lucia News. The names of the individuals in question -Hamid Sakhidad Barahooei, Sanioura Ali El Sayed, Mariya Barahooei, Taliya Barahooei, Shamel
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This is a preview of the upcoming “Caribbean Citizenship by Investment”, a five-part documentary series exploring the CBI-programs of Antigua & Barbuda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Saint Lucia, and Grenada. To make sure you don’t miss the release later this spring, subscribe to our newsletter below, or follow us on Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter.
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The EU has added Saint Kitts & Nevis to its list of so-called “non-cooperative” tax jurisdictions while dropping Saint Lucia. EU tax regulators have placed Antigua & Barbuda and Dominica on a “grey list”, according to Reuters. Until its listing on March 8th, Saint Kitts & Nevis had been the only remaining Caribbean CIP-country to
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Prime Minister Allen Chastanet of Saint Lucia, home to the Caribbean’s youngest citizenship by investment program (CIP), favors the concept of ceding local control and administration of the region’s CIPs to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), according to an article in the Saint Lucia Times. Chastanet, together with Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt
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The EU has removed Grenada – along with seven other countries – from its roster of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, leaving Saint Lucia the only remaining CIP-country on the list. Grenada, Panama, Barbados, South Korea, Macau, Mongolia, Tunisia, and the UAE are now off the “blacklist” and have been moved onto a “grey list”, a group
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