Second citizenship is in high demand especially with business people and politicians. It is important indeed to have a safety net that you can fall back on in case things go wrong in your home country. There are several countries in the world that grant their citizenship to foreign nationals in exchange for investment. The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic crisis have toughened the competition between these countries. We have good news for you: the island state of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean has lowered the costs of acquiring its citizenship. It has become the first country to offer discounts and there are reasons to believe that others may follow suit soon. Offshore Pro Group will be delighted to assist you in becoming a citizen of Saint Lucia. We can provide full legal support in this matter.
Acquiring Saint Lucia citizenship by investment now requires putting twice as little money into Government bonds that it did before. Besides, the required donation amount has also been reduced. Moreover, acquiring St Lucian citizenship for a newborn child now costs only US$ 500 if the parents are economic citizens of the country. The discounts were announced on May 13, 2020 and the offer is going to be in force until the end of this year.
With the heavy discount of 50%, you can save up to US$ 250,000 when applying for citizenship of Saint Lucia before the end of 2020. You can acquire citizenship of this Caribbean country remotely without ever visiting it. Below please find out about the requirements the St Lucian citizenship-by-investment program has, what investment options it offers, and what procedures you have to follow in order to become a full citizen of St Lucia.
What are the advantages of acquiring Saint Lucia citizenship by investment?
A foreign citizenship, and that of St Lucia in particular, brings several important benefits. These include but are not limited to the following ones:
- A place to escape to in case economic or political troubles arise in your home country.
- The citizen’s status can be acquired within two to three months, there is no need to visit the island, nor the obligation to pass any language or history tests.
- A citizen of St Lucia does not have to physically reside in the country.
- The passport of St Lucia is ranked the 27th in the world passport rating. It allows travelling to 133 countries of the world without obtaining visas. In particular, access to Schengen zone countries and Great Britain is visa-free for the holders of St Lucian passports.
- A simplified procedure of acquiring a long term (up to 10-year) visa to the USA.
- The possibility to use the St Lucian passport when registering your foreign-owned property and business companies.
- St Lucia allows dual citizenship and it does not inform your home country’s authorities about you acquiring its citizenship.
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Saint Lucia citizenship by investment program: the essence
Several countries will grant their citizenship to foreigners for money. The contribution to the country’s economy can be made in the form of a donation or an investment into the economy. This citizenship acquisition method is known as ‘citizenship by investment’ or ‘economic citizenship’.
The island state of St Lucia in the Caribbean is among such countries. It became independent from Great Britain in 1979 but Elisabeth II is still formally the head of the state and constitutional monarchy is the form of government in St Lucia. In 2015, a citizenship-by-investment program was launched in the country and now it is among the most popular such programs in the world.
The main characteristics that the St Lucian citizenship-by-investment Government program possesses are as follows:
- The required investment amount starts at US$ 100,000.
- Some investment options allow returning the invested capital after five years.
- There are four investment options in total.
- The timeframe of citizenship acquisition is two to three months.
- The applicant shall be above 18 years of age, have a clean criminal record, pass the due diligence checks, and bring recommendations from banks.
The four available investment options include the following ones:
- A donation to the state fund.
- Purchase of real property on the island.
- Purchase of government bonds.
- Investment into an infrastructure project approved by the Government of St Lucia.
In comparison to other countries, acquiring second citizenship of St Lucia takes a very short time: you and your family can obtain St Lucian passports within two to three months only. Besides, no tests in the local language nor history of the country are required to become its citizen. Moreover, you do not have to visit the country even once nor reside there in order to retain its citizenship. You must agree these are very attractive conditions. Now let us discuss the costs of acquiring St Lucian citizenship by investment. You will see that they are far from extraordinary.
Saint Lucia citizenship by investment via a non-returnable donation to the state fund
The required donation amount has become lower for those applicants for St Lucian citizenship who seek to acquire passports of the country for all family members. The discounts should be thought of as anti-crisis measures.
- Donation amount for single applicant – US$ 100,000 (remained the same).
- Donation amount for the main applicant and the spouse – US$ 140,000 (was US$ 165,000 before).
- Donation amount for a family of four – US$ 150,000 (was US$ 195,000 before).
- Donation amount for every extra family member (fifth, sixth, and so on) – US$ 15,000 (was US$ 25,000 before).
The money that the national fund collects from donations is used to finance the development of the local economy.
In addition to the donation, the foreign applicant for St Lucian citizenship has to pay the following fees:
- Application processing fee – US$ 2,000 for the main applicant and US$ 1,000 per each dependent family member (the spouse and the children).
- Due diligence fee – US$ 7,000 for the main applicant and US$ 7000 per every dependent family member above 16 years of age.
Acquiring Saint Lucia citizenship by investment via purchasing government bonds
The minimum required amount of returnable investment into government bonds has been reduced from US$ 500,000 to US$ 250,000. The reduction is going to remain in place until December 31, 2020. Thus before this date, you have a unique opportunity to save US$ 250,000 when applying for economic citizenship of St Lucia.
In addition to the required investment amount, there is an administrative fee to pay. It used to be US$ 50,000 but now it has been reduced to US$ 30,000. The administrative fee is payable only when the application for St Lucian citizenship by investment is approved.
If a single investor is applying for citizenship of St Lucia via purchasing government bonds, he or she has to keep the bonds in their possession for five years. If the applicant has one dependent family member, the amount of investment remains the same but the bonds shall remain in the investor’s possession for six years.
In addition, there are two options for family applicants:
- For a family of four – the investment amount is US$ 250,000 and the possession period is seven years; or – the investment amount is US$ 300,000 and the possession period is six years.
- Investment amount for every extra family member (fifth, sixth, and so on) is US$ 15,000 and the possession period is seven years.
Again, the required investment amount for extra family members has been reduced by US$ 10,000 in comparison to what it was before.
Acquiring Saint Lucia citizenship by investment via purchasing real estate in the country
No changes have been introduced to this investment option. The ‘admission ticket’ costs US$ 300,000 regardless of the number of the applicant’s family members. You cannot buy any piece of property in St Lucia that you like: the real estate has to be approved by the Government of the country for participation in the citizenship-by-investment program. You have to keep the property in your possession for five years in order to qualify for St Lucian citizenship. There are some additional costs involved too:
- Application processing fee – US$ 2,000 for the main applicant and US$ 1,000 per each dependent family member including the spouse.
- Administrative fee – US$ 50,000 for the main applicant, US$ 35,000 for the spouse and for each dependent above 18 years of age, and US$ 25,000 for each dependent below 18 years of age.
- Due diligence fee – US$ 7,500 for the main applicant, US$ 5,000 for the spouse, and US$ 5,000 per every dependent family member above 16 years of age.
Saint Lucia citizenship by investment into an infrastructure development project in the country
In addition to making a donation and purchasing bonds and property in St Lucia, foreign nationals can also acquire citizenship of the country by investing into a social/ infrastructure/ business project approved by the Government of the country.
The projects are usually available in the following areas:
- Pier or quay construction or restoration.
- Road and bridge construction.
- Restaurant business.
- Science and research projects.
- Pharmaceutical projects.
If a single application for St Lucian citizenship wants to invest in such a project in the country, he or she has to bring US$ 3.5 million and create at least three jobs. Joint investments are also possible: a joint investment can be made by up to six people and its total amount has to reach US$ 6 million in this case. Besides, six new jobs have to be created in St Lucia.
The state duties and the administrative fees are the same as with the case of acquiring St Lucian citizenship by investing into real estate in the country.
Citizenship fee for a newborn child
If a child is born to a foreign investor who has ‘purchased’ citizenship of St Lucia, the child can also become a citizen of the country for US$ 500. Before the discounts were introduced, the sum to pay was US$ 25,000.
Calculation of the cost of acquiring Saint Lucia citizenship by investment for a family of four
Let us consider the example of a family applying for Saint Lucia citizenship by investment. Let us assume that it is a married couple with two children of 10 and 18 years of age. The most affordable option to choose is making a non-returnable donation to the state fund.
- Required donation amount – US$ 150,000.
- Administrative fee – US$ 5,000.
- Due diligence fee – US$ 21,000.
Total: US$ 176,000.
In addition to these costs, the applicants to the St Lucian citizenship will have to cover the cost of our legal services. You can find the description of the services in this article.
The procedure of acquiring Saint Lucia citizenship by investment
Offshore Pro Group provides legal support to those applying for citizenship by investment in St Lucia. The procedure of obtaining a second passport starts with acquiring a consultation form our business immigration specialists.
Please place a request for the consultation by writing to info@offshore-pro.info and we will get back to you to schedule the virtual meeting. If the consultation shows that acquiring St Lucian citizenship is possible in your personal case and if you are satisfied with our conditions, we can sign the service agreement. After signing the agreement, you will have to cover the cost of our services. This can be done by any method that you prefer: by a bank transfer, a credit card, a PayPal transfer, a bitcoin transfer, and so on. This stage of the procedure takes not more than one day.
During the next week or two, you should be able to collect all the necessary documents. These include medical certificates for all applicants (if you are applying for St Lucian citizenship with your family) signed by a licensed medical doctor. Please bear in mind that all documents need to be translated into English if necessary and the translations notarized and apostilled.
The most time-consuming stage of the application process is the security checks conducted by the Government of St Lucia. Their Compliance department can take as long as two months to scrutinize all the application documents. At the same time, you do not have to visit St Lucia in order to obtain citizenship of the country. When document copies are acceptable, they can be sent by email. When the document originals are required, they can be sent by registered mail.
Only if the Due diligence checks yield positive results and the application for citizenship is approved, the foreign applicant has to make the required investment. Confirmation of the money transfer will trigger the process of the St Lucian passport(s) issuance. This stage takes about one week.
Obtaining the passport requires your personal presence to make an oath of allegiance. The oath can be made in St Lucia or in an embassy of the country (in Great Britain, France, or Belgium). When you make the oath, you will receive a naturalization certificate. It has to be submitted to the St Lucian Resident Registration Office as the document authorizing the Office to issue the passport. This takes one more week.
Normally, two to three months pass between the moment the client applies for our services and the moment he or she is issued the passport of St Lucia.
It is impossible to apply for St Lucian citizenship by yourself. The laws of the country require that a licensed immigration agent be used for this purpose.
If you would like to learn more about acquiring Saint Lucia citizenship by investment or if you are ready to submit an application for it, please contact us at info@offshore-pro.info. We will be happy to consult you and provide the service to you.
What benefits does St Lucian citizenship bring?
Currently, citizenship of St Lucia can be acquired at a reduced price. The discounts are going to stay in place until the end of 2020. The minimum required donation amount is US$ 100,000. The St Lucian citizenship-by-investment program boasts other advantages as well. There is no need to visit the country in order to obtain its citizenship. There are no residence requirements: you can keep the St Lucian passport for life without visiting the island even once. There is no need to take any history nor language tests. The citizenship acquisition timeframe is relatively short: it takes between two and three months to get the passport. St Lucian passport holders can visit 133 countries without visas. The countries include Great Britain, Singapore, the Schengen agreement states, and many others. Acquiring a 10-year visa to the US is possible with the passport of St Lucia.
How much do I have to invest in order to acquire citizenship of St Lucia in 2020?
The St Lucian citizenship-by-investment program offers four investment option that you can choose from: a non-returnable donation (US$ 100,000 minimum); a returnable investment into zero interest government bonds (US$ 250,000 minimum); an investment into Government-approved real estate in the country (US$ 300,000 minimum); and an investment into a Government-approved business project (US$ 3,500,000 minimum). The second option is available only until the end of 2020.
Who qualifies for St Lucian citizenship by investment?
All applications for St Lucian citizenship shall be filed by the main applicant aged 18 or more. He or she has to have a clean criminal record. The main applicant has to provide proof of the legality of the sources of capital that he or she is planning to invest into acquiring citizenship of St Lucia. The applicant has to pass the Due diligence procedures.Dependent family members can also be added to the application for St Lucian citizenship. These include the main applicant’s spouse, children of up to 18 years of age, children of up to 25 years of age if they are university students, and parents up to 65 year of age if they are financially dependent on the main applicant.
