The Grenadian citizenship-by-investment program has earned praise on the part of the US officials. If you have been considering the opportunity to apply for a second passport of Grenada but you find yourself in doubt about the reliability of the national economic citizenship program, please doubt no more. The US authorities believe that the program is highly reliable and this should certainly constitute a good reason to believe so too.
The US authorities appreciate the efforts of the Grenadian Government to screen out untrustworthy candidates for economic citizenship
Linda Taglialatela, the US ambassador to Barbados and the East Caribbean has expressed appreciation of the efficient use of the Joint Regional Communication Centre (JRCC) by the authorities of Grenada in the process of assessing the candidates for Grenadian citizenship by investment.
“Grenadians are doing a great job using this instrument more actively than some others (that is, some other Caribbean countries granting citizenship to foreigners in exchange for investments)”, said the diplomat.
The ambassador has stressed that there are official agreements between Washington and the island states in the Caribbean granting economic citizenship to foreign nationals. According to Taglialatela, The JRCC in Barbados is the center of complex assessment of candidates for second citizenship of Grenada and other Caribbean states.
“We have working agreements with the five East Caribbean states about complex assessment of candidates for their citizenship via the JRCC”, said Taglialatela adding that any of the island states accepting applications for citizenship is obliged to use the JRCC for candidate assessment.
The JRCC is a division of the Implementing Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) of the Caribbean community (CARICOM). This Agency is in charge of the analysis of the personal information about the passengers who travel via the CARICOM seaports and airports.
“By submitting the applications for citizenship to the JRCC for inspection, the Grenadian immigration authorities gain access to the databases of various international agencies such as Interpol, for example, who have people’s personal data. These agencies allow detecting anyone with a criminal past as well as people whose behavior has been found suspicious. The immigration authorities of the countries making enquiries with the JRCC can obtain complete and reliable information about the individuals applying for their citizenship”, said Taglialatela while clarifying the details of the complex assessment process.
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The decision to accept or reject the application of a certain candidate for second citizenship rests with the national authorities of each country. Reports from the Grenadian immigration authorities are made publicly available and they show that between 2017 and 2020, one hundred and forty applications for Grenadian citizenship have been rejected. The reasons for rejections are not disclosed.
The United States authorities are concerned about the Grenadian and other citizenship-by-investment programs in the Caribbean, as the diplomat admits. “We will prefer cooperation with those countries in the region that do not run such programs. We realize, however, that the delicate balance should be kept as the states granting citizenship to foreigners in exchange for investment use their programs as fund-raising instruments”.
On what conditions can you acquire economic citizenship of Grenada and a second passport?
The Grenadian citizenship-by-investment program allows foreign nationals to acquire citizenship of the country in exchange for a considerable financial contribution to the economy of the country.
The investment options available in Grenada are as follows:
- An individual returnable five-year investment of minimum US$ 350,000 into real property in the country approved by the Government for participation in the national citizenship-by-investment program;
- A joint returnable five-year investment into Government approved real property of at least US$ 220,000 on the condition that that is at least one more investor bringing at least as much money;
- A non-returnable donation of US$ 150,000 to the state fund..
The main applicant’s spouse, brothers, sisters, children, parents, and grandparents can be included in a family application for Grenadian citizenship under certain conditions.
Advantages and disadvantages of Grenadian citizenship
Advantages
- Grenada is the only country in the Caribbean whose passport gives visa-free access to China, Russia, Schengen zone, and Great Britain at a time.
- Holders of Grenadian passports have an opportunity to acquire an E2 visa to the USA. This visa brings the right to visit and live in the United States and it can be used as a cheaper alternative to the EB5 visa (the green card).
- Foreign applicants for citizenship of Grenada do not have to visit the country neither prior to nor after obtaining the passport. The application for citizenship can be submitted remotely via a licensed immigration agent.
- The passport of Grenada will be delivered to the applicant by a courier when it is issued.
Disadvantages
- Grenadian citizenship costs a bit more to acquire in comparison to citizenship of some other Caribbean states. However, the applicant will receive a strong passport.
- The Grenadian immigration authorities will decline the application from a person whose application for citizenship of another Caribbean state has been rejected.
- The E2 visa to the United States is a non-immigration visa. Anyone wishing to acquire full citizenship of the USA has to apply for a green card and reside in the country for five years.
Record-breaking demand for Grenadian citizenship by investment
Grenadian economic citizenship program is expected to break the all-time record by the end of 2020. Notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, the program has been enjoying high demand. IN the first half of 2020, it brought US$ 40.11 million to the state budget. The money came from 161 main applicants and 328 dependent applicants for Grenadian citizenship.
The first half of 2020 was more successful than the first half of the previous year by 34%. This was the best six-month period in the whole history of the Grenadian citizenship-by-investment Government program.
If the tendency remains the same, 2020 is also going to become a record-breaking year. The expected revenue that the program will bring is US$ 80.29 million, which means that the revenue will have been growing for the fourth year in a row.
The first half of 2020 saw 176 applications for citizenship by investment submitted in total. The Grenadian immigration authorities rejected 18 applications. This means that the application rejection percentage was 10.2% over that period. This is a little lower than the year before: 11.8% of the applications for Grenadian citizenship were rejected in 2019.
The average size of the applicant family was 3.1 persons in 2019. This figure remained the same in the first half of 2020: on average, the main applicant had two dependent family members.
In 2018, only 28% of the applicants for Grenadian citizenship chose to invest into real estate in the country rather than make a donation to the state fund. In 2019, this figure grew to 37%. In the first half of 2020, the percentage of foreigners acquiring Grenadian citizenship by returnable investment reached 47%. This shows that the popularity of the investment-into-property option is on the rise.
This is certainly good news for the Grenadian Government. The required investment amount is higher than the required donation amount, which means that investors bring more money to the country than donators do. In the first half of 2020, total revenue from investments into real property constituted US$ 20.35 million while the revenue from donations to the state fund constituted US$ 17.2 million.
FAQ and professional consultation on acquiring economic citizenship of Grenada
InternationalWealth portal is an ideal partner for investors seeking to acquire a second passport of a foreign state. Would you like to become a citizen of Grenada in exchange for a donation or an investment? We will be happy to share some insider information with you and help you develop a personalized strategy of Grenadian citizenship acquisition based on your primary goals and desires.
Please apply for a free consultation on the matter right now! You can write us an email at the address indicated at the top of the page, or use WhatsApp or the live chat to contact us. We are always eager to help!
What do you have to know about Grenada when applying for its citizenship by investment?
Grenada is a tiny island in the Caribbean Sea and one of the smallest national states in the Western hemisphere. The country does not have an army, which lessens the fiscal burden on its citizens. It is a world leader in nutmeg export and besides, it sells cinnamon, ginger, and clove. Grenada boasts beautiful landscapes with fertile valleys, rainforests, and mountain lakes. Wonderful beaches attract tourists from all around the globe to the country.
Does the passport of Grenada give access to other Caribbean states?
Any citizen of Grenada is entitled to live infinitely in any of the CARICOM states. The organization is similar to the Schengen zone in Europe.
What do you have to know about CARICOM when applying for Grenadian citizenship?
The Caribbean community (CARICOM) is a union of twenty developing countries in the region. It is a united economic, political, and market community. CARICOM was founded in 1973 and its main goals are integration of the Caribbean countries into the world community, coordination of national policies, and provision of equal access to all resulting benefits for all member states.
