Antigua is a special jurisdiction indeed. It is not a British overseas territory but an independent Caribbean state. Unlike many of its neighbors, at the moment when Antigua launched the citizenship-by-investment program in 2013, the country already had serious infrastructure, hotel network, a well-developed tourist industry, and a community of expats.
However, many hotels built in the 1970s and 80s had become a bit dilapidated and good suites were hard to find during the high season. The number of luxury suites preferred by Americans, Canadians, and Europeans was even smaller. Thus, the Government of Antigua resolved to raise some funds for the construction of new hotels by launching the citizenship-by-investment program that allows foreign nationals to obtain a second passport in exchange for an investment into Antiguan economy.
In the offshore world, Antigua is known mostly for its economic citizenship program but actually, it deserves more attention. For instance, there are banks in Antigua that a number of Internationalwealth.info clients have set up accounts with. A standard offshore company can also be registered in the country but Nevis and Belize are more popular for this purpose because their prices are lower and their marketing efforts are more aggressive.
Local authorities and entrepreneurs are more interested in investments into real estate and tourism development in the country rather than in promoting the banking sector. By the way, the Antiguan citizenship-by-investment program is the only such program in the Caribbean basin that requires personal presence of the applicant in the country during five days. As a matter of fact, this is a very far-sighted and a very wise requirement: those who visit Antigua when applying for a second passport fall in love with the islands and start planning their retirement there.
I. Products and services in Antigua
In this section, we describe all the offshore products and services that are available in Antigua. These include non-resident banking, company registration, and of course, the Antiguan citizenship-by-investment program.
II. Banks and banking services in Antigua
In this section, we talk about the non-resident banking opportunities that you can find in Antigua. We have established good working relationships with several Antiguan banks and have helped a number of our clients open accounts there.
III. Conferences, seminars, forums, and summits in Antigua
In this section, we talk about the events in Antigua that are related to the offshore industry. For the most part, we refer to the citizenship-by-investment conferences and seminars.
IV. Taxes and tax residency in Antigua
In this section, we describe the taxation system that is applied in Antigua and its implications for the tax residents in the country. Our readers are curious if the tax paradise in Antigua is going to turn into tax hell soon.
V. Antigua and Barbuda citizenship-by-investment program
In this section, we discuss the issues related to acquiring economic citizenship of Antigua. This is the section where the Internationalwealth.info readers will find information about any changes to the program that may appear. You can follow the development of the Antiguan citizenship-by-investment program by reading the articles published here. We hope that these articles will help you determine if the program is going to suit you personally. You can also make some conclusions as to the perspectives of the economic citizenship programs that exist in the world.
VI. Investment into real estate in the framework of the Antiguan citizenship-by-investment program
The articles in this section contain information about the most noteworthy and the most secure pieces of real property that you can invest in. All the property has been approved by the Antiguan Government for participation in the citizenship-by-investment program. Without doubt, you will have to make the final choice with the help of a licensed real property consultant but our articles will let you develop a general understanding what the real property market in the country looks like.
VII. Useful information for investors into Antiguan real estate and economic
Prospective investors are always eager to learn the latest news from the country where they are going to invest their money. Even if the central investment object is the foreign passport, a true entrepreneur is always interested in the additional benefits that he or she is going to obtain. What do other foreign investors in Antigua think? What is the situation in the local tourist market? We will answer these and other suchlike questions in the articles published in this section.
VIII. Comparison of the Antiguan economic citizenship program with other similar programs available in the Caribbean basin and in other parts of the world
As time goes by, the citizenship-by-investment industry progresses. New national programs appear and Antigua has to withstand the competition that they bring about. You can find that several national states compete with each other on a number of different planes starting with the required donation amount and ending with the number of countries that the new citizens can visit without a visa. Until Antigua has Canada on the list of its visa-free countries, only Grenada can compare with it on this plane as it has China among the visa-free countries. States also compete in terms of the investment options and investment objects. They compete in terms of the age of the dependent applicants. They compete in terms of the advancement of their infrastructures and their living standards. Thus, we compare Antigua with other national states that run citizenship-by-investment programs on a number of parameters including those mentioned above.
IX. Second passport and citizenship of Antigua: extension, revocation, and the possible applications
As is the case with all other national citizenship-by-investment programs, there have been a few scandals associated with the acquisition of Antiguan citizenship by unreliable individuals. Antiguan authorities are quick to fix such problems when they arise making sure that similar mistakes are never committed again. Investors have to realize that any economic citizenship program presupposes the possibility of citizenship revocation. There are concrete examples that we can share. However, in this section, we talk about the possible applications that Antiguan citizenship may have for international business.
X. Alternative investment options in the frameworks of the Antiguan citizenship-by-investment program
Antigua offers one of the widest ranges of investment opportunities to those who seek to acquire citizenship of the country. In this section, we will follow the appearance of some new investment options as well as the changes to the existing ones.
XI. The lifestyle of the Antiguan passport holder
Of all the Caribbean countries offering citizenship-by-investment opportunities, Antigua, Grenada, and Saint Lucia are the most suitable places for living, in our opinion. You cannot exclude the possibility that you will want to retire to Antigua and spend at least the winter season there when you do not have to go to work any longer. This section will let you see how you can have a good time on the islands being a full citizen of the country. Remember that you will have to spend five days in Antigua in any case as it as one of the economic citizenship program requirements. The articles that you can find here serve as a collection of ideas about what you could do in Antigua during your five-day stay or during the winter months.
XII. Antigua as an international financial center
Because the possibility to register an offshore company in Antigua does exist as well as the possibility to open a bank account in the country, we thought that our readers might be interested in following the development of Antigua as an international financial center. In this section, we talk about important business characteristics of this jurisdiction.
