Zebvo Newswire has recently conducted a webinar on “Citizenship by Investment Programme” on Thursday with the globally renowned UK-based Citizenship advisory firm CS Global Partners. The webinar underlines the significance of such programmes and the outstanding Citizenship by Investment programmes worldwide.
The talks between Zebvo Newswire and CS Global Partners have indicated that around 13 nations are offering economic citizenship programmes, but the CBI Programmes being run by the Commonwealth of Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis have been proven as the most respected as they are considered as the pillars of the CBI Programme, as being the oldest and best in pricing, security and several other aspects.
While addressing the webinar hosted by Zebvo Newswire, Micha-Rose Emmett (CEO of CS Global Partners) and Paul Singh (Director of CS Global Partners) noted that five nations in the Caribbean are currently providing CBI Programmes with ensuring outstanding, thorough due diligence and security checks.
Meanwhile, they have further applauded the Commonwealth of Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis for running their Citizenship by Investment Programmes in the most efficient way. They are the oldest in the global industry and are being praised as the best by numerous internationally recognized firms.
At the same time, CS Global Partners emphasized that the Real Estate and Economic Diversification Option under the CBI Programme of Dominica paves the direct path to second citizenship within a minimum processing time. Alongside, the Real Estate Option of St Kitts and Nevis is a bit complex and takes time. Whereas the Sustainable Growth Fund Option provided by St Kitts and Nevis government is one of the fastest and most direct paths to a second citizenship.
According to the CBI Index published by the PWM Magazine of Financial Times, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis were the best in the field. Not only CBI Index, but several other internationally recognized organizations such as Smith and Williamson, Ernest and Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have also applauded Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis in many of their studies.
Questions & Answers – Interview
Welcome of the guests
Micha:CS Global are the world’s leading Government Advisory and Marketing Firm specializing in Citizenship by Investment
Interviewer – Let’s start with a brief overview of Citizenship by Investment. Micha, can you explain what CBI is and which countries offer this programme.
Micha:
- Let’s start with a brief explanation of Citizenship by Investment-what is it? CBI is where an investment is made to acquire citizenship of a certain country. There are 13 countries offering CBI throughout the world. The basin of CBI is in the Caribbean where Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis.
- Today, we are witnessing a contemporary world marked by recurring conflict and instability; therefore, CBI is super popular amongst high net worth individuals.
- Citizenship by Investment provides a path to benefit from a safe and stable environment to call home if need be, increase global mobility and provide financial planning.
- The benefits to individuals as discussed are life-changing for both the individual and or family and for the country in which an applicant successfully gains citizenship from. Housing, schools and hospitals change lives of people in small nations.
Interviewer-Paul, Michahas mentioned the Caribbean being the cradle of CBI. Can you please expand on this.
Paul:
- Certainly, the birth of CBI was in 1984 when St Kitts and Nevis launched the very first CBI programme. There are now 5 CBI programmes in the Caribbean, all differ slightly with their offerings but largely, the overall concept is similar.
Interviewer-How established are these programmes?
Paul:
The programmes are very established and have stood the pace of time, look at the longevity, look at the citizenship laws in these countries which safeguard the investor, look at the investors who have for almost 4 decades now enjoyed the rights of having citizenship where their global mobility, security and opportunities for their families has changed their lives.
Interviewer-Micha, choosing one of these CBI jurisdictions from the Caribbean-which one would you suggest?
Micha:
There are 2 particular islands which shine through being Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis. Reputationally, ranked no 1 as the best CBI programmes in the world in 2021 by The Financial Times CBI Index is quite an endorsement.
- Investors often tend to opt for the programmes that are reliable and trustworthy, and the Caribbean is a special basin of citizenship by Investment also for this reason. Established in 1984, St Kitts and Nevis CBI Programme is the longest-running, and therefore considered as the cradle of citizenship by Investment. Similarly, Dominica is also of note as a trusted option due to its longevity, both programmes being in successful existence for between 30-40 years says it all.
Interviewer-Okay, so we narrow down the actual CBI jurisdiction of your recommendation-what are the investment options?
Micha:
In Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis, there is the option of a donation route where funds are used by the respective Governments to improve the investors new country of choice. There is also the real estate option where Investment can be made.
Interviewer-Very interesting Micha, Paul a question for you, which investment option do you recommend.
Paul:
In Dominica, you have a fund option being the Economic Diversification Fund(EDF) and a Real Estate investment option. Both provides equal benefits to the investors, including application processing period and ease of the process. Investors can choose any of these two options of Dominica.
St Kitts and Nevis also has the fund option such as Sustainable Growth Fund(SGF) as well as the Real Estate option. Both are essentially used for the same purposes as Micha explained. However, there are fundamental differences when it is the real estate of St Kitts and Nevis. Firstly, the process is longer than the SGF. One is dependent on the developer to complete the project in a timely and quality manner.
Interviewer– If opting for real estate from Dominica or St Kitts. Is there any particular benefits of applying in one island rather than the other?
Paul:
Absolutely, in St Kitts and Nevis, real estate is quite complicated opposed to the fund option(SGF) which is secure and quick.
Interviewer: How an investor can initiate the process of CBI Programme and how to choose a perfect agent for that?
Paul:
Investors may begin with contacting an Authorized Agent, who assists the applicant with the submission of their application, by ensuring that application forms and supporting documents are complete to the appropriate standards. The official Government websites of many Caribbean CBI jurisdictions usually include a list of the Authorized agents to facilitate the process.