St Kitts and Nevis

Yes, it remains open. But it was repriced from 1 July 2024 under the OECS Memorandum of Agreement, which set the Sustainable Island State Contribution (SISC) minimum at USD 250,000, the highest of the five Caribbean programmes. The Citizenship by Investment Unit has also announced a further 2026 'genuine link' overhaul that would introduce physical-presence and productive-investment requirements, but as at July 2026 this was not confirmed in force. Treat the presence rule as imminent rather than settled. Do not sign a fee agreement assuming today's donation-only terms will still apply by the time you file. Compulsory interviews now apply to main applicants and to all dependants aged 16 and over, and biometric enrolment is being phased in.

No physical presence is required today. That said, a mandatory presence obligation sits at the centre of the announced 2026 'genuine link' overhaul, and of the regional ECCIRA 30-day rule. Assume presence will be required for applications filed from late 2026 onward. If your plan depends on zero-presence citizenship, file before that rule takes effect, not after. As at July 2026 the timing is not yet fixed, so confirm the position in writing with the CIU before instructing anyone.

St Kitts is the fastest of the five. The average was 5.1 months in Q4 2025 on IMI's processing-times tracker, and the realistic range is 3–8 months. The Accelerated Application Process targets roughly 45–60 days of government review, for a premium reported at USD 25,000–50,000. The CIU relocated offices, with processing resuming on 10 March 2026. Unlike Antigua or Saint Lucia, the advertised speed here is genuinely real.

Yes. St Kitts and Nevis permits dual citizenship, so you do not have to renounce your current nationality. The country does not notify your home government either. Bear in mind, though, that holding the passport changes nothing for your home-country tax position by itself. Tax residency requires genuine presence, not a document.

Yes, and the SISC's flat USD 250,000 price covers a single applicant or a family of up to four. Eligible dependants include a spouse, children under 18, dependent children aged 18–30 in full-time education or otherwise financially dependent, dependent parents and grandparents over 55, and dependent siblings subject to conditions. Additional dependants are priced separately. It is USD 25,000 for a dependant under 18 and USD 50,000 for one aged 18 or over.

St Kitts levies no personal income tax on residents or non-residents, no wealth tax and no inheritance tax. It operates on a territorial basis. Capital gains are untaxed on assets held longer than 12 months, but a 20% charge applies to gains on assets disposed of within 12 months of acquisition. The country is a CRS participant, and the OECD lists the SKN scheme as potentially high-risk for CRS circumvention, so banks apply extra scrutiny to SKN self-certifications. The passport gives no tax benefit unless you genuinely relocate and establish real presence.

It is the strongest of the five Caribbean CBI passports. It ranks 23 on the Henley index for June 2026, with 156 visa-free destinations, and as at July 2026 it still holds both UK and Schengen access, unlike Dominica and Saint Lucia. Schengen is the main reason most clients buy it, and it is also the thing most at risk. Regulation (EU) 2025/2441, in force from late December 2025, added Article 8a(1)(e), which makes running an investor-citizenship scheme without a genuine link a standalone ground for suspending visa-free travel. The EU's Eighth Visa Suspension Mechanism report of 19 December 2025 makes clear that simply running such a scheme is, on its own, enough reason to suspend a country's visa-free status, and it signals that the EU expects these schemes to end. Vanuatu is the precedent. The Council permanently ended its visa exemption on 12 December 2024 over exactly this.

Treat the premium over the SISC as the price of a lottery ticket on resale, not as an investment. The seven-year holding period is long. The resale market is thin and dominated by the next cohort of CBI buyers. Developers also price CBI units well above local market value. Government fees of USD 50,000-plus sit on top of the property price, alongside closing and developer costs. So the real-estate routes cost materially more all-in than their USD 325,000–600,000 sticker prices suggest.