Saint Lucia offers one of the cheapest second citizenship through investment programs — for a single applicant, it takes a $100,000 donation to the national fund, $300,000 real estate investment, buying government bonds for at least $500,000, or investing $6,500,000 in an enterprise. Obtaining a passport of this country opens many possibilities, such as visa-free travel to the EU and low taxes. Since investing in real estate for citizenship is among the most popular investment options and is present in the majority of such programs, in this article, we will talk about getting St. Lucia citizenship by real estate investment.
How Citizenship by Investment Programs Work?
Why do citizenship by investment programs exist in the first place and how do they benefit the investors? To answer this, we roamed through several articles on immigrantinvest.com about CBI program conditions and benefits from different countries – https://immigrantinvest.com/saint-lucia-citizenship-by-investment-en/.
It turns out their primary goal is to attract brains and foreign capital into their economies. It is a response to an existing demand of wealthy people to gain second citizenship without the need to reside in a country for several years and wait to get one through naturalization.
The investment options don’t differ much from one program to another — they include donations to special government funds, real estate investments, purchase of bonds and stocks, opening accounts in local banks, or investing in a business. The conditions and prices though vary drastically. For example, in St. Lucia, citizenship by investment in real estate is granted only for buying commercial property. On the contrary, in Portugal, both residual and commercial property will make you eligible.
CBI costs a fortune, for which investors get such benefits:
- An attractive place to live with their families.
- Education opportunities for their children.
- Visa-free regime.
- Low income tax.
St. Lucia Citizenship by Investment Program
This country’s CBI program has four investment options:
- Non-refundable donation to the government.
- Buying real estate in St. Lucia.
- Buying bonds.
- Investing in certain types of enterprises.
In this article, we will focus on getting citizenship by buying real estate in St. Lucia since it’s one of the most popular options and also because this investment is more likely to pay off.
This path requires at least $300,000 with which you buy property in St. Lucia and get citizenship afterward. Each additional dependant will add $25,000-$35,000 to the required minimum, while processing and due diligence fees will come at slightly short of $60,000.
The eligible property comes from a pre-approved list and only includes St. Lucia commercial real estate — hotels, boutiques, and resorts. The property needs to remain in the investor’s possession for a minimum of five years after application. Also, according to Zlata Erlach, an expert from Immigrant Invest, finding an eligible property priced close to the minimum requirements won’t be easy. The approved list is not too long, and current owners know it and use it to their advantage.
Benefits of St. Lucia Citizenship
The process of gaining citizenship in this country is rather simple and cheap, and the advantages you get after are definitely worth it. Here are the rights you get after you buy property in St. Lucia and get citizenship:
- Visa-free travel and stay in the Schengen zone, the UK, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
- Permission to register a business.
- Unlimited entrance and residence permission in St. Lucia.
- Simplified procedure of getting the B-1 or B-2 US tourist visa.
