Investments in real estate or government-authorized funds in exchange for alternative citizenship are gaining popularity among high net worth individuals (HNWIs) around the globe. The CBI Index, published by Professional Wealth Management Magazine of Financial Times, has ranked various citizenship by investment programmes of the world to make the selection process much easier for investors looking to invest in alternative citizenship.
This year, the CBI Index launched its sixth edition on Monday, August 22, titled it “A Guide to Global Citizenship: The 2022 CBI Index”.
Every year since 2017, the Citizenship by Investment Index, popularly known as the CBI Index, has been used by HNWIs as a practical tool to compare CBI programmes as a whole as well as compare specific aspects of each programme individually.
Dominica has again topped the charts of the CBI Index for the sixth consecutive year, along with the twin island of St Kitts and Nevis, which has retained the top position for the second time. Presently, these two Caribbean nations offer the world’s oldest and longest-running CBI Programmes.
Other than Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis, another Caribbean nation, Saint Lucia managed to bounce to third place in the CBI Index by replacing Grenada.
The CBI Index featured and ranked 13 countries, of which 5 were Caribbean nations, all having their places among the top five ranks. These nations have held a perfect score of 10 in the pillar of ‘Ease of Processing’ for the sixth consecutive time.
All the Caribbean countries ranked in the Index have a donation option, under which an investor gets a chance to contribute a specific amount of money to a government fund in exchange for legal citizenship for themselves and their families.
The CBI Index is based on nine pillars, including,
– Freedom of Movement
– Standard of Living
– Minimum Investment Outlay
– Mandatory Travel and Residence
– Citizenship Timeline
– Ease of Process
– Due Diligence
– Family
– Certainty of Product
According to the researchers, social as well as government developments in the world are also observed to prepare and rank the countries in the CBI Index, which was initially launched in 2017. The Index provides a detailed summary of different nations’ CBI Programmes so that an investor can make a wise investment choice as per their requirements.
The top three Caribbean countries, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia, have scored seven in the Freedom of Movement pillar. The report further stated that St Kitts and Nevis has visa-free access to 156 nations, the highest among other countries offering the CBI programme. Furthermore, Saint Lucia also gives an investor access to 15 out of 20 key business hubs assessed in the 2022 CBI Index, followed by Dominica, which provides access to 14 nations.
The pillar of Standard of Living ranked Saint Lucia fourth place, while Dominica, St Kitts, and Nevis shared the same position at fifth. Among all countries offering economic citizenship programmes, Dominica has the highest life expectancy of about 78.2.
In the 2022 Index, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia secured the top position in the Mandatory Travel and Residence pillar by getting a perfect score of ten because they provide investors with the option to get alternative citizenship at the comfort of their home.
Dominica and Saint Lucia maintained their top score of ten in the pillar of Minimum Investment Outlay because of their minimum investment outlay of just USD 100,000.
The five Caribbean nations offering the CBI Programme, including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis, got a perfect score of ten in the pillar of Ease of Processing for the sixth year in a row. The Ease of Processing pillar offers the most straightforward application processing by most CBI jurisdictions in the Caribbean.
In the pillar of Due Diligence, Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis got a whooping score of ten, followed by Saint Lucia, which got a nine. These Caribbean nations have retained the top position because of their multi-layered, comprehensive background checks on investors and their dependants, which are above the age of 16. This is an essential step to be followed by a country while providing alternative citizenship to the investor as it assures that national and global security remains maintained. The two countries, Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis, also demand police certificates from both an applicant’s nation of residence and their country of citizenship. They also ban or order enhanced due diligence on applicants from some specific nationalities and need detailed supporting information to understand the investors’ source of funds.
In the Family pillar, Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis got a whooping ten while Saint Lucia got a nine, the same as the previous year’s Index. The report added that the family eligibility criteria stay the same across all the programmes.
Due to its longevity, popularity, as well as stability, Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis got a perfect score of ten this year in the pillar “Certainty of Product.”
Meanwhile, St Kitts and Nevis hold the highest position in the pillar of ‘Citizenship Timeline’ with a perfect score of ten, followed by Dominica and Saint Lucia, which got a nine because of their processing time of three months.
Dominica has retained the top position with a perfect score of ten in six pillars, including:
– Minimum Investment Outlay
– Mandatory Travel or Residence
– Ease of Process
– Due Diligence
– Family
– Certainty of Product
St Kitts and Nevis have also secured the top position with a perfect score of ten in six pillars, including:
– Mandatory Travel or Residence
– Citizenship Timeline
– Ease of Process
– Due Diligence
– Family
– Certainty of Product
Saint Lucia has got the third position in the CBI Index 2022 by getting a perfect score of ten in three pillars, including:
– Minimum Investment Outlay
– Mandatory Travel or Residence
– Ease of Process
According to the report, Dominica has been maintaining its position at the top because of several things provided by the country, and no other country has managed to outperform the Caribbean nation. These features include affordable minimum investment outlay, robust due diligence, a streamlined application procedure and sustainable development projects funded through CBI funds.
Along with Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis has also managed to maintain at the top for the second year in a row as it is known to be the fastest CBI Programme due to its processing time.
Meanwhile, Saint Lucia launched its CBI Programme in 2016 but has progressed in the top three positions. It is due to its significant improvements in due diligence, more particularly with the introduction of a biometric passport and minimum investment outlay, which is in life with Dominica at USD 100,000 for the main applicant.
As per the CBI Index 2022, CBI is allowing several island countries to fulfil their true ambitions with the help of funds generated through the Citizenship by Investment Programme.
