The Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment (ABCBI) scheme is very attractive to families seeking a second passport that comes with travel freedom.
Despite Antigua being the cheapest citizenship by investment scheme, there is one problem with Antigua. Antigua imposes 5 day physical residence requirement under the CBI rules (please note this requirement is suspended temporarily due to Covid). No other country operating a CBI scheme in the caribbean enforce this physical residence requirement. This requirement is exempted for children under 18.
Antigua issues passport valid for 5 years once approved under citizenship by investment program. You wont have any problems initially and many agents dont advise this!
The Voting rights are restricted for investment citizens. You do not have right to vote or holding public office.
The Antiguan Citizenship can be transferred upto third generations only.
Vanuatu, Dominica and St Kitts are the only countries that offer 10 year validity passports for investors and all these countries have zero residence requirements. This saves a lot of time and hassles for passport investors.
The problem comes when you renew the passport. If you dont visit Antigua for 5 days, you cannot even renew the passport. It will be automatically cancelled.
This also means you have to spend upto $5,000 in airline or hotel expenses to visit Antigua just for renewing the passport. This will be your additional expenses.
Yes, Antigua is cheap almost half the price for family passports, but dont forget the 5 day residence requirement and additional expenses you have to bear!
Do you research before applying for passport schemes!
