Samoa citizenship by investment has been running since 2017. The program has not gained interest or attention being of high investment threshold, not marketed properly to international investors.
To Reform the Citizenship by Investment program, the Cabinet has approved recommendation to include government bonds and national development fund as qualifying investment options.
The Cabinet approved in May 2024 the report with recommendations for amendments to the Citizenship Investment Act and to develop a policy framework. The cabinet has approved review of the program. The key areas highlighted from this phase of the review for detailed discussion and possible amendments include the following:
- Additional qualifying investment areas such as government bonds and national development funds
- Appeal Panel versus resubmission of applications to the Committee
- Reviewing minimum investment, fees and timeframe for assessing and approving applications
- Quota / Target Number of applications per year
- Immunity of Government officials for making decisions on applications
- Conditions for granting approvals to agents and promoters
The PPIU has approved a request to support the implementation of the above report recommendations to develop a comprehensive Policy Framework to guide the implementation of the program, and to scope and support any modifications that are needed to be made. This will be conducted in the new FY2024/2025
One application to promote the Citizenship by Investment program was approved so far.
