CS Global Partners praised CBI programmes of Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis in a webinar with Zebvo Newswire

Zebvo Newswire hosted a webinar on Thursday, February 24, with CS Global Partners, a major UK-based citizenship consultancy firm, on “Citizenship by Investment Program.”  The Webinar covered the importance of such programmes as well as the world’s most well-known economic citizenship programmes. While discussing such programmes, it is proclaimed that around 13 countries offer Citizenship by Investment Programmes, but the CBI Programmes of Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis are one of the oldest and best programmes throughout the world as per their security, pricing and various other aspects.

Micha-Rose Emmett, CEO of CS Global Partners, and Paul Singh, Director of CS Global Partners, stated during the Webinar that five Caribbean countries presently offer Citizenship by Investment programmes with exceptional multi-layer due diligence and security checks. However, they emphasised that the Citizenship by Investment Programmes of Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis are not only the oldest programmes in the industry but also recognised as the best by several internationally recognised organisations. 

According to CS Global Partners, Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment Program’s Real Estate and Economic Diversification Fund provides the most straightforward path to get dual-citizenship with the shortest processing time. At the same time, the Real Estate Option of St Kitts and Nevis is complicated and time-consuming. In addition, according to the firm, the Sustainable Growth Fund Option, which is facilitated by the government of St Kitts and Nevis, is the quickest and most straightforward route to a dual-citizenship.

Moreover, the CBI Index published by the PWM Magazine of Financial Times also acknowledges Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis as one of the best programmes. Not only that, many reports published by internationally acclaimed organisations such as Smith and Williamson, Ernest and Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) praised Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis in many of their studies.

Questions & Answers – Interview 

Welcome of the guests

Micha: CS Global are the world’s leading Government Advisory and Marketing Firm specialising in Citizenship by Investment

Interviewer – Let’s start with a brief overview of Citizenship by Investment. Micha, can you explain what CBI is and which countries offer this programme.

Micha:

Let’s start with a brief explanation of Citizenship by Investment – what is it? CBI is where an investment is made to acquire citizenship of a certain country. There are 13 countries offering CBI throughout the world. 

The basin of CBI is in the Caribbean where Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis.  

Today, we are witnessing a contemporary world marked by recurring conflict and instability; therefore, CBI is super popular amongst high net worth individuals.

Citizenship by Investment provides a path to benefit from a safe and stable environment to call home if need be, increase global mobility and provide financial planning. 

The benefits to individuals as discussed are life-changing for both the individual and or family and for the country in which an applicant successfully gains citizenship from. Housing, schools and hospitals change lives of people in small nations.

Interviewer – Paul, Micha has mentioned the Caribbean being the cradle of CBI. Can you please expand on this.

Paul: 

Certainly, the birth of CBI was in 1984 when St Kitts and Nevis launched the very first CBI programme. There are now 5 CBI programmes in the Caribbean, all differ slightly with their offerings but largely, the overall concept is similar.

Interviewer – How established are these programmes?

Paul: 

The programmes are very established and have stood the pace of time, look at the longevity, look at the citizenship laws in these countries which safeguard the investor, look at the investors who have for almost 4 decades now enjoyed the rights of having citizenship where their global mobility, security and opportunities for their families has changed their lives.

Interviewer – Micha, choosing one of these CBI jurisdictions from the Caribbean-which one would you suggest?

Micha: 

There are 2 particular islands which shine through being Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis. Reputationally, ranked no 1 as the best CBI programmes in the world in 2021 by The Financial Times CBI Index is quite an endorsement.  

Investors often tend to opt for programmes that are reliable and trustworthy, and the Caribbean is a special basin of citizenship by Investment also for this reason. Established in 1984, St Kitts and Nevis CBI Programme is the longest-running and therefore considered as the cradle of citizenship by Investment. Similarly, Dominica is also of note as a trusted option due to its longevity, both programmes being in successful existence for between 30-40 years says it all.

Interviewer – Okay, so we narrow down the actual CBI jurisdiction of your recommendation-what are the investment options?

Micha:

In Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis, there is the option of a donation route where funds are used by the respective Governments to improve the investors new country of choice. There is also the real estate option where Investment can be made. 

Interviewer – Very interesting Micha, Paul a question for you, which investment option do you recommend. 

Paul:

In Dominica, you have a fund option being the Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) and a Real Estate investment option. Both provides equal benefits to the investors, including application processing period and ease of the process. Investors can choose any of these two options of Dominica. 

St Kitts and Nevis also has the fund option such as Sustainable Growth Fund (SGF) as well as the Real Estate option. Both are essentially used for the same purposes as Micha explained. However, there are fundamental differences when it is the real estate of St Kitts and Nevis. Firstly, the process is longer than the SGF. One is dependent on the developer to complete the project in a timely and quality manner. 

Interviewer– If opting for real estate from Dominica or St Kitts. Is there any particular benefits of applying in one island rather than the other?

Paul:

Absolutely, in St Kitts and Nevis, real estate is quite complicated opposed to the fund option (SGF) which is secure and quick. 

Interviewer: How an investor can initiate the process of CBI Programme, and how to choose a perfect agent for that?

Paul:

Investors may begin with contacting an Authorised Agent, who assists the applicant with the submission of their application by ensuring that application forms and supporting documents are complete to the appropriate standards. The official Government websites of many Caribbean CBI jurisdictions usually include a list of the Authorised agents to facilitate the process.