Antigua Barbuda is a Caribbean island nation famed for its natural beauty and its 365 beaches, one for each day of the year. It also is one of the few countries to have abolished personal income taxation (very few countries have moved from having an income tax to abolishing it). This, combined with a highly competitive economic citizenship program, has made it a popular second passport option. In this article, I review the program and explain how to apply.
Some background
The islands were first settled over three thousand years ago by an Amerindian tribe called the Ciboney. In the millennia that followed, the islands played host to a number of other tribes including the famous Arawaks and Caribs. The British were the first Europeans to settle the islands in 1632.
Ever since its independence in 1981, Antigua Barbuda has been a representative democracy with regular elections. It has also been one of the more successful independent Caribbean nations, with a higher than average GDP per capita. A number of recent natural disasters, including hurricane Irma which destroyed the entire island of Barbuda, have caused major setbacks to the development of the islands, however, and have forced the government to look for new ways to bring in foreign capital. This has led to the creation of the Antigua Barbuda economic citizenship program.
Economic citizenship
Antigua Barbuda is a new entrant to the world of economic citizenships. Its program is modeled on that of St Kitts and Nevis, offering similar qualification routes. This includes a donation option, a real estate option and a business option. A unique characteristic of the program is a requirement that five days be spent in the country for every five year periods, in order to maintain citizenship.
You can find the qualifying amounts as well as the program’s requirements directly on the government website.
As an Antigua Barbuda citizen, you will be authorized to carry an Antigua Barbuda passport. It grants visa-free access to a decent number of countries, including the UK, all Schengen countries, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and more. Because Antigua Barbuda is a full member of CARICOM, you also gain the conditional right to live in more than a dozen countries, including Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. Unconditional freedom of movement is part of CARICOM’s future goals.
As mentioned earlier in this article, there is no personal taxation in Antigua Barbuda. This makes its citizenship very attractive from a tax optimization standpoint. There is corporate taxation, however, so take that into consideration if you plan to relocate to the islands and run your business from there.
While the above sounds pretty good, it is important to keep in mind that as is often the case with these programs, there is always a risk that it may be canceled and that citizenships granted could be revoked. There is simply no telling what future governments may do, especially in the long-term. An economic citizenship is an investment and as with any other investments, there is a risk of loss.
Latest update (2024)
Due to concerns regarding the reliability of the program’s due diligence process, a number of countries have begun reviewing their visa policy for Antigua Barbuda citizens. Unless those concerns are addressed, it is likely that some will re-introduce the requirement for Antigua Barbuda citizens to obtain a visa prior to traveling. The OECD has also instructed financial institutions to disregard Antigua Barbuda passports for due diligence purposes, when there is clear evidence that it was obtained via the economic citizenship program.
Application
The application process is fairly straightforward. You need to choose an authorized agent from the list available on the government website. The authorized agent will then complete the due diligence part of the process, in collaboration with the economic citizenship team at the government. This will involve gathering a number of documents, attending an interview and going through an extensive background check. Once that is completed, your application will be submitted for final approval and in most cases, will be approved within six months.