Saint Lucia increases minimum investment threshold to US$240,000 to qualify for CBI  

Castries, Saint Lucia: The government of Saint Lucia increased the minimum legislative prices of qualifying investment options for the Citizenship by Investment Programme. Effective July 1, 2024, the investors will now have to contribute a minimum of US$240,000 to the donation.  

The amendments have been made in keeping with the Memorandum of Agreement signed between the five OECS countries with the CBI Programmes which calls for a minimum investment threshold of US$200,000 in March 2024.  

The Citizenship by Investment Unit of Saint Lucia announced the new price adjustments and said, “As a signatory to the agreement, the country will be making the following changes effective July 1, 2024.” 

 The changes have been made to both, National Economic Fund and Real Estate Investment Options.  

Amendments to the National Economic Fund 

As part of new regulations, the main applicant applying with up to three qualifying dependents will have to invest US$240,000. On the other hand, for each additional qualifying dependent under 18 years of age, the minimum investment of US$10,000 has been set by the CIP Saint Lucia.  

With each additional qualifying dependent above 18 years of age, a cost of US$20,000 shall be paid, while the applicant with a newborn child of a citizen who is 12 months of age or below must pay US$5,000.  

The minimum investment of US$35,000 will be applied for the applicant with the spouse, while for qualifying dependents of a citizen other than a spouse, the US$25,000 will be paid.  

Amendments to the Approved Real Estate Project  

The Saint Lucia CIP added that the main applicant with any number of qualifying dependents will have to invest US$300,000 in addition to applicable administration fees under the Real Estate Project.  

On the other hand, the investment in an approved enterprise project which is the option 3 of the Citizenship by Investment Programme has also been amended. The US$250,000 along with applicable administration fees is required to be paid by the applicant applying with up to three qualifying dependents for the Saint Lucia citizenship.  

The unit urged that the Authorized Agents should use the pre-processing platform to upload applications. The Saint Lucia CIP noted,”For agents already engaged in discussions with potential applicants and whose fees have been received, the Unit will accept the submission of those via formal request.”  

Other instructions 

Notably, the unit will not accept applicants later than midnight on June 30, 2024, and the application should include the Main Applicant’s Name, Selection of Investment Option, Nationality, Passport Number, and Number of Qualifying Dependents.  

The agents are given the period until July 31, 2024, to have these applications fully compliant along with the requisite proof of payment from the Unit’s bank account to support each application.  

The Saint Lucia CIP added that they are committed to implementing all the recommendations within the Memorandum of Agreement. The changes have been put in place to enhance the transparency and integrity of the Citizenship by Investment Programme.