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St Kitts & Nevis looking to make major changes to its citizenship by investment program
“As the new prime minister of the country, responsibility for our citizenship by investment, one of the mainstays of the economy, rests with me. I guarantee the following:
– 1. To our partner governments across the world, I pledge my word that no undesirables will be allowed to take advantage of our program. We shall work actively with you to make this happen. We shall not issue any diplomatic passports to people who are neither citizens nor residents of St Kitts & Nevis. Our reputation is not for sale at any price. We shall be revoking any passports that were issued fraudulently. We will not allow our good name to be traduced. We shall also make provision to revoke the citizenship of any citizen by investment who within 5 years of the certificate of registration commits a serious crime, appears on an international sanctions list or on the wanted list of any country or international body, or is named in any scandal that might bring St Kitts & Nevis into disrepute. Anybody who made false claims or provided us with misleading information at the time of making the application will have their citizenship revoked. We are very serious about this.
– 2. To genuine investors, I apologize for any delay in the processing of your application. We welcome your interest and investment in our country. We are working hard to ensure that the procedure becomes more efficient and transparent. IPSA International, a consultancy that specializes in due diligence and works for many governments around the world, prepared a report for us just before Christmas on the citizenship program.
– 3. It said that ‘The St Kitts & Nevis citizenship by investment program has been successfully run for the last 30 years – but with higher volumes, changing regulations and increased focus on anti-money laundering and counter terrorist funding, further improvements would enhance the government’s continued initiatives to protect the integrity and security of the program.’ It concluded that ‘Together with the good practices in place, the proposed policy initiatives and the implementation of the recommendations, the CIU will continue to be strengthened while ensuring efficiency, integrity and transparency in its activities.’
“These recommendations include establishing a commission for the oversight of the citizenship by investment program; reviewing the regulations for the establishment of escrow accounts and amending the policies accordingly; and conducting a ‘look back’ of approved and reviewed applications, as well as conducting periodic reviews of approved applicants thereafter. In total, there are 20 recommendations. My cabinet agreed this week to adopt all these 20 recommendations with immediate effect.
– 4. To developers who are creating projects that will bring employment and investment to our country, we say: ‘You are most welcome’. We understand that citizenship by investment is a useful source of income. Legitimate developers who create a positive economic impact on our islands will continue to enjoy the benefits of the program as a funding source. Tourism is a great source of income for this country, and we have a shortage of hotel beds. However, we are looking carefully at those projects that are only benefiting the individuals who are building empty boxes. Not only is this of no benefit to the citizens of St Kitts & Nevis, but also it has a negative impact on the beauty of the landscape and we shall be reviewing some of the schemes that are being proposed. Genuine developers need have no concerns. In fact we shall work tirelessly to ensure your projects proceed in a timely manner.
– 5. And finally, to the citizens of St Kitts & Nevis, I can assure you that not only are we working to protect and safeguard your travel rights to more than 140 countries, but that we are adding to the list. Brazil has just announced that it will now allow our citizens to enter its borders without the hassle of first applying for a visa. We are in consultation with other countries, and the success of these talks will be announced in due course.”
Source: Caribbean News Now
