Becoming a Citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to Saint Kitts and Nevis · Becoming a citizen
Two doors, and they could hardly be further apart. The ordinary door asks for fourteen years: fourteen of ordinary residence for a Commonwealth citizen registering under the Constitution, and fourteen for an alien naturalising under the Citizenship Act, which also wants the final twelve months to be unbroken. That is the longest residence requirement of any country in this comparison. The other door is section 3(5) of the Citizenship Act, which entitles a person who has invested substantially to be registered, with no residence requirement at all - and the whole of what "substantially" means sits in a Statutory Rule and Order that has been replaced three times and amended twice since 2023. The figure in force today is set by the 2024 Regulations as amended in October 2024 and again in January 2026.
At a glance
- Residence for naturalisation
- 14 years, plus 12 unbroken months
Paragraph 1 of the Second Schedule to the Citizenship Act writes "the period of twelve months immediately preceding the date of the application" and "during the fourteen years immediately preceding the said period of twelve months". The twelve months sit inside, not on top of, nothing - they precede the fourteen-year window.
- Residence for registration as a Commonwealth citizen
- 14 years
Section 92(1)(b) of the Constitution writes "the period of fourteen years immediately preceding the date of his or her application". Section 3(3) of the Citizenship Act repeats it at the Minister's discretion for citizens of First Schedule countries.
- Residence for citizenship by investment
- None
Section 3(5) of the Citizenship Act imposes no residence, and neither do the Regulations. The programme's distinguishing feature is not the price but the absence of any requirement to be here.
- Sustainable Island State Contribution, main applicant
- US$250,000as of 2024-07-08
- Developer's real estate option
- US$325,000as of 2024-10-25
Regulation 20(12) was enacted at US$400,000 in July 2024 and the figure was replaced by S.R.O. 43 of 2024 three and a half months later.
- Private real estate: condominium or share
- US$325,000as of 2024-10-25
- Private real estate: single-family home
- US$600,000as of 2024-10-25
Regulation 22(10)(b) was enacted at US$800,000 and reduced by S.R.O. 43 of 2024, regulation 9(b).
- Public Benefit Option
- US$250,000as of 2024-07-08
Regulation 23(9). The main applicant's US$25,000 post-approval fee is deducted from this sum rather than added to it.
- Due diligence fee, main applicant
- US$10,000as of 2024-07-08
- Due diligence fee, each person aged 16 or over
- US$7,500as of 2024-07-08
- Application processing fee
- US$250 per applicantas of 2024-07-08
- Post-approval fee, main applicant or family of four
- US$25,000as of 2026-01-16
Replaced wholesale by S.R.O. 1 of 2026. Until then the main applicant paid US$25,000 and a spouse a further US$15,000; the family bundle is new.
- Post-approval fee, each additional dependant aged 18 or over
- US$50,000as of 2026-01-16
The 2024 Regulations charged US$15,000 for a dependant aged eighteen or over. S.R.O. 1 of 2026 replaced regulation 26 in full and raised it.
- Decision window, approval-in-principle
- 120 to 180 daysas of 2024-07-08
Regulations 20(18), 21(5), 22(16) and 23 all use the same window, written as "one hundred twenty to one hundred and eighty days".
- Resale restriction on real estate
- 7 yearsas of 2024-07-08
Regulation 20(22) applies it to applications submitted after 10 March 2023; regulation 22(15) applies it to private real estate from issuance of title or the Certificate of Registration, whichever is later.
- Loss of citizenship for divesting
- Within 5 years of registration
Section 8(c) of the Citizenship Act. Selling down below the minimum, or transferring the property, inside five years is a ground for deprivation.
- Voting rights on registration under section 3(5)
- None, except as voter-qualification law allows
Section 3(5) grants registration "without any rights of voting save under and in accordance with the provisions of any law governing the qualification of voters".
Requirements
- By naturalisation: fourteen years of residence in the Federation, with the final twelve months immediately before the application unbroken, good character in the Minister's opinion, an intention to continue residing here, and the oath of allegiance
- By registration as a Commonwealth citizen: fourteen years of ordinary residence immediately preceding the application
- By registration on marriage: marriage to a citizen, with no residence period - see the marriage record
- By investment: one of the four options in the Citizenship by Substantial Investment Regulations 2024, an application filed by an Authorised Agent, due diligence fees, and the post-approval application fees as replaced in January 2026
- By investment, in addition: no criminal record, no pending investigation, no denial of citizenship or of a visa by a country Saint Kitts and Nevis travels to visa-free, and no bankruptcy within ten years of the application
How the process runs
- Step 1
Engage an Authorised Agent
Citizenship by Investment Unit
A citizenship-by-investment application may be submitted to the Unit only by an Authorised Agent, who is authorised by the Board of Governors under regulation 28. There is no route for an applicant to file directly.
- Step 2
File the application and pay the fees that fall due at filing
Citizenship by Investment Unit
The due diligence fees under regulation 24(4) and the US$250 processing fee under regulation 25 are payable on every application, before any decision.
- Step 3
Due diligence
Citizenship by Investment Unit
Everyone aged sixteen or over is checked by the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Continuing International Due Diligence Unit, the Joint Regional Communications Centre of CARICOM IMPACS and at least one international firm. Biometrics and fingerprints may be collected.
- Step 4
Approval-in-principle
Citizenship by Investment Unit
The Unit notifies the Authorised Agent within one hundred twenty to one hundred and eighty days that the application is approved in principle, denied, or delayed for cause.
- Step 5
Make the investment and pay the post-approval fees
Citizenship by Investment Unit
Within ninety days of the notification: for the contribution options, a cheque to the Accountant General; for the real estate options, evidence that legal ownership has been transferred and stamp duty paid. The post-approval fees in regulation 26, as replaced in January 2026, fall due at this point.
- Step 6
Certificate of Registration
Ministry responsible for citizenship
The Minister signs a certificate evidencing registration as a citizen under section 3(5) of the Act. Registration takes effect from the date of registration, under section 5 of the Act.
In detail
Where the law actually is
This is the hardest thing about writing Saint Kitts and Nevis down, and it is worth stating plainly. The Law Commission publishes the Citizenship Act, Cap. 1.05, in a revised edition showing the law as at 31 December 2020, and it prints the Citizenship by Investment Regulations of 2011 as the Act's Fifth Schedule, annotated with the eight Statutory Rules and Orders that amended them down to 2020. Everything in that Schedule is superseded. The regime it describes - the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation, the Sustainable Growth Fund, a US$400,000 real estate threshold, a US$150,000 contribution - was displaced in 2023 and has been replaced twice since. The current law lives on the Citizenship by Investment Unit's own website as a series of loose PDFs, and nowhere else that we could find: the Law Commission's annual Statutory Rules and Orders run to 2025, with no 2026 folder at all, so the January 2026 amendment is not in the official collection. A reader who goes to the consolidated law gets a wrong answer; a reader who goes to the agency gets the right one in pieces.
The amendment history of the thresholds
Read backwards from today. The instrument in force is the Saint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship by Substantial Investment Regulations, 2024, S.R.O. No. 20 of 2024, published 8 July 2024 in Extra-Ordinary Gazette No. 37 of 2024. It has been amended twice: by S.R.O. No. 43 of 2024, published 25 October 2024 in Extra-Ordinary Gazette No. 66 of 2024, which cut the developer real estate threshold from US$400,000 to US$325,000, the private condominium threshold from US$400,000 to US$325,000 and the single-family home from US$800,000 to US$600,000; and by S.R.O. No. 1 of 2026, published 16 January 2026 in Extra Ordinary Gazette No. 3 of 2026, which replaced regulation 26 in full and widened the definition of a dependent child. S.R.O. 20 of 2024 itself repealed S.R.O. No. 26 of 2023, published 27 July 2023, which in turn repealed S.R.O. No. 4 of 2023 and S.R.O. No. 19 of 2023. Before that chain, the Regulations were those of 2011, S.R.O. 52/2011, amended by S.R.O. 6/2015, 14/2017, 3/2018, 7/2018, 25/2018, 27/2018, 30/2020 and 48/2020. Every one of those amending instruments is named in the Fifth Schedule to the Act, which is what makes the superseded edition worth keeping: it is the only place the pre-2023 history is set out in one piece.
Fourteen years, or none
The gap between the two routes is the real story. An alien who moves here, works, raises a family and intends to stay must wait fourteen years before naturalising, and must have been resident throughout the twelve months immediately preceding the application - a requirement that, read with the fourteen-year window preceding those twelve months, is arguably fifteen years in total. A Commonwealth citizen registering under section 92(1)(b) of the Constitution must have fourteen years of ordinary residence. Nothing in this comparison comes close: Argentina asks two years, Peru two, Brazil four, Mexico five, Panama five. A person who instead pays US$250,000 into the Consolidated Fund need never have set foot in the Federation. Both routes are in the same Act, four sections apart.
An Act for the Unit that may not be in force
The Citizenship by Investment Unit Act, 2024, Act 11 of 2024, was assented to on 19 June 2024 and published on 28 June 2024. It establishes the Unit as a body corporate and creates a Board of Governors, and the 2024 Regulations are drafted on the footing that both exist: regulation 3 defines the Board of Governors by reference to that Act, and regulations 20, 28 and 29 give the Board decisions to make. But section 1(2) of the Act says it comes into operation on a date the Minister specifies by Order, and we found no such Order. The Act's section 2 also defines "the Saint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship by Substantial Investment Regulations" as S.R.O. No. 26 of 2023 - an instrument repealed ten days after the Act was published. Neither point is fatal in practice, and neither is resolved by anything we could read.
Country-level policy
A separate statute from everything else in this country's relocation law, and the one most likely to catch a newcomer out. Land in Saint Christopher and Nevis held by an unlicensed alien is forfeited to the Crown. An alien is anyone not deemed to belong to the Federation under the Immigration Act, which includes every CARICOM and OECS national, and the licence is granted by the Governor-General, is specific to the land and the interest described in it, and has no effect until registered in the Record Office of the Circuit where the land lies. The only thing an unlicensed alien may hold is an annual tenancy or less, for their own residence, trade or business, and not more than five acres in all.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«(a) that he or she has resided in Saint Christopher and Nevis throughout the period of twelve months immediately preceding the date of the application;
(b) that during the fourteen years immediately preceding the said period of twelve months he or she has resided in Saint Christopher and Nevis;»Read literally this is fifteen years, not fourteen: twelve unbroken months, preceded by a fourteen-year window in which the applicant resided here. Paragraph 2 lets the Minister count a twelve-month period ending up to six months before the application instead.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«any person who, being a Commonwealth citizen, is ordinarily resident in Saint Christopher and Nevis having been so resident for the period of fourteen years immediately preceding the date of his or her application;»An entitlement, not a discretion: section 92(1) says such persons "shall ... be entitled" to be registered. Section 3(8) of the Citizenship Act lets the Minister refuse on defence, public safety or public order grounds.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«he or she shall not, by reason only that he or she is or may become a citizen of that other country, be refused registration under that section or be required to renounce his or her citizenship of that country as a condition of being registered under that section.»Dual citizenship is protected at constitutional level, which is part of why the investment programme works.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«a person is entitled, upon making application under this subsection to the Minister in the prescribed manner and upon payment of any fee that may be prescribed, to be registered as a citizen of Saint Christopher and Nevis without any rights of voting save under and in accordance with the provisions of any law governing the qualification of voters, if the Cabinet is satisfied that such person has invested substantially in Saint Christopher and Nevis.»About this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«The Minister may make regulations generally for giving effect to this Act»The power under which every version of the investment Regulations has been made. Each Statutory Rule and Order in the chain opens by reciting it.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«(a) US$400,000.00 for each main applicant. Two or more applicants may apply for citizenship by investment together by purchasing one piece of real estate, provided that each main applicant contributes the minimum investment of US$400,000.00 towards the investment; or»The superseded regime, printed as subsidiary legislation inside the Act. This is the text the Law Commission still publishes as the Citizenship by Investment Regulations, and it has been dead since 2023 - see the note on where the current law actually lives.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«(a) Contribution for single applicant................................. US$150,000.00»The Sustainable Growth Fund as it stood in 2020, quoted with the publisher's dot leaders. The same place in the structure now reads US$250,000 under a different name and a different instrument.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«The Saint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship by Substantial Investment Regulations, 2023, Statutory Rules and Orders No. 26 of 2023 are hereby repealed.»About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«(a) Saint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Regulations, 2023, Statutory Rules and Orders No. 4 of 2023; and
(b) Saint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship by Investment (Amendment) Regulations, 2023, Statutory Rules and Orders No. 19 of 2023.»The chain backwards: S.R.O. 4 of 2023 and S.R.O. 19 of 2023, both repealed on 27 July 2023. S.R.O. 4 of 2023 is itself the instrument that displaced the 2011 Regulations printed in the Fifth Schedule to the Act.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«US$250,000 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States Dollars) for a main applicant or a family with up to four total persons, being—
(i) a main applicant with a spouse and up to two dependants; or
(ii) a main applicant with up to three dependants;»The Sustainable Island State Contribution. Additional dependants are US$25,000 under eighteen and US$50,000 at eighteen or over, under regulation 21(2)(b) and (c).
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Regulation 20 (12) is amended by replacing the expression “US$400,000 (Four Hundred Thousand United States Dollars)” with the expression “US$325,000 (Three Hundred and Twenty-Five Thousand United States Dollars)”.»Cite the amended regulation, not the amending one: the rule in force is regulation 20(12) of the 2024 Regulations reading US$325,000, and S.R.O. 43 of 2024 is what put the figure there.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«(a) replacing the expression “US$400,000 (Four Hundred Thousand United States Dollars)” with the expression “US$325,000 (Three Hundred and Twenty-Five Thousand United States Dollars)”; and
(b) replacing the expression “US$800,000 (Eight Hundred Thousand United States Dollars)” with the expression “US$600,000 (Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars)”.»About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«A public benefit unit in an Approved Public Benefit Project shall qualify for Citizenship by Investment, if a minimum contribution of US$250,000 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States Dollars) is paid to the Unit by the main applicant.»About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«(a) US$10,000 (Ten Thousand United States Dollars) for due diligence background checks and related processing fees for the main applicant.
(b) US$7,500 (Seven Thousand Five Hundred United States Dollars) for due diligence background checks and related processing fees for each spouse or dependant of the main applicant who is aged sixteen years or over.»About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«A non-refundable application fee of US$250 (Two Hundred and Fifty United States Dollars) per applicant shall be paid to the Unit on every CBI application.»About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«(a) US$25,000 (Twenty-Five Thousand United States Dollars) for a main applicant, a main applicant with a spouse and up to two dependants or a main applicant with up to three dependants;»The whole of regulation 26 was replaced on 16 January 2026. The separate spouse fee of US$15,000 disappeared into this family bundle, and the fee for an additional dependant aged eighteen or over rose from US$15,000 to US$50,000.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«(c) US$50,000 (Fifty Thousand United States Dollars) for each additional dependant aged eighteen years or older;»About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Regulation 3 is amended in the definition of the expression “dependant” by replacing paragraph (b) as follows- “a child aged between eighteen and twenty-nine years of age who is unmarried and substantially supported by the main applicant or the spouse of the main applicant”.»The 2024 Regulations as enacted required a child between eighteen and twenty-five to be in full-time education. From 16 January 2026 the age runs to twenty-nine and the education test is gone, replaced by being unmarried and substantially supported.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Regulation 3 is amended in the definition of the expression “dependant” by replacing the expression “sixty-five” with the expression “fifty-five” in paragraph (d).»A parent of the main applicant or spouse qualifies as a dependant from fifty-five rather than sixty-five, on the same living-with-and-supported condition.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«(a) been denied citizenship of any country;
(b) been denied a visa to any country to which citizens of Saint Christopher and Nevis have visa-free travel and has not subsequently obtained a visa to the country that issued the denial;»S.R.O. 43 of 2024 narrowed paragraph (e), bankruptcy, to a bankruptcy "within ten (10) years of his or her application".
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«(i) the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Government of Saint Christopher and Nevis;
(ii) the Continuing International Due Diligence Unit of the Government of Saint Christopher and Nevis;
(iii) the Joint Regional Communications Centre, a sub-agency of CARICOM IMPACS; and
(iv) at least one reputable international due diligence service provider firm;»Four separate checks, one of them run by a CARICOM agency. This is the regional dimension of the programme that its critics and its sellers both tend to leave out.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«the citizenship was obtained under section 3(5), but the person has in less than five years from the date of registration as a citizen, divested himself or herself of the investment by virtue of which he or she obtained citizenship, to an amount below the minimum permitted for the type of investment, or where the item of investment was real property, transferred ownership of the property.»Deprivation is discretionary and section 10 requires notice and, on request, an inquiry before a committee chaired by a judge.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«A person shall be excluded from the application for registration as a citizen pursuant to subsection (5) if the person is a national of a country prescribed by the Minister by an Order, subject to a negative resolution of the National Assembly»Nationality bars on the programme are made by Ministerial Order, not by the Regulations. Lists of barred nationalities circulate widely; we did not reach the Orders and do not reproduce a list.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«This Act shall come into operation on a date to be specified by the Minister by Order published in the *Gazette* and different sections of this Act may come into force on different dates.»We found no commencement Order. The Act's own section 2 defines the Regulations as S.R.O. No. 26 of 2023, which was repealed ten days after the Act was published.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
Practical notes
Every threshold on this record is quoted from a Statutory Rule and Order, not from an intermediary. Figures circulating on agency and law-firm sites are frequently correct and are never evidence: the same pages carried US$400,000 for months after October 2024, and some carry the old US$15,000 spouse fee today.
The 2024 Regulations contain an advertising code in Schedule 2 which forbids an Authorised Agent or International Marketing Agent from using the terms "second passport", "golden passport" or "strong passport", from naming specific visa-free countries, from offering discounts, and from misrepresenting the legally prescribed minimum investment. Material that does any of these things is published in breach of the Regulations, which is a useful test of whether a page is worth reading at all.
The exclusion of certain nationalities is made by Ministerial Order under section 3(13) of the Act and subject to negative resolution of the National Assembly. The Orders are not in the Citizenship by Investment Unit's published notices and we did not find them in the Law Commission's annual collections. No list is reproduced here.
Regulation 26 of the 2024 Regulations as published ends at paragraph (e) followed by a proviso. S.R.O. 43 of 2024 purported to amend it by deleting an "and" after paragraph (e), ending paragraph (f) differently and adding a paragraph (g). There is no paragraph (f) in the published text, and the "and" sits after paragraph (d). We confirmed this against both the stored reading and a direct extraction of the publisher's PDF. S.R.O. 1 of 2026 replaced the whole regulation, which cures it going forward.
The Citizenship by Investment Unit's own government-notices page lists nothing later than December 2024 and does not link S.R.O. 1 of 2026, although the instrument is hosted on the same site. Anyone relying on that page for the current law will be fourteen months behind.
Citizenship granted under section 3(5) comes without voting rights except as voter-qualification law allows, and section 3(11)(m) and (n) bar the child or spouse of such a citizen from registering under section 92(1)(g) or 92(1)(a) of the Constitution. The programme's citizenship is not identical to citizenship by birth, and the differences are in the statute rather than in practice.
- consolidatesSaint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship Act, Cap. 1.05, Revised Edition showing the law as at 31 December 2020
Law Commission of Saint Christopher and Nevis · consolidated to 2020-12-31
About this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- administersSaint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship by Substantial Investment Regulations, 2024, S.R.O. No. 20 of 2024
Citizenship by Investment Unit (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- administersSaint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship by Substantial Investment (Amendment) Regulations, 2024, S.R.O. No. 43 of 2024
Citizenship by Investment Unit (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- administersSaint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship by Substantial Investment (Amendment) Regulations, 2026, S.R.O. No. 1 of 2026
Citizenship by Investment Unit (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- administersSaint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship by Substantial Investment Regulations, 2023, S.R.O. No. 26 of 2023 (repealed)
Citizenship by Investment Unit (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- administersCitizenship By Investment Unit Act, 2024, Act No. 11 of 2024
Citizenship by Investment Unit (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- administersGovernment notices
Citizenship by Investment Unit (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
About this source
Administers the citizenship-by-investment programme and hosts the statutory rules and orders that set its thresholds - which is where the law in force actually lives, the consolidated edition being years out of date.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the completeness of the legislative record: its own notices page lists nothing after December 2024 and omits an instrument from 2026 that is hosted on the same site. Nor for immigration law generally, which it does not administer. Its news items are announcements and its marketing copy is not evidence of a requirement.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- consolidatesSaint Christopher and Nevis Constitution, Chapter VIII, printed with the West Indies Act, Cap. 1.01
Law Commission of Saint Christopher and Nevis · consolidated to 2020-12-31
About this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source