Country-wide policy
The Alien Landholding Licence
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.
Topics it changes
What it requires
- A licence from the Governor-General before holding land or a mortgage as an alien, beyond an annual tenancy of up to five acres
- Registration of the licence in the Record Office of the Circuit in which the land lies - until then it is of no force or effect
- Compliance with every condition in the licence: breach forfeits the estate to the Crown
- For a purchase through a company, the separate licensing regime in sections 6 to 13 for companies under alien control
- Stamp duty on the transfer under the Stamps Act, Cap. 20.40
At a glance
- Consequence of holding land unlicensed
- Forfeiture to the Crown
Section 3. Forfeiture requires a judgment under section 5(1), after which the Crown's title relates back to when the forfeiture occurred.
- What an unlicensed alien may hold
- An annual tenancy or less, up to 5 acres
The proviso to section 3 writes "more than five acres of land in all", and confines it to the alien's own residence, trade or business.
- Who counts as an alien
- Anyone not deemed to belong under the Immigration Act
Plus any company under alien control and every corporation incorporated abroad. Citizens of other CARICOM and OECS states are aliens for this Act - nothing in it carves them out.
- Banks and financial institutions
- Not aliens
A proviso inserted by Act 13 of 1986 excludes any bank or financial institution, whether incorporated inside or outside the Federation, which is what makes foreign mortgage lending possible.
- Treaty exemption
- Available in principle, none identified
The definition excludes subjects or citizens of a foreign State on whom a treaty has conferred the right to hold land here. We did not identify any such treaty and name none.
- Licence fee
- Not stated in the Act
No fee or rate appears anywhere in the Act. Percentages of purchase price circulate in commercial material and none is reproduced here.
Why this sits above the topics rather than inside one
The Act bears on three different questions at once. It is the reason an investor cannot simply buy property and settle; it is a live issue for a retiree granted permanent residence, who is still an alien for this Act's purposes because permanent residence is not citizenship; and it runs straight through the citizenship-by-investment programme, whose real estate options require title to pass to the applicant before citizenship is granted. Recording it once, at country level, is the only way to avoid stating it three times and the only way to show that it applies to people who would not think to look for it.
Regional nationals are not exempt
The definition of "alien" is drawn from the Immigration Act's notion of belonging to the Federation, and nothing in it carves out CARICOM nationals or citizens of OECS Protocol Member States. A citizen of Saint Lucia with an indefinite stay under section 4(3) of the Immigration Act, working here without a permit, is still an unlicensed alien for the purpose of buying a house. The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas obliges member states to remove restrictions on the right of establishment, and we found no Kittitian provision doing so - this Act is where that gap is visible.
What the law says
«neither land in Saint Christopher and Nevis, nor a mortgage on land in Saint Christopher and Nevis shall, after the commencement of this Act, be held by an unlicensed alien, and any land or mortgage so held shall be forfeited to the Crown»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
«a licence shall be operative only as to the land described and as to the estate or interest specified therein, and shall be of no force or effect until registered in the Record Office of the Circuit in which the land in respect of which a licence is granted is situate.»Two limits in one sentence: the licence does not travel to other land, and an unregistered licence is no licence at all.
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
«On breach of any condition in a licence to hold land as owner or tenant or mortgagee, the estate and interest of the alien in the land or mortgage held under the authority thereof shall be forfeited to the Crown.»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
«but shall not include any of the subjects or citizens of a foreign State upon whom there has been conferred by treaty the right to hold land within 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
«Land or a mortgage forfeited under this Act shall not vest in the Crown unless and until a judgment is obtained declaring the forfeiture; but on such judgment being obtained the title of the Crown shall relate back to and commence at the time when the forfeiture took place.»Forfeiture is not automatic, but when declared it is retrospective, so dealings in the interval are at risk.
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
Practical notes
The Act was read in full as consolidated to 31 December 2020. No fee, rate or processing time appears anywhere in it.
The Citizenship by Substantial Investment Regulations 2024, read in full, do not mention this Act or any alien landholding licence. How the two interact during the window between transfer of title and the Certificate of Registration is not resolved by either instrument.
Sections 6 to 13 apply the same machinery to companies under alien control and to shares and debentures in them, and section 12 requires the Governor-General's consent before certain transfers. Buying through a local company does not sidestep the Act.
The exemption for citizens of a foreign State on whom a treaty has conferred the right to hold land is in the definition. We did not identify any treaty doing so and this record names none.