Investing Your Way into Saint Kitts and Nevis
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Grenada 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 Grenada to Saint Kitts and Nevis · Residency through investment
There is no investor residence permit. Money buys citizenship here, directly and by statute, and it buys nothing in between: section 3(5) of the Citizenship Act entitles a person who has invested substantially to be registered as a citizen, and the Immigration Act's list of resident classes contains nothing an investor can apply under. The only investment-flavoured residence route is the seven-year one in section 6(2)(a), which asks for seven years of residence first and substantial assets inside the Federation second - the time comes before the money, not instead of it. An investor who buys property without taking citizenship runs into a separate statute: an unlicensed alien who holds land here forfeits it to the Crown.
At a glance
- Investor residence permit
- None
Nothing in section 5(2) or section 6 of the Immigration Act is granted for investing. The investment route in this country produces citizenship, not residence.
- Permanent residence by assets
- 7 years of prior residence, then substantial assets
Section 6(2)(a)(i) writes "at least seven years" and (ii) requires assets owned in the Federation. The residence requirement comes first; the assets do not substitute for it.
- Land held by an unlicensed alien
- Forfeited to the Crown
Section 3 of the Aliens Land Holding Regulation Act. Forfeiture does not operate automatically - section 5(1) requires a judgment declaring it, after which the Crown's title relates back to the moment of forfeiture.
- Land an unlicensed alien may hold
- Up to 5 acres, annual tenancy or less
The proviso to section 3 writes "more than five acres of land in all", and only for the alien's own residence, trade or business. Anything freehold needs a licence.
- When citizenship-by-investment title transfers
- Before citizenship is granted
Regulation 20(19) requires the main applicant to produce evidence of legal ownership before Citizenship by Investment can be granted, so title passes while the buyer is still an alien for the purposes of the land-holding Act.
Requirements
- For citizenship, one of the four investment options in the Citizenship by Substantial Investment Regulations 2024 - see the citizenship record
- For permanent residence by assets, at least seven years of prior residence in the Federation and substantial assets here, with sufficiency decided by the Minister on Cabinet's advice
- For holding land as a non-citizen, a licence granted by the Governor-General under the Aliens Land Holding Regulation Act, registered in the Record Office of the Circuit where the land lies
- Without a licence, no more than five acres and no more than an annual tenancy, and only for your own residence, trade or business
- Stamp duty on the transfer, under the Stamps Act, Cap. 20.40
In detail
The missing middle
Across this comparison the usual shape is a ladder: an investor visa, then temporary residence, then permanent residence, then naturalisation, with an investment threshold at the bottom. Saint Kitts and Nevis has no ladder. At one end is the visitor permit; at the other is citizenship, bought under section 3(5) of the Citizenship Act and priced by regulation. In between, the Immigration Act offers permanent residence after seven years of residence plus substantial local assets, and nothing else. An investor who wants to live here without becoming a citizen is in the same position as anyone else: a visitor permit, extendable to six years from entry, with no right to work and no accrual towards anything.
The land-holding problem nobody's brochure mentions
The Aliens Land Holding Regulation Act is a separate statute from the citizenship legislation and it is severe: land held by an unlicensed alien is forfeited to the Crown, subject to a judgment declaring the forfeiture. The Act's own definition of "alien" borrows from the Immigration Act, so a person stops being one when they become a citizen - but regulation 20(19) of the 2024 Regulations requires the applicant to prove legal ownership of the real estate before citizenship is granted. There is therefore a window, by design, in which a non-citizen holds Kittitian land. The Regulations say nothing about the licensing Act; the licensing Act says nothing about citizenship by investment. Both were read in full for this record and neither cross-refers to the other. What happens in that window is governed by whatever licence the Governor-General has granted, and that is a fact about a particular transaction rather than about the law.
Banks are not aliens
A detail worth knowing before arranging finance: a 1986 amendment added a proviso to the definition of "alien" excluding any bank or financial institution, whether incorporated inside or outside the Federation. A foreign lender can therefore take a mortgage over Kittitian land without a licence, while the foreign borrower cannot hold the land without one. That asymmetry is deliberate and it is the reason mortgage finance works here at all.
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 Grenada
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 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.»This is the whole statutory basis of the programme, and the word that does the work is "substantially" - every threshold ever published is subsidiary legislation defining that word. Note also what the subsection withholds: citizenship without voting rights.
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
«have been resident in Saint Christopher and Nevis for at least seven years; and
(ii) own substantial assets in the Federation, the sufficiency of which shall be determined by the Minister on the advice of the Cabinet;»The two conditions are cumulative. Buying assets does not shorten the seven years, and seven years of residence without assets does not qualify either.
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
«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
«land may be acquired and held by an unlicensed alien on an annual tenancy or for any less interest for the purposes of his or her residence, trade, or business but an unlicensed alien shall not so hold more than five acres of land in all;»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 Governor-General may, from time to time, grant to any alien a licence to hold land as owner or tenant or mortgagee for any estate or interest either subject to any conditions or not»The licence is land-specific: the proviso makes it operative only as to the land described and the estate specified, and of no force until registered in the Record Office of the Circuit where the land lies.
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 who is not deemed to belong to Saint Christopher and Nevis under the provisions of the Immigration Act, Cap. 6.02;»The definition of "alien" for this Act is borrowed from the Immigration Act, so citizenship ends it. A person who completes a citizenship-by-investment application stops being an alien, but only once the Certificate of Registration issues.
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
«Before Citizenship by Investment can be granted and no later than ninety days after the date of a notification of approval-in-principle pursuant to sub-regulation (18), the main applicant shall be required to provide to the Unit»Title first, citizenship second. The Regulations nowhere mention the Aliens Land Holding Regulation Act, so what licence the purchaser holds during that window is not addressed by the instrument that creates the window.
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 transfer of a real estate unit in the Approved Development shall be subject to the payment of Stamp Duty pursuant to the provisions of the Stamps Act, Cap. 20.40.»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
Practical notes
This record treats citizenship by investment as what it is - a citizenship route - and the figures, options and amendment history live on the citizenship record rather than here. Material that calls it "investor residency" is describing something the law does not contain.
The negative claim that no investor residence permit exists rests on section 5(2) and section 6 of the Immigration Act, read in full, and on the absence of any such category in the Citizenship Act or the 2024 Regulations. Section 5(2)(d) lets the Minister prescribe further categories by Order and we did not find one; the search of Statutory Rules and Orders was not exhaustive.
The Aliens Land Holding Regulation Act also restricts companies under alien control and trusts in favour of aliens, with its own licensing regime in sections 6 to 13. A purchase through a local company does not avoid the Act.
No licence fee or rate is stated in the Act. Figures in the range of ten per cent of the purchase price circulate in commercial material; none of it is traceable to an instrument we read, and nothing is stated here.
- consolidatesAliens Land Holding Regulation Act, Cap. 10.01, 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
- consolidatesImmigration Act, Cap. 6.02, 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