Buy house and dem go give you passport - Di Caribbean islands wey dey do citizenship by investment

Scroll through homes for sale in di Eastern Caribbean and e no longer just be beaches wey make sense and a easy going lifestyle dem dey use to attract buyers.

More and more property listings dey offer passport too – and tori be say political and social mata dem for di US dey ginger di increase in interest.

Five of di region island nations – Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Lucia – dey offer such citizenship by investment (CBI) from as little as $200,000 (£145,000).

Buy a home, and you also get a passport wey grant di holder visa-free access to up to 150 kontris including di UK and Europe Schengen area.

For di pipo wey get money, di islands absence of taxes like capital gains and inheritance, and in some cases on income too, na anoda major draw. And all five of di region schemes allow buyers to retain dia existing citizenship.

For Antigua, estate agents dey struggle to keep up wit demand, Nadia Dyson, owner of Luxury Locations tok. "Up to 70% of all buyers right now dey want citizenship, and di vast majority be from di US," she tell di BBC.

"We no dey tok politics wit dem, but di unstable political landscape [for di US] na definitely a factor.

"Dis time last year, e be all lifestyle buyers and a few CBI. Now dey all dey say 'I want a house wit citizenship'. We neva sell plenty like dis before."

Despite say Antigua programme no get residency requirement, some buyers dey look to relocate full-time, Ms Dyson tok, add: "A few don relocate already."

US citizens account for di plenty number of CBI applications in di Caribbean over di past year, according to investment migration experts Henley & Partners.

Ukraine, Turkey, Nigeria and China det among di oda most frequent kontris of origin of applicants, di UK firm wey get offices around di world tok.

Dem add say overall applications for Caribbean CBI programmes don increase by 12% since di fourth quarter of 2024.

Evri tin from gun violence to antisemitism dey make Americans look dia back, according to di consultancy Dominic Volek.

"Around 10-15% actually relocate. For most na insurance policy against whatever dem dey concerned about. To get second citizenship na good back-up plan," e explain.

Oga Volek say di ease-of-travel advantages wey di Caribbean passports provide appeal to business pipo, and fit also present security benefit. "Some US clients prefer to travel on a more politically-benign passport."

Bifor di Covid pandemic, di US no even dey on Henley "radar", Volek kontinu.

Movement restrictions bin prove "quite a shock" for rich pipo wey dey used to travelling freely on private jets, prompt di first increase in stateside CBI applications. Interest bin go up again afta di 2020 and 2024 US elections.

"E get Democrats wey no like Trump but also Republicans wey no like Democrats," Mr Volek tok.

"In di last two years we don go from zero offices in di US to eight across all major cities, wit anoda two to three opening in di coming months."

Robert Taylor, from Halifax in Canada, bin buy a property in Antigua wia e plan to retire later dis year.

E bin invest $200,000 just bifor dem raise di real estate standard to $300,000 last summer.

No be only say to be citizen avoid restrictions on length of stay, e also dey give am di freedom to take advantage of business opportunities, e explain. "I chose Antigua sake of say e get beautiful water, I find di pipo very, very friendly and e also mean great weather for di later part of my life."

Still, such programmes no dey without controversy. Wen dem first begin reason di sales of passport in 2012 by di den Antiguan govment as a way to prop up dia economy, some no too dey sure of di ethics.

Protesters bin take to di streets in condemnation, former Speaker of the House Gisele Isaac recall. "E get a sense of nationalism; pipo bin feel say dem dey sell our identity, so to speak, to pipo wey know nothing about us," she tok.

Leaders of some oda Caribbean nations wey no offer CBIs don also dey quick to criticise, including St Vincent and di Grenadines' Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.

E bin previously tok say citizenship no suppose be "a commodity for sale".

Among di international community, fears dey say if dem no shine dia eyes well, tin fit happun wey fit help criminals enta dia borders.

Di European Union don threaten to withdraw dia visa-free access for Caribbean CBI kontries, while di US don previously raise concerns over di potential for such schemes to dey used as a vehicle for tax evasion and financial crime.

A European Commission tok-tok pesin tell di BBC say dem dey "monitor" di five Caribbean schemes, and dey tok wit dia respective authorities since 2022.

She say one ongoing assessment dey try to check if citizenship by investment constitute "an abuse of di visa-free regime those kontris enjoy vis-à-vis di EU and whether e dey likely to lead to security risks for di EU".

Di Commission don agree for di Islands dem to carry out reforms wey dem say go get impact on im evaluation.

For dia part, di five Caribbean nations don react angrily to claims say dem no dey do enough to investigate applicants.

Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit don describe im kontri CBI programme as "sound and transparent", adding say authorities don work hard to make sure of dia integrity.

Di govment say passport sales don raise more dan $1bn since di initiative inception in 1993, pay for some important infrastructure including a modern hospital.

For St Lucia, Prime Minister Philip J Pierre say di island dey stick to di highest standards of security to make sure say dia CBI no help pipo do illegal tins.

Di need to appease di world superpowers wit raising revenue na delicate balancing act for small Caribbean nations wit money resources, depending on di condition of tourism.

CBI programmes dey labelled a lifeline for one regional industry summit in April, wit funds wey dem dey use for everytin from cleaning up afta natural disasters to raise national pension schemes.

Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne say money wey dem raise don save im kontri from economic wahala over di past decade.

Aside from buying property, oda routes to Caribbean citizenship through investment typically include a one-off donation to a national development fund or similar.

Dem dey range from $200,000 in Dominica for a single applicant, to $250,000 for a main applicant and up to three qualifying dependents in Dominica and St Kitts.

For Antigua, investors also get di option of donating $260,000 to di University of di West Indies.

Despite di international pressure, di islands don commit to new measures to ginger oversight, including establishing a regional regulator to set standards, monitor operations and ensure compliance.

Also, six principles bin agree wit di US include enhanced due diligence, regular audits, mandatory interviews wit all applicants, and di removal of a loophole wey bin dey allow applicant wey dey denied by one kontri to apply in anoda before.

Dis days, passport sales account for 10-30% of di islands' GDP.

Andre Huie, a journalist for St Kitts, say im kontri CBI scheme dey "generally well supported" sake of dat.

"Di public understand di value to di economy, and appreciate wetin di govment don dey able to do wit di money."