Editorial
by Prabhu Balakrishnan
Founder, World Citizenship Council
The Caribbean countries have hastily implemented price hike, engaged “race to top”, bowing to international pressure without thinking about the consequences with the client market. As a direct result of price hike implemented from $100,000 to $200,000, we believe the CIP market expected to decline by 50% and too few people will be able to apply for citizenship by investment in the Caribbean countries. The recent price hikes with Caribbean Citizenship by Investment (CBI) could have significant negative effects on the industry for several reasons.
Discourage Investors
The huge backlogs and higher prices create low interest and discourage future investors investing in the Caribbean, especially in real estate sector. The property market could face the brunt this policy change. Besides, Caribbean countries made little strides to “enhance the value” of the CBI programs, by not checking corruption, underselling and other illicit practices engaged by agents has caused reputational damage. Poor vetting puts other countries with visa waiver agreements at risk. Granting citizenship without any genuine ties to the country to dodgy individuals, who skirt sanctions, visa rejected applicants, money launderers and career criminals further contributes to negative publicity and hurts international relations.
Property Market Decline
The property market could face the brunt and see a huge decline, with unrealistically set excessive investment costs, forcing investors turn to Europe and other markets. Property developers can expect low volume of applications for citizenship by investment diminishing property value.
Prospective investors may not feel that the cost is justified compared to the value of passport.
Diminishing Value
CBI programs in the Caribbean were considered attractive because they offered a relatively affordable route to second citizenship compared to other global alternatives. By raising the price, the cost-effectiveness and value of these programs diminishes, making them less attractive to wealthy individuals seeking citizenship for business, tax, or security reasons. This could lead to a reduction in the number of applications. Host nations can expect further decline in revenues generated by the Caribbean CBIP’s.
Higher competition
The CBI market in the Pacific and Golden visas expected to provide a higher competition to the Caribbean countries for the same pricing. We have had one client quote saying “The current prices are higher than the cost of ferrari” therefore did not proceed with the application.
Visa waivers / ETA
The UK has still not restored the visa waiver with Commonwealth of Dominica. The European Union and United Kingdom in 2025 will be implementing, Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) on all visa waiver countries include Caribbean countries that can affect the CBI market.
Instability
The sudden price hikes signal instablity and insecurity the CBI programs among international investors. Prospective investors may not feel that the cost is justified compared to the value of passport.
Scrutiny
The higher investment amounts may attract more scrutiny for money laundering and tax evasion and increased compliance with US correspondent banks.
Conclusion
We call upon the five caribbean countries to cancel price hike and rollback the old price structure to restore confidence in the Caribbean CBI market. We felt the currently 200% price hike implemented, could weaken the industry’s position and negatively affect long-term viability and hurt the attractiveness of CBI programs in the region. Perhaps it is time save the industry from imploding from the inside and start fresh.
“Perhaps it is time save the industry imploding from the inside and start fresh”
