Citizenship of Saint Luciaby investment

Act No. 22 of 2025 names a spouse, children of the applicant or the spouse under 21, children up to 30 fully supported by the applicant, parents over 55 who are fully supported, unmarried siblings under 18 with the consent of a parent or guardian, and dependants of any age with physical or mental disabilities who are fully supported by the applicant. For a dependant with a disability a court document, a medical report, proof of financial dependency and evidence of living together or of direct care will be required.

The law contains no requirement to be present in person when filing: the application is filed by a licensed agent, and the oath of allegiance is signed before an attorney, a Saint Lucian consular officer, an honorary consul or a notary. At the same time, from March 2026 an approved applicant must provide biometrics, and from 1 January 2026 a residence and genuine-link requirement applies. We confirm how those requirements are met in writing with a licensed agent before any documents are prepared, and we make no promises on this point.

Act No. 22 of 2025 added section 30A to the Citizenship by Investment Act: the applicant and every dependant must comply with the residence and genuine-link requirements set, and that provision applies from 1 January 2026. The requirements themselves are set by secondary legislation. The regulations published to date, including S.I. No. 57 of 2026, do not describe them, so we do not publish a number of days or other conditions and confirm the current procedure with a licensed agent before filing.

The CIU’s official guide is around 90 days from the moment the agent notifies you that the application has been accepted for consideration to the grant of citizenship. That is the processing time, not the whole project: collecting the documents comes before filing, and after approval come the payment of the investment, the oath, biometrics and the passport. The Board may request further information, and then the period is longer.

Yes. S.I. No. 57 of 2026 provides that the Board may approve no more than 1,500 citizenship by investment applications a year. Applications received in the 2024 and 2025 financial years and approved in 2024-2027 do not count towards that cap. In practice that means filing should not be put off to the end of the year.

To the Schengen and European Union countries, yes — no visa is required for short trips. To the United Kingdom, no: a visa regime for citizens of Saint Lucia was introduced from 15:00 GMT on 5 March 2026 and applies to any purpose of travel, including transit. The transition period for those who had obtained an ETA and bought tickets ended on 16 April 2026.

Yes. Saint Lucia does not require you to give up your current citizenship. It is worth checking separately how the law of your current country of citizenship treats a second citizenship, including any duty to notify.

Since 5 August 2025 the Saint Lucia passport is issued to an adult for 10 years and to a child under 18 for 5 years. The document is biometric. The citizenship itself is open-ended and passes to children born after it is granted.

The contribution to the National Economic Fund is not returned. Approved property can be sold no earlier than five years after citizenship is granted — the return depends on the market and the terms of the sale, and the state does not guarantee it. Government bonds are redeemed at the end of the set period. Administrative and screening fees are not returned under any option.

For five years from the date the certificate of registration is issued the name cannot be changed. The exceptions are listed expressly in the law: marriage, divorce, adoption or legitimation by court order, participation in a witness protection or anti-trafficking programme, and correction of a technical or transliteration error. Any change of name has to be notified to the CIU in writing before the passport application, with a separate screening fee — $10,000 for the applicant and $7,500 for a dependant over 16.

The law names direct grounds for refusal: false information, a criminal record other than minor traffic offences, an ongoing criminal investigation, a national security risk, activity capable of damaging the reputation of Saint Lucia, and a visa refusal from a country with which Saint Lucia has a visa waiver where the visa was not obtained afterwards. Separately, the Board may refuse if the applicant has been refused by another Eastern Caribbean state. That is exactly why we run a preliminary check before filing. A review of a rejected application is possible and costs $3,000.